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B E N L A R D
e m a i l : b e n l a r d @ g m a i l . c o m m o b i l e : 9 1 7 . 5 8 2 . 0 1 9 7 s k y p e : b e n l a r d
M O u N t A i N D E w
“Do the Dew” was both a major campaign slogan and a stranglehold on the brand. Mountain Dew was showing signs of brand fatigue, as the extreme sports niche that it had carved out was not as revolutionary as it once was.
Before we were handed the assignment, Mountain Dew had taken the first step away from its extreme sports embrace with its “Dewmocracy” campaign, which was tapering off from its successful run of over a year. Mountain Dew was launching a new logo, but didn’t know how to position the brand going forward to keep it relevant with teenagers, who are the largest consumers of soft drinks.
What we recognized was that teenagers are feeling a lack of control in their lives, whether from oppressive parents or other authority figures. We knew that Mountain Dew could resonate with them as the brand to give them back control.
C R E A t i V E B R i E F
Why are we advertising?Use the new “MTN Dew” logo launch as one of the tools to keep the brand relevant to the core soft drink consumers, Teens.
Whom are we talking to?Teens who are in the nascent stages of selecting brands/products that help define them.
What do they currently think?“Mountain Dew is the drink of extreme sports, which are passé and not relevant to my current lifestyle/identity.”
What would we like them to think?“Mountain Dew is a brand that has always been progressive and empowering to youth. If anyone understands what I’m dealing with, it’s Mountain Dew.”
What is the single most persuasive idea that we can convey?Mountain Dew is the brand that gives you back control.
Why should they believe it?• From its unique taste (citrus-based, unlike any other soda), to its high
caffeine content (compared with other sodas) and easy drinkability (compared with the less palatable taste of most energy drinks) Mountain Dew truly stands apart in the category
• Mountain Dew has a history of being bold and different in its communication
• Their most recent “Dewmocracy” campaign took the tone of the brand away from it’s “Extreme” messaging, allowing for it to be repositioned
Are there any creative guidelines?• Must incorporate the new “MTN Dew” logo
We started with an unbranded sticker sheet to run in teen publications, giving them the control to change messaging that they felt was telling them what to do.
We augmented the sticker campaign with branded outdoor posters as well as print ads to run in well-circulated media (such as college and free local papers). These were designed to let teens “control” the message, or control how they saw authority figures. Mountain Dew was not going to tell them what to do.
The final part of the campaign involved both a micro-site and a Times Square digital billboard that allowed teens to upload pictures of authority figures. A random quote generator would then deface the picture. In essence, giving them some control over those who controlled them.
T-Shirts and other merchandise could be made with these images through a partnership with Zazzle.com.
t H E N E w Y O R K t i M E S
Nytimes.com was suffering a perception problem. Despite a wealth of rich media content, most people only saw it only as “the newspaper on the Web.”
Our challenge was to change this perception as economically as possible, since they were working with an extremely limited budget.
We realized that by creating a direct path to this rich media, we could inexpensively show people, rather than tell them about the experiences available on nytimes.com.
C R E A t i V E B R i E F
Why are we advertising?To change the current perception that nytimes.com is just “the newspaper on the Web.”
Whom are we talking to?Educated men and women, 30-47, both existing users of the site and non-users.
What do they currently think?“I wouldn’t go to nytimes.com for a rich media experience, there are other sites for that.”
What would we like them to think?“Nytimes.com is a destination site that I can use as a daily portal to experience news and information.”
What is the single most persuasive idea that we can convey?You don’t just read information on nytimes.com, you experience it.
Why should they believe it?• Nytimes.com gives you not only articles but graphs, forums, audio
slideshows and videos, among other forms of rich media, to substantiate its information
Are there any creative guidelines?• Only use media spaces that are within nytimes.com reciprocity
agreements (e.g., Monster.com, Starbucks)
• Change the current tagline of “All the news that’s fit to click” (if we want to get away from people viewing it as a newspaper online, we probably shouldn’t have the word “news” in the tagline).
We used a simple door icon to represent an entrance to the rich media world that exists behind the home page.
By placing this icon prominently on the home page, we invited casual users who were just reading the stories to experience them by clicking through the door. Each day the door would lead to a different rich media experience selected by the editor.
Our thinking was that after a user had experienced a myriad of rich media on nytimes.com, they could no longer just think of it as “the newspaper on the Web.”
We used powerful pictures in our print and outdoor executions that only told half the story. We did this in efforts to drive people to the site to get the full experience.
We added a mono-directional speaker (that only allows a listener to hear it in a specific location) on the outdoor executions. By stepping on a door icon in front of the ad, you would be positioned to get the audio experience that accompanied the picture.
In an effort to utilize the thousands of New York Times newspaper stands at Starbucks stores throughout the country, we affixed a print ad on the paper tray so that it would reveal itself when the papers sold out.
To take advantage of a reciprocal media relationship with sites such as Monster.com, we devised a scrolling flash banner that would show rich media stories. One click takes a user directly to the experience on nytimes.com.
