branding + design + strategy

What do Adam West and Alex Bogusky have in common? And what are they doing in my introduction?

I grew up during the long tail of the golden age of television. The first brand I evangelized was BATMAN. Not the Christian Bail, Heath Ledger variety but rather Adam West and Burgess Meredith, true icons and influencers. And talk about a niche vehicle, it does not get any better than the Bat Boat, it was only in the original movie for about two minutes but I still had to have one.

We celebrated my fifth birthday by watching Neil Armstrong and company land on the moon and everyone making a big deal about his speech.

Then the world began to change and change fast. I remember dinner hour being interrupted by the nightly news showing images of huge helicopters landing in fields of tall bending grasses. I remember men carrying long rifles over their heads and jumping out of huge helicopters before they touched down in their grassy fields. And I remember my parent’s fixated gaze on the television and I remember their silence.

Unfortunately I would mirror that gaze and silence when I witnessed the Space Shuttle Challenger bust into a fireball, split in two and then rain down in smoldering fragments.

It seemed like yesterday when shock and silence repeated again on a September morning when the routine was interrupted by horrifying images of fire and airplanes doing the unimaginable, then collapse.

Witnessing these events does not define who I am, but they have shaped who I have become.

Brands can no longer survive by influence alone. Paraphrasing Alex Bogusky in the closing of his book Baked In; brands must become systems in peoples lives, people no longer need a brand to define them, they have unlimited access to such podiums as facebook, twitter and flickr which solve that need. Brands must become a bigger part of people’s lives.

This is what I believe in as an advertising enthusiast and this is what I bring to an industry I believe is on the verge of the next golden age.

about

what’s inside

HUGE Theater

Art Direction Frank Masi

Copywriting Frank Masi

Waterpik

Art Direction Frank Masi

Copywriting Frank Masi

Photography Lois Babatz

Chiropractic Wellness

Art Direction Frank Masi

Copywriting Frank Masi

J BRAND

Art Direction Frank Masi

Copywriting Frank Masi Shakeel Khan

Research Shakeel Khan

Photography Christopher Robbins Rayes Stockbyte

C2 create • connect

Staff: students Frank Masi Laleh Azarshin Maggie Chan Liz Gardner Ben Siegel Kathy Littfin Robb Main Ashley Miller Mike Roeder Ron Farber Brett Weik-Ulrich David Hinson Chip Janigo Michael Harris Brad Stulc Melissa Dunn Jennifer Poldolsky

Advisors: faculty & instructors Anj Kozel Douglas Brull Chris Title Jelena Tosovic Deb Weiss Jennifer Thompson

Printing: Express Press Shawn Smith Dan Lukaszewski Janet Edwards

creative brief

BRAND

HUGE Theater started in 2005 but has been supportive of the Minneapolis improvisation community since 2002. HUGE Theater focuses on the long form of improvisation, in which there is no script or setting. HUGE Theater opened the doors of its new home on December 5th, 2010 in Uptown on Lyndale Ave. S.

PROBLEM

Few people know about HUGE Theater and its new location.

AUDIENCE & INSIGHT

The Artistically Hungry are creatively minded urbanites. They are 26 to 36 year old male and females who seek new and interesting distractions from the recession. Artistically Hungry are well-educated early adopters constantly scanning the horizon for new entertainment experiences to get them through their daily grind.

MESSAGE

HUGE Theater, a long form improvisational company, now has a new theater to call home in Uptown.

GOALS

BEHAVIORAL: Raise awareness of HUGE Theater and its new location.

QUANTIFIABLE: Increase ticket sales for all performances by 12% for the 2011-2012 season.

CONCEPT

We will engage Minneapolis residents with simple bold graphics and copy that reminds us that life is on a grand scale, and long form improv is it’s celebration.

HUGE Theater’s new home located in Uptown on 3037 Lyndale Ave. S.

