After winning the assignment to launch the Marvel Avengers video game, we took inspiration from the MasterClasses people were occupying themselves during lockdown, to create a series of webisodes called Superior Seminars.
The campaign featured in the Webby’s and Clio’s, and was so successful it was even tweeted about by David Rogier, the MasterClass founder and CEO.
To complete the launch, we also created an action-packed trailer inviting gamers to assemble. The work was directed by RSA’s Jordan Vogt-Roberts and the CGI got its magic touch from Industrial Light & Magic.
CD/AD: Diego Fonseca
ECD: Jonathan Mackler
CCO: Gerard Caputo
As a company that believes in entertainment for all headquartered in the wedding capital of the world, MGM Resorts thought it was time for some love songs that spoke to everyone.
So we created an album of classics reimagined for the LGBTQ community with the help of Bob Dylan, Kesha, St. Vincent and other artists.
The album was picked up by The New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Vice, and was the #9 most downloaded album of the week. We even had Kesha officiate a same sex wedding.
The effort earned 6 Cannes Lions including Gold, and affirmed what most of us know to be true: that all love is equal.
CD/AD: Carlos Wigle, Benjamin Vendramin
CCOs: Eric Silver, Tom Murphy, Sean Bryan
We created this TV and web campaign on a relatively low budget to demonstrate the incredible details and stunning image quality of the PS4 Pro.
Filled with quirky gamer humor and visual effects from director Tim Godsall, gamers ate these films up, while the Vampire episode even inspired AdFreak to invent the somewhat dubious phrase “clock-blocked”.
CD/AD: Diego Fonseca
ECD: Jonathan Mackler
CCO: Gerard Caputo
I helped develop Nespresso’s “A Cup Above” platform with a script approved by and starring George Clooney and Natalie Dormer, which was Nespresso’s largest campaign to date, running in more than 30 countries.
One thing that surprised me about George was how gracious and gragarious he was - he knew it was kind of a big deal to be the writer on “The Clooney spot” and shook my hand and congratulated me with a big smile when we were introduced. He’s also incredibly funny and had the cast of over 400 extras in stitches during much of the filming.
We also developed social and digital based around the idea that nothing can keep George Clooney away from a cup of Nespresso - be it a movie screen or a user interface.
The film was nominated for several production awards and is featured on IMDB.
CD/AD: Carlos Wigle
Social AD: Sanay Lemus
Social CW: Kinzie Buckley
ECDs: Larry Platt, Danny Rodriguez
To broaden the appeal of PlayStation beyond the usual gamer set, we created a visual odyssey through a series of PlayStation worlds.
Set to a poem I wrote as a call to action, we filmed in South Africa with Matthius Van Heijningen, using a combination of CG and real-life elements and bucked the pervading trend against craft to demonstrate PlayStation’s commitment to creating immersive, unforgettable experiences.
We worked in collaboration with Activision and Marvel and enlisted nearly 20 CG and 2D artists from acclaimed special effects company The Mill, who spent over seven weeks modeling the characters and environments using the latest Oculus software to ensure heightened levels of realness.
The film’s attention to detail highlights the brand’s dedication to the creative process and the importance of properly bringing these worlds to life for the gamer.
In anticipation of the upcoming NFL season, we used “smart-dumb” fan-focused humor to launch two campaigns for FanDuel’s Sportsbook and Daily Fantasy apps as part of FanDuel’s first work with BBH — setting them apart from the usual graphics and stock footage approach of their rivals and helping them carve a name in a growing competitive space. Directed by Ulf Johannson.
CD/AD: Diego Fonseca
ECD: Jonathan Mackler
CCO: Gerard Caputo
James Harrison insisted on doing his own tackles for the spot.
20 YEAR CAMPAIGN
New Yorkers had grown pretty attached to our Seamless delivery campaign featuring bold, colorful illustrations and hyper-local insights.
So when Seamless turned 20, we took out all the stops, to show how Seamless has delivered through two decades of New York City antics. From Y2K, bomb cyclones, rainbow bagels and even that alien invasion that turned out to be a power plant explosion in Astoria — all to fuel this city and every New Yorker in it.
