5 years ago, EA's Apex Legends was dropped on the world with no big brand launch or fanfare. Just a juggernaut of a game and a rabid fanbase.
Over that 5 year period, the core has remained strong, but new player acquisition has begun to cool.
It was time to give new players new reasons sign up.
We built a multi-year brand platform under the banner "Legendary from the Drop" which promises fun from the very start no matter your skill level. And to kick off Legendary from the Drop, we created the Run It Backs campaign, giving new and core fans tons of new ways to relive the fun in Apex. The campaign enlisted creators from the Apex community as well new faces to appeal to a new audience. One of those new faces (with fake moustache) was Chace Crawford, star of the hit show The Boys.
Game developer Splash Damage tapped us to name and launch their new Transformers game at the 2022 Game Awards. A dream assignment for a nerd like me. Inspired by the the game narrative, we named the title
Transformers: Reactivate
For the launch trailer, we needed to be hyper aware of our live and online Game Awards audience, 120+ million people. It’s over saturated space for game trailers so we knew we had to hook them and keep them guessing until the end.
The hook was 80s newstalgia. We drew visual inspiration from the opening of RoboCop and paired that with a haunting cover of Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive”, to give you that little hit of nostalgia that you buried long ago.
Director Aaron Sims from Aaron Sims Creative (ASC), brought the script to life in Unreal Engine 5.
And re-watchability? There are over 80 Easter eggs in the film to generate excitement among core fans.
I was hired by Radical Media to help bring to life a wild idea that was cooked up by the legendary director F. Gary Gray and Dr. Dre. What?
To have the chance to work with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop and Mary J Blige, was a total dream. I was ready to do coffee runs if that’s where I was needed, but they entrusted me with the script.
“The Call” is a love letter to LA and a tribute to the royalty of hip hop.
The film was the #1 Trending Video on youtube.
Carl's Jr and Hardees earned a reputation for a few things that overshadowed their epic food. It was time the food came back. So we did this. Shortlisted for One Show: Cross-Platform - Brand Transformation Award
We first planted the flag with a launch film
Following the film launch, we literally blew up our past, live on Twitch. In a two-hour livestream, Carl Sr. and Jr. take to the desert to burn, crush and explode the remnants of Carl’s Jr’s bikini clad past, and fans got to choose how we did it. The action starts 30min into this video.
This is the case study that lays out every touchpoint we revamped, including film, food photography, in store design and experience, social and digital activations.
We then followed up with some Value promos featuring Jr, attempting to adhere to the new marching orders…and failing, sorta.
We also completely refreshed the way we showcase our food.
The League of Legends North American league (LCS) needed to win back some fans after a year with no live events.
It was time to re-direct the narrative and create a new voice and identity. One that was firmly rooted in the thing fans care about most: The players. I helped the Riot Team develop an entire brand platform that was built around their creator community
This is the hero film I wrote and helped produce to kick off the season.
Messy, drippy, and comin' at you, whether you like it or not. Carl's Jr. partnered with Adult Swim hit show "Rick and Morty" to showcase our permanent menu items. As you can imagine, it got weird pretty quick. And then it made it to the top of Reddit. Winner of 2016 People's Voice Webby for Branded Animation
And here’s Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon breaking down the shows greatest moments ever. Honored to have made the list. We’re at the 5 minute mark.
I wrote the following piece for Under Armour during the quarantine as a message to athletes of all stripes. The script was shot by Andre Stringer at the height of the pandemic and narrated by Ray Lewis to inspire every person with a drive to push this fog, because the Only Way is Through.
But we didn’t stop with a message. We went on to build an entire training regimen for every athlete stuck at home with the help of some well known people and fitness influencers. To date, the entire campaign has over 100 Million views
Adage Hotspots - August 2020
This is a series of scripts I wrote for Allegiant Airlines while freelancing at R&R. They wanted some “SNL style parodies” to celebrate their non-stop flights. I didn’t oversee the shoot on these, but it’s always a good feeling when you see scripts you wrote remain largely unchanged throughout the process. Makes you feel like you earned your keep.
While at 72andSunny, Coors Light tapped us to reclaim the Rockies, a place of endless exploration. We embarked on a 3 month adventure with some restless spirits, only taking a pause to rest the legs and refresh with the World's Most Refreshing Beer. The campaign included brand films, a revamp of our content on social feeds, print that borrowed wisdom from the world’s greatest adventurers and a first of its kind loyalty app to reward those with a thirst for more.
We also revamped our social channels, partnering with adventure photographers, to inspire our fans to get outside and embrace their restless spirit.
We created beer’s first loyalty app. Fans could earn points by purchasing Coors Light, crushing bar trivia, and posting photos on Instagram, and they could redeem those points for Coors swag, beer and one of a kind experiences (like playing flag football with a dozen of your friends at the LA Coliseum!) Over half a million points were earned after just the first two months of the launch.
We brought 72andSunny brands Call of Duty and Carls Jr/Hardees together for a first of its kind partnership. The following case study lays out the highlights, including a unique in game weapon, a specially designed in store product, a Veteran's Day promotion, and the ability for gamers to earn in-game achievements that won them free food in store.
In true ballsy fashion, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s wanted to launch a cheeseburger loaded with a hot dog and kettle cooked potato chips. Pretty much everything that makes our country great, on a single burger. With the timing of Memorial Day through the 4th of July, we named this enduring testament to freedom The Most American Burger, and built a 360 campaign that went all in on the American Dream. The TV spot made it to the top of Reddit, and the campaign earned 2.8 Billion Earned Media Impressions. Below is the Case Study film, followed by some of the hero assets from the campaign.
Even the coupon had to be the Most American it could be. The reverse hosted a temporary tattoo of a bald eagle composed of hotdogs, potato chips and cheeseburgers. We encouraged people to share their new ink on instagram.
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's partnered with The Man of Steel to launch the Super Bacon Cheeseburger. The movie's director, Zack Snyder, invited us into the movie’s inner sanctum to share the incredible work his team had done. In reviewing the script, we were struck by how much of a beating Metropolis was going to take. And it led us to a funny, in-universe insight: It’s gonna take a lot of Super Men and Women to clean this shit up, and they’re gonna need burgers to fuel the work. Zack Snyder loved the idea and agreed to shoot the film, and Henry Cavill agreed to play second fiddle to a Metropolis City Worker.
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's partnered with The Man of Steel to launch the Super Bacon Cheeseburger. The movie's director, Zack Snyder, invited us into the movie’s inner sanctum to share the incredible work his team had done. In reviewing the script, we were struck by how much of a beating Metropolis was going to take. And it led us to a funny, in-universe insight: It’s gonna take a lot of Super Men and Women to clean this shit up, and they’re gonna need burgers to fuel the work. Zack Snyder loved the idea and agreed to shoot the film, and Henry Cavill agreed to play second fiddle to a Metropolis City Worker.
To help launch the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger, Carl’s Jr. partnered with the summer’s most hotly anticipated movie, The Amazing Spiderman. In an effort to hijack some of the Spidey mania, we uncovered a big fact. The Spidey suit is the world’s best selling superhero costume, by a landslide. And thus, Spiderman Eats Free was born. A one-day promotion that gave fans a reason to dress up as their favorite superhero. The campaign launched on TV and directed fans to a microsite laying out the costume Dos and Donts, hosted by Spiderman co-creator, Stan Lee.
EXCELSIOR!
Coca-Cola came to us with a desire to join the cultural conversation surrounding the Summer Olympics, without being an official sponsor. We decided to zag from rest of the Olympic noise and showcase the “Real” Summer Games, happening all over the country.