Transit

Billboard

Innovative Wallscape 60’x10’

Man is born. Man lives. Man dies.And it’s all vanity.McCrea, John. “Thrills.” B-Sides and Rarities. CAKE. 2007. CD

creative brief

STRATEGIC CHALLENGE

How do we get consumers to consider purchasing Waterpik’s Sensonic Professional Toothbrush over its leading competitors. The problem facing Waterpik is intense competition in this parity product category from the Oral-B and Philips line of electric toothbrushes. Both recently outperformed Waterpik in a comparative study by Consumer Reports.

OBJECTIVE

Behavioral: Change the perception of the Waterpik SR-1000 toothbrush among moms and dads.Quantifiable: Increase sales of the Waterpik SR-1000 by 7.5% over 2011.

AUDIENCE & INSIGHT

Smile Achievers are mothers and fathers 28 to 48 years old. They have a household income of $65,000 to $150,000 annually. They have goal oriented life styles and a deep commitment to career and family. Their social lives are focused around family, their place of worship and work. They are deeply concerned with raising costs of dental care and some families are burdened with large co-pay deductibles or no dental insurance at all.

BENEFIT STATEMENT

The Waterpik Sensonic Professional Toothbrush is the only brush needed to keep a family’s smile bright and healthy.

CONCEPT STATEMENT

In order to persuade Smile Achievers to purchase Waterpik SensonicProfessional Toothbrushes, we will show them a healthy happy lifestyle can be achieved through the use of comparative juxtaposition.

RATIONALE

Due to Smile Achievers focus on family and concern for their children’s oral health combined with their fear of raising dental care costs provides an opportunity to highlight the Waterpik SR-1000’s unique feature of including three different style brush heads. The SR-1000’s feature of including a standard brush head for adults and a compact and interdental brush head, which are perfect for young children and teens, make it a rational choice for the whole family.By showing that the Waterpik SR-1000 is versatile enough to handle the whole families oral hygiene needs we will change the perception of the product within its category in the minds of our consumers.

Transit

Photography: Lois Babatz

Photography: Lois Babatz Photography: Lois Babatz

creative brief

BRAND

Chiropractic Wellness is a healthcare partner that focuses on educating its clients on maintaining a healthy relationship with their spines. Dr. Carolyn O’Hara and Dr. Judy Jensen recently invested in cutting edge technology that pinpoints the sources for spinal adjustments. The practice now provides fulltime massage therapy, nutritional dietary products and alkaline water.

PROBLEM

Chiropractic Wellness is struggling to differentiate itself in the crowded Maple Grove chiropractic market.

AUDIENCE & INSIGHT

Yearning Seniors are people aged 60 to 85 years old who have a social life, but not an active lifestyle. They are financially secure on their fixed incomes. They have the time and resources to increase activities with friends, children and grandchildren if they only had the mobility. Yearning Seniors will respond well if given a clear path to achieve their goals.

MESSAGE

A more active lifestyle begins with having full body scans at Chiropractic Wellness.

GOALS

BEHAVIORAL: Identify Chiropractic Wellness as the first stop for a more active lifestyle with Maple Grove seniors.

QUANTIFIABLE: Increase body scans to new and existing patients by 20% for 2011

CONCEPT

Present before and after everyday situations in the daily lives of seniors who are missing out on life’s little pleasures.

New identity: window sign

Problem; the rapid growth of Chiropractic Wellness caused an identity crisis.

Solution; a new cohesive identity, with business cards that multitask as appointment reminders.(next page)

The color palette was strategically chosen because green and blue are the main healthy indicator colors of the full body scan.

!

creative brief

BRAND

J BRAND premium denium was co-founded by Jeff Rudes in 2004 with the mission to make a women look and feel beautiful in their jeans. Based in Los Angeles J BRAND led the skinny jean trend in 2006. It relies on the cache of “celebritiy fans” which comprise male and female actors and professional athletes to drive sales.

PROBLEM

J BRAND premium denim does not resonate with a large portion of the male population who do not fit into the “celebrity fan” category.

