Here are the final two ads in this year’s campaign for the Ivey Awards. Look for them in magazines, bus shelters and billboards all over the Twin Cities over the next month. Thanks again to photographers William Clark and Lucas Saugen. And, yes, you might have noticed that the two Ivey Award winners standing in the corn field look familiar. They’re the Baldwin sisters, Christina and Jennifer, the actors who starred as the long-lost twins with opposite political views in Brew’s Holiday Video last winter.
We’ve seen the term “mistress agency” used to describe agencies like ours. And, despite the sordid undertones, we’ve warmed up to the term. What it usually refers to is a more innovative, more nimble agency that a big brand calls in even though they have another big (and sometimes, lumbering) agency. That means that we often work “under the radar.” We have two big assignments like that right now. And although we can’t announce the relationships now, you will be seeing the work at the end of the summer. They’re great brands. Stay tuned.
We just finished our commercial for Edwards Desserts, after several weeks of painstaking digital effects work. Although the budget was modest, director Peter Chelsom and the special effects wizards at Splice Here made a smaller theater in Los Angeles and fifty extras look like the Oscars. We’re now beginning to plan for next year’s product introductions for Edwards and Mrs. Smith’s pies.
In partnership with our good friends and collaborators at the Tom Julian Group, we just completed a sizable strategic project for the fashion brand Edun. The brand was launched by the husband and wife team of Ali Hewson and Bono with the mission of helping to build Africa as a viable source of production for fashion. That’s a cause we can believe in.
We’re excited to begin production of the new campaign for our friends at Schwan’s Consumer Brands for their new Edwards Singles desserts. (How does a hot molten chocolate brownie with ice cream sound?) We’ll be shooting this year’s commercial with feature film director Peter Chelsom of Independent Media. It continues a long partnership that Bruce and art director Carol Henderson have had with Independent Executive Producer, Susanne Preissler. Independent brings top feature directors to select commercial projects, with the result being bigger, more cinematic films. Bruce and Susanne worked together on many PBS projects in the past, including the Emmy Award-winning “Goldfish.”
The new identity and catalogs for our sportswear client, Neve, has been rolled out and is receiving a great reception from their customers as the major outdoor, ski and fashion shows hit full stride. We photographed the catalog with Denver-based photographer Jeff Martin (it was Jeff’s first fashion shoot) at three locations all over Colorado. Neve’s new identity has been applied on everything from their clothing to their trade booths, and will be instrumental in their push into European markets. The new Neve will also be seen at the Vancouver Olympics, as they are a US Ski and Snowboard team supplier.
Shortly before Christmas we sent out the annual Brew Holiday viral film. We hate to call a film viral until it has actually gone viral, but our previous films all spread like wildfire, with millions of film views and a ton of media coverage. Our tradition is to always address a current event in an apolitical way that either moves people or makes them smile. This year we addressed the division in our country. The film centers around a couple of twin sisters who didn’t know each other existed, with an interesting twist. It was directed by our friend Chris Stocksmith of Twist Films, featured the talented actors Christina and Jennifer Baldwin, with editing and music by SpliceHere. The film is a perfect example of what we call “Social Video” here at Brew: Compelling content that viewers feel compelled to share, far and wide.
Brew joined our friends from Neve Designs, a US Ski Team sponsor, at the World Cup Downhill race in Beaver Creek Colorado on December 5th. Bode Miller had another wild ride, using his hand to narrowly avoid disaster at 70 miles per hour. (That’s Bode crossing the finish line in the photo.) There were many Neve sweaters amongst the VIP’s at the finish line, and a lot of thumbs up for our new identity. We will wrap up production of Neve’s new catalog before the New Year.
We just finished a new identity system for our friends atNéve Designs. Makers of fine merino wool sweaters, jackets and accessories for the ski and fashion markets, we feel that their new design really captures their mountain heritage and devotion to natural fibers. The new design will be incorporated everywhere as they begin showcasing their next new line. We’re about to begin work on their new catalog, advertising and other communications. Special thanks to Dan Olson, who led the design team and worked his usual magic. Bruce looks forward to previewing it with Néve President Tom Irvine at the upcoming World Cup ski races in Beaver Creek, in the first weekend of December.
Richard D’Amico, who heads the renowned D’Amico & Partners restaurant empire recently approached us to help him market their new flagship restaurant – D’Amico Kitchen & Osteria – in the Chambers Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Our first thought was that he needed more than an ad. We talked about America’s fascination with culinary television and the local media’s focus on the restaurant scene. Why not let foodies go right into the kitchen and experience the drama and artistry up close and personal? Our idea? Place cameras in the kitchen and steam the images live and uncut every night at damico-kitchen.com. We’re also beaming the images to a massive screen in the courtyard of the hotel, which will be visible to traffic, and pedestrians along Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis busiest thoroughfare. It’s attracted a ton of media attention. In addition, we’ve helped create a video blog for Executive Chef John Occhiato where he talks in-depth about the pressures and pleasures of running a top restaurant. These are the first of many innovative things we hope to do for D’Amico.
Check out the live streaming nightly from 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM at damico-kitchen.com and watch a video about the D’Amico Kitchen story here.