To celebrate their anniversary, we worked with director Andy Baker to create an animated film inspired by the past twenty years of deliveries, with more than 50 unique easter eggs that only true New Yorkers would be able to recognize, and of course, the posters to match.
CW: Liz Loudy
CD/AD: Diego Fonseca
CCO: Gerard Caputo
SEAMLESS AWARDS
As New York’s No. 1 food delivery app, Seamless knows how much pride New Yorkers have in their neighborhoods. So we used real data from the millions of orders placed on Seamless to create the Seamless Delivery Awards. Grabbing the attention of New Yorkers by talking about the one thing they love to talk about the most: themselves.
Brighthouse Financial sells life insurance and annuities to people looking to protect and build upon what they’ve earned in retirement. We were given the challenge to help define this young brand, while evolving the work to keep it relevant in a society faced with its aging demographics.
We began moving the needle on social, motivating those approaching retirement to think about protecting what they’ve earned, so they can look forward to the next chapter with optimism.
In these social films, we highlighted the fascinating insight that people actually experience two creative peaks in their lifetime: once in early adulthood, and again near retirement. Inspired by this fact, Brighthouse Financial brought two artists in their respective creative peaks together to collaborate on one amazing project, and encourage retirees to plan to take advantage of their own creative peak.
Brighthouse Bright Breaks and Social
When it came to reaching the financial advisors who actually sell their products, we honed in on the competitive natures of the target and got NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice to host a blockbuster B2B webinar on setting goals and achieving greatness. With a robust lead-up on their social channels, Brighthouse’s “Bright Breaks” ended up smashing their own goals when over 1500 financial advisors attended the event, generating a wave of positive interactions and earning a record number of leads for the company.
By building an engaging social presence, collaborating to refine their guidelines and graphic toolkit, and creating a monthly internal newsletters and competitive reports, we helped guide the brand to approach awareness levels of competitors who have been around for decades in a relatively short span of time.
CW: Lee Lawrence
AD: Tim Minn
CD/AD: Fernando Mattei
CCO: Rafa Rizuto
Flaviar, a growing spirits subscription startup, asked us to create a bold, scrappy holiday campaign that put their brand on the map while bringing thousands of new members into the fold.
Since gifts for their mostly male target tend towards the cliché, we decided to create our own holiday collection of tacky, half-assed gifts, embedded with a twist: a printed code for a one year membership to Flaviar. We priced each at a shocking $300 and sold them on Flaviar’s website, supported by tongue in cheek, low budget social videos and even a pop-up store at New York’s biggest holiday market, which we of course filmed for additional content.
CD/AD: Diego Fonseca
CCO: Gerard Caputo
From alien invasions to multi-limbed secretaries to celebrity gag coaches, few accounts offered more opportunities for fun insights, dip jokes, and award show gold (and silver) than the New York Lottery.
CD/AD: Sean LaBounty
ECDs: Mike Sullivan, Rich Sharp
CCO: Matt Eastwood
(Cannes Campaign Silver, D&AD, AICP, LIAA)
NYL Radio | Weresquirrel (Radio Mercury Award Winner)
These two Superbowl ads for Carmax were created to promote the dealership's no-haggle, service-oriented model.
CWs: Howard Finklestein, Scott Cooney
CCO: Eric Silver
I was lucky enough to be a part of the launch of Citibank’s Live Richly campaign with Fallon, disrupting the financial space with a simple but powerful declaration:
"There's more to life than money. There's a bank that understands that."
I still remember working for days and even weeks banging out headlines to be reviewed by CDs Greg Hahn and Steve Driggs and ultimately CCO David Lubars. Can’t imagine having timelines like that today, but the results were hopefully worth it.
The Citi campaign is still a favorite in marketing case studies and in addition to dozens of films shot by Errol Morris we created a 217 page compilation of all the campaign work.
CDs: Greg Hahn, Steve Driggs
CCO: David Lubards