Rodl & Partners are a law firm in Europe, looking to attract new clients in Eastern Europe doing business in Western Europe. Key to their marketing strategy is a e-newsletter, and to get more people to subscribe they wanted to give a free flash-drive with archived newsletters on them, and entice the recipients of the free gift to go to the website.
I created these three strategies and concept visuals; copy writing and designing the mock ups for presentation by the agency before production began....
The first is "The Red String"
The Red String of Fate is a legend, that when we become involved in a matter with someone, it is the red thread of fate that binds us.
HEADLINE ON COVER: Intelligence is knowing how to make string...
The ball of actual red string on the front ties in a neat bow on a finger on the inside cover.
HEADLINE: "Wisdom is knowing how to make it work for you."
The 3rd panel will have sales copy, along the lines of "The Law has often been compared to a ball of string... if you don't know what you're doing you'll often end up in knots.
We're XXX and we've..." with company differentiation claims.... then:
Fourth panel has either a thumb drive tied, or better, just photo-illustrated with a reward for subscribing....
"Forewarned is Forearmed" This concept is more tactile, with a red box with a cellophane window and a little plastic hammer connected to the side. It says "Break Glass in Emergency" and inside is the company's business card.
The box has a flap that opens, and inside there is an informative booklet: The Booklet is entitled "To Avoid Emergencies in the First Place, Subscribe to our Free Newsletter" Inside, in addition to the firm's qualifications, is a message that the firm has the expert qualifications to deal with potential problems the potential clients might encounter, and the newsletter is rich with useful information. 
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"Knowledge is Power" 
This one is A5 in size, but the fold hinges on the top. The cover is like any legal statue book in a law firm, and on the cover in gold emboss is: "Knowledge is Power". The client opens up the book, they are intrigued by the cover title. They fold open the brochure and find a tall stack of law books headlined with "Power Corrupts" (a play on the famous quotation). 
A couple of cases / judgments are called out in magnification, salacious lines from legal proceedings. The body copy will call attention to potential pitfalls that can occur, losses that can damage the standing of the client's business when they have inadequate legal representation. The solution is the free newsletter with all the latest news and views from the Law Firm.
The Brief
Smarties Candies are simple and fun, and the client wanted to express this message with a campaign that showcased this POV as well as having an emphasis on the chocolate flavor and hard candy shell.
The Proposition
Make the candy the star utilising adjectives made in chocolate and Smarties.
Guess was looking to develop a new brand identity for their vintage line of jeans, and what better way to differentiate Guess from the competition than to focus on the historical legacy of denim products, with an added emphasis on the company's European heritage?
This ad campaign, the first for Guess Jeans to not feature their trademark sexy models, was widely covered in the trade press, and was featured in Ad Age, Art Direction and Archive, just to name a few. More remarkable was the reaction it provoked in Levi's with regards to their "original jeans" claim...
Below jeans: Guess Antique-finished Jeans acquire their unique appearance by way of a special wash utilizing twilled fabric for stronger, lasting life and good looks.
Guess Stonewash Jeans get their texture from a special process that involves the use of pumice stones, leaving them soft and supple, yet tough as steel.
Guess Dark Stonewash Jeans get their "breaking in period" accomplished by a special stonewashing process designed for freedom and comfort in motion.
Last year, Vodafone called a review pitch for their mobile and digital account, and I was hired as a freelancer by Mather to help them come up with new strategies for the pitch. This was a three part brief, the ones below being the main one for their campaign to raise awareness and increase subscriptions for their Mobile Internet offerings.
The follow materials are the proposals I prepared for consideration. The agency worked really hard to retain their client, but it turned out after the review that the client had already decided on moving the account before they called the pitch.
The first is the "Join the Mobile Internet Revolution" - which takes a counter culture approach to the freedom that mobile internet usage can give the consumer.
The second is "Meet the Mobiles" and plays upon the classic iconography of pedestrian crossing sign characters coming to life thanks to access to mobile internet (do note, you will need Keynote to view this one).
