STRONG AMERICAN SCHOOLS - FLAGS - US
CREDITS
Project: Flags
Client: Roy Romer, chairman, Strong American Schools
Brief: Encourage US leaders to make education reform a priority
Creative agency: SS+K, New York
Writer: Jack Cheng
Art director: Bryan Chiao
Planner: Rebecca Matovic
Media agency: The Media Kitchen
Production company: Dab Hand Media
Director: John Hayes
Editor: Jesse Reisner
Post-production: The Now Corporation
Audio Post-production: Tom, The Sound Lounge
Exposure: TV in Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico, Virginia,
Wisconsin and Minnesota
THE LOWDOWN
A US education pressure group has turned to advertising in an effort to alert politicians to what it claims is the dire state of the country's schools system.
Strong American Schools is putting $5 million behind a TV, radio, print and online initiative that warns of a serious threat to the US economy if its public education system continues to fail to provide pupils with the skills they need.
The actress Jamie Lee Curtis provides the voiceover for the TV spot spearheading the campaign. It shows a boy running the flags of a number of countries up a flagpole.
The film, running mainly in election swing states, claims that the education systems of all the featured countries are performing better than that of the US.
Strong American Schools is backed by a number of US charitable bodies, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL - HDTV - THE NETHERLANDS
CREDITS
Project: HDTV
Clients: Marcel van der Zee, Quinta Baars, marketing executives,
National Geographic Channel
Brief: Promote National Geographic's high-definition channel
Creative agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Amsterdam
Writer: Menno Schipper
Art director: Nils Taildeman
Planners: Patrik Reijnen, Eva Cortenbach, Mariette Idsinga
Media agency: CBS Outdoor
Photographer: Edo Kars, Kars Photography Amsterdam
Retouching: Magic Group Amsterdam
Exposure: National magazines, outdoor
THE LOWDOWN
National Geographic has unveiled new advertising, that boasts that the images on its high-definition channel are as good as the real thing.
The message is being reinforced by a tongue-in-cheek print campaign through Saatchi & Saatchi Amsterdam, which suggests the picture quality is so outstanding that wildlife photographers, astronomers and film crews don't have to go out into the real world: instead they simply point their lenses at the screen.
Launched in Europe 11 years ago, National Geographic Channel is a subscription network that features documentaries that are produced by the National Geographic Society. Some content, such as nature, science, culture and history documentaries, is similar to that of Discovery Channel.
KIA MOTORS - EXPECTATIONS - US
CREDITS
Project: Expectations
Client: Tim Chaney, director of marketing communications, Kia Motors
America
Brief: Launch the Kia Borrego in the US
Creative agency: David & Goliath, Los Angeles
Writer: Tim White
Art director: Todd Parker
Planner: Clive Whitcher
Media agency: Initiative
Production company: HIS
Director: Gerard de Thame
Editor: Adam Pertofsky
Post-production: Asylum
Audio Post-production: Rock Paper Scissors, Lime Studios
Exposure: National cinema
THE LOWDOWN
Kia, the South Korean car-maker, pokes fun at the cliche-riddled commercials for luxury cars in new advertising that launches its Borrego sports utility vehicle in the US.
The Borrego is featured tackling the kind of rough terrain that few of its drivers are ever likely to face, while being serenaded by a symphony orchestra. This is juxtaposed with seemingly unconnected images such as duelling fencers and a man releasing a dove.
Introduced at the last Detroit Motor Show in January, the Borrego marks Kia's attempt to take on rivals such as the Land Rover Discovery with a vehicle that boasts state-of-the-art technology at a competitive price.
Kia is also looking to the campaign to raise the profile of its brand while attracting more upmarket buyers.
IMPULSE - EMERALD - GLOBAL
CREDITS
Project: Emerald
Client: Unilever
Brief: Launch Impulse's True Love variant
Creative agency: Vegaolmosponce
Writers/art directors: Hernan Ibarra, Walter Aregger
Planner: Diego Luque
Media agency: MindShare
Media planner: Gary Jones
Production company: Pioneer Productions
Director: Peter Thwaites
Editor: Jose Becker
Exposure: TV in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Argentina
THE LOWDOWN
Impulse, the Unilever anti-perspirant brand, is launching a line extension called True Love into key global markets with a commercial that presents it as a passport to happiness.
The "between a rock and a hard place" spot was created by Vegaolmosponce in Buenos Aires to support the campaign's theme that "True love still exists". In it, a young man is about to open a car door for his Impulse-spraying date when a police SWAT team storm the street. As a helicopter hovers overhead, the man hears an order not to open the door. He ignores it and falls in love with her.