How I almost made it to Super Bowl XLVI…

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Dannon Oikos, John Stamos, and Super Bowl XLVI

If you haven’t heard of Poptent.net, it’s an online “user-generated” advertising site that matches brands with filmmakers competing with each other for cash prizes. (a la doritos ads…)

Well, last fall, Poptent asked 25 filmmakers to direct in a private competition for Dannon’s new Oikos Greek Yogurt. The winning video would potentially screen at this year’s Super Bowl after a re-shoot so that John Stamos could star in it.

I set out in this competition to make a Super Bowl spot. I wanted something to stand out and be memorable. (which means pretty off-the-wall these days…) Dannon wanted to introduce their new greek yogurt in a way that would stand out among Super Bowl ads. Their motto was “Possibly the best yogurt in the world”, and the premise they wanted was a “taste adventure”.

After going through a few ideas. (many of which ended up being similarly produced by other filmmakers in the competition) I decided on the idea of a fantasy world similar to Willy Wonka’s candy river… I knew John Stamos had broadway experience and I LOL’d at the idea that Stamos would be belting out a broadway-style song during the Super Bowl. So I set out to script a broadway-esque, Willy Wonk-ish taste adventure that would certainly stand out among other Super Bowl ads.

This is the concept I wrote and directed, everything was shot on green screen and then layered over food footage I shot on a table-top green screen. Not a bad outcome for four days of work and only myself doing all production and post. (yes, those actors never set foot in a grocery store OR a blueberry wonderland!)

I wrote the song feeling it would fit, but after shooting, it became obvious that I had tried to squeeze too much into a :30 spot. I feel this would have been more fun as a :60, but I should have just removed a verse…

Production Stills:

Although we didn’t win, I would still like to see John Stamos singing in something like this, it definitely would have been a memorable Super Bowl spot, even if it isn’t in line with the target audience. (but then again, Super Bowl isn’t in line with the target audience…)

Either way, it’s always a blast just grabbing the camera and putting together something creative…

Here is the video that won: Congratulations to Neymarc Visuals, I think they produced a very professional spot that’ll make the target audience smile.

***EDIT*** Turns out this spot may have stirred some plagiarism controversy… http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/super-bowl-backlash-five-most-debated-commercials-138099

Client: CASA of Travis County

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We teamed up with CASA of Travis County to produce a new campaign video to help spread awareness of their efforts and needs within the Austin community.

CASA of Travis County speaks up for children who’ve been abused or neglected by empowering our community to volunteer as advocates for them within the CPS court system.

Client: Bart Durham Law

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Bart Durham is one of the most successful and trusted law offices in the Nashville area. Part of ‘the fame’ that Bart’s law offices have garnered is very much due to a constant and always new advertising campaign. While the campaigns have remained consistent in style, Bart understands television as a medium and has allowed and even championed the campaign of at least 6 new spots per year.

As a package deal, we spend a two week period writing and producing roughly half-a-dozen creative spots. These spots then cycle throughout the year to keep the brand “always on” without becoming “stale bread”.

I’ve had the pleasure of teaming up with them on many of their television spots over the last few years. This is a great example of the potential for “planning” to really get you the most from your advertising spend. Grouping many spots into a single production period gets Bart enough commercials to stay on television throughout the year, without the typical astronomical costs that would be associated with such a large campaign.

Below are just a few of the creative spots I’ve shot for Bart Durham…

Bart Durham Law has matched their legal talent with a strong and consistent television ad campaign, making the brand a “house-hold name” throughout Nashville. Whether people love or hate the spots, the first name anybody thinks of when they need a lawyer in Nashville is “Bart Durham”.

If you’re interested in how you can save money by packaging multiple productions, please feel free to contact me.

Client: Wilcox Furniture

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Wilcox furniture offers fine quality furnishings to the Corpus Christi area. Each month would run a new commercial highlighting different sales items and specials. This campaign style keeps the brand quality solid while consistently showing new selections and action-inspiring special prices.

Advertising seems to have a cumulative subliminal affect. If you aren’t needing furniture, you ignore the ad. But as soon as you need furniture, you’ve got a long-time friend who you can trust… who happens to be having a nice big sale this month! (*whispers* Wilcox…)

Many people expect advertising to work ‘instantly’… It doesn’t. But if you can keep costs down and maintain a “quality and creative” television presence throughout the year, you’ll have discovered the secret to many local businesses success!

I had the pleasure of working with them on many occasions, directing their television campaign along with developing some very helpful product demonstration videos for their website.

Product Demonstrations for website – Produced on green screen with teleprompter. These are a great example of the power that video has to clearly communicate complex products to your clients.

The power of video on your website can make or break your customers’ buying decision. A quality, informative product video on your website pays for itself and requires very little upfront cost. Once produced, it’s like having a professional sales associate on your website 24/7 – helping your clients through their buying decision.

Because Wilcox had a smaller television budget, I had the pleasure of writing, directing, and editing their campaigns myself. Below are just a few spots I produced for them. This is a typical spot which I can produce on my own(actors needed of course) for cheaper than most anyone in the business.

I love the challenge of designing a quality ad that has fun while communicating its sales message.

If you’d like information on how you can plan for and put together an affordable local television campaign. Please feel free to contact me. I have years of experience in getting the most out of local television productions.