The third concept is "Don't be a House Fly" and introduces a character complementary to Vodafone's Busy Bees adverts, encouraging people to "Escape the WiFi" and live life more with mobile internet.
Working at Leo Burnett on the L&M account, a brief crossed my desk to find a way to reward the many loyal consumers who had entered previous contests, by having a contest just for them. As a non-smoker, I've always been fascinated by cigarette packaging, and the L&M Loft Pack seemed like the perfect focus for a party... and the L&M VIP Loft Pary was born.
 After a qualifying mechanism involving L&M teams going out spotting L&M smokers in public, the entrants were then sent a VIP invitation to a very special party. If you'd like to see how I planned out and pitched this exciting event (photo above), download the pdf.
Download PDF (2.9mb)
The Brief
CMB is one of the most successful and dynamic parts of the HSBC business representing in excess of 24% of the bank's profit. Also, it is a hugely important part of the world's local bank brand in that it is one of the best examples of its universal, joined-up expertise providing international finance, transactions and support, as well as high quality relationship services for smaller domestic businesses. The desire was to continue to promote CMB as a relevant and cohesive part of the world's local bank brand whilst recognising the different motivations and issues that business banking faces.
The creative strategy focus I approached it with was to demonstrate that HSBC understands the multi-faceted values of success to which its multi-faceted customer base aspires. Because they deal with every sort of business customer, from global corporates to one-man bands all around the world, HSBC can better recognise their different business motivations, understand their financial needs and better respond to help them succeed.
The Proposition
Recognising that what it takes to succeed in business today is the specialised knowledge of people from everywhere, I set out to show that HSBC recognises that international business people of all sorts have different views about what success feels like and how they want to make it happen. So I highlighted the position that HSBC understandss people's priorities and values and therefore is better able to address their needs. HSBC has an unparalleled global reach with an understanding of customers in 64 countries and territories spanning 140 years. If your success is being international, shouldn't your bank be too?
The Solution
Your business success is out there. Is your bank?
(click here to see the animatics of this campaign, which unfortunately were cancelled mid production due to the global economic downturn)
I conceived and wrote as well the microsite for CMB
and you can see the outdoor work, here, and here.
From the earliest age we look upon the world around us, seeking noema; meaning and understanding. It is a process which ends only at the gates to the afterlife itself, or increasingly, at the doors to the creative production process. Noema is the Greek word for "the meaning of something". It is the representation of an experience, the projection of one's own experience onto oneself. In perception, be it of ideas, objects or desires, the mind breaks down external experiences into what we know as external reality. This is the realm of thought where we experience media and advertising. Noesis (the ability to sense or know something immediately) is the thinking process that most marketing communications now days seeks to evoke. However, an over-saturation of this practice in the mediascape and changing media consumption habits has reduced the overall effectiveness of immediacy. The missing key to this process is communications which enable the viewer to detect the meaning of the object itself (the noema), and not just the emotional representation, (the noesis). There is a noema corresponding to every act of memory, expectation, and representation, from a Simpson's cartoon to an Absolut Vodka ad; visual and verbal cues whereby something stated subtly or obscurely is nevertheless intended to be understood or worked out, the "hook" that yields meaning upon detailed reflection. All good communications involve intellectual activity, but the best communications combine the idea, and the perception of that idea, into a holistic whole. A message which combines thought and perception can work across demographics to maximize the effectiveness of your communications. Sadly, one or the other is missing from most modern marketing communications, costing advertisers and publishers valuable mind-share when they 'dumb down' or cut concepts in the drive to reach the lowest common denominator. Well-crafted communications should first and foremost, attract the viewer's attention. It should be easy to read and grasp, but most importantly it must have a lasting effect upon the viewer. It is worthless if no one is attracted to it or engages with it, it is wasted if no one remembers its message. This is the philosophy behind my creativity.
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