AUDIENCE & INSIGHT

Young Bucks are 26 to 32 year old males who enjoy good salaries in white and blue color jobs. They frequently go out with friends or alone and are looking to find someone to hook up with that just might lead to a lasting relationship.Young Bucks will often purchase premium brands in the tool, automotive parts and audio categories. Especially if there is a promise of enhanced performance and is made in America. MESSAGE

J BRAND premium denim is the high performance tool for attracting women.

GOALS

BEHAVIORAL: Change the perception that the average man holds towards J BRAND premium denim as that being only for celebrities. QUANTIFIABLE: Increase sales of J BRAND men’s premium denim by 13%through Q2 2012.

CONCEPT

Employing double meaning we will persuade Young Bucks that J BRAND premium denim will attract women to them with references of mating rituals and images of attraction.

Photography: Stockbyte

Manifesto

Audience insight tells us that our guy likes things made in America, so I crafted a new logo, which also houses the tag line “GET A PAIR” and then clearly points to the call for action.

!

Photography: Stockbyte Photography: Rayes

Print: Sports Illustrated Print: Men’s Health

Photography: StockbytePhotography: Christopher Robbins

Print: Maxim Poster: Target Field

Innovative Wallscape

Employing the same technology as automotive body wraps, apply the “skin” to the mesh fence, the perforated slits willallow the ad to billow in the wind thus animating the ad.

Target Field

Mall of America Field

creative brief

BRAND

The Art Institutes International Minnesota school news paper Main Frame was started in late 2004 to create a sense of commuity and increase school pride. Staffed by volunteer students with guidence from the academic staff, Main Frame loosely produces a quarterly magazine showcasing the artistic talents of the student body and reports on news around campus.

PROBLEM

Main Frame is faced with dismal brand equity due to its poor design and lack of consistency. The students and faculty routinely dismiss the magazine, which has resulted in few submissions and negative feelings toward school pride.

AUDIENCE & INSIGHT

Concentric Artists are 18 to 38 year old students who attend the school. They are accustomed to easy outlets of self-expression. They will form cliques with artists of similar ability and skill. Concentric Artists will not acknowledge or participate in an organization they deem unworthy. They are passionate about art and will contribute to an organization that demonstrates a high sensibility of style.

MESSAGE

The new magazine is a complete departure from the past. The magazine will lead by example and produced a highly stylized magazine worthy of showcasing the talents of the students from The Art Institutes International Minnesota.

GOALS

BEHAVIORAL: Inspire the student body to submit their artwork and volunteer to work on the new magazine.

QUANTIFABLE: Increase student art submissions by 17% to the school and increase volunteer staff by 15% for one year.

BEYOND A CAMAPIGN

A staff member for six months, I then became the editor-in-chief for twelve months. The first order of business was to rebrand the magazine entirely. We featured a new name and form factor. The staff grew from four to sixteen and the magazine showcased not only talent from the students, but the instructors from the studio and general education departments as well. create • connect, aka C2 success turned it into a sales tool for the admissions department and received acclaim from other Art Institutes around the country. We produced five issues under my direction to rectify the problem of past issues being released at the end of the quarter.

Wi 09

15 South 9th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402

SP 09

no. 02fall 09

SPRING 2010 Summer 2010

before

after

8.5” x 11”color copied on glossy 60 lb. text

8.75” x 8.75” Summer, Fall and Winter issues.

8” x 8” Spring and Summer.

four color process on 100 lbs. dull cover and 80 lbs. dull text.

I wanted the magazine to have a premium feel, that is why we raised the bar on production.

During the first quarter of my tenure as editor-in-chief, I collaborated with Julie Kesterke in Student Affairs to draft an entirely new constitution, as the student organization had been operating without one for the previous six months.

After creating the constitution, I created a new brand for the new magazine.

Created a mission and vision statement to align ourselves with real world expectations of a magazine.

To shake up our target audience, I crafted this submissions poster in a challenging tone with a sense of humor.

Our attempt at a die cut on a student’s budget.Inside cover from Summer 2009 issue.

I created a strategic partnership with Career Services, and we ran one third reoccurring ads that mirrored student success stories on gaining employment after graduation.

no. 02fall 09

SPRING 2010 Summer 2010

branding + design + strategy