Unique insights and actionable ideas from The Darnell Works Agency’s daily quest for greatness.
Read moreVisual timeline and PR case study: Cap Gun Collective
Back in 2000 when I was working for The Terpin Group in Los Angeles leading PR campaigns for dot-com companies with extremely high aspirations, my colleagues and I knew that there was absolutely one way of hitting a home run, and that was placing a story with The Associated Press. AP stories generate massive exposure, as they are syndicated in major media outlets across the country and around the world. And of course, if you have a story that’s good enough for the AP, it’s good enough for everyone. With this in mind, imagine how powerful it would be if you had the chance, today, to meet with Paul Caluori, the AP’s Global Director of Digital Services, and Philana Patterson, the AP’s Small Business and Breaking News Editor, to learn what they look for in story submissions. Thanks to Business Wire, it’s on.
Back in February of this year, Business Wire hosted a webinar featuring Paul and Philana, where they shared exactly these types of insights. Here are a few of the bullet points from the secrets they shared.
Read moreSharing secrets: How to write stories for The Associated Press
Happy Friday, friends! I hope your work week is wrapping up nicely and that you’ll soon be able to enjoy some well-earned downtime, like a lot of people have been doing all week in Cannes (kidding, of course). Before ending this week, I wanted to share this video I’m embedding here from experience design agency Freestate, and a few more comments about the significance of winning a Cannes Lion award.
As you can hear first-hand from FreeState’s creative director Adam Scott in this video directed by Ilan Metev, FreeState won a Gold Design Lion at Cannes in 2013 after designing the world’s largest kinetic sculptures for Blackpool’s promenade. Under the heading of “Why Winning a Lion Matters – An Agency’s View,” Mr. Scott enlightens us while pedaling his bike around the city: “Sometimes it’s hard to find your way, and especially hard given it’s so darn crowded out here…. How do you stand out,” he asks.
And about the results of winning Cannes Lion Gold, he continues: “I would say people are far more interested in our approach, and that has to be a good thing. And well, if it can happen to us then it can certainly happen to you.”
Isn’t that lovely? Also, to me, it’s a perfect summation to what it means to win a Cannes Lion.
Meanwhile, the image I’m providing here offers a newer angle into this discussion. Taken hours ago
Last Updated May 13, 2015: Scott Darnell Wins Top Mobility Industry Engineering Award, Brings Custom Mobility Solutions to Market
Creative and Communications Campaign Designed and Executed by The Darnell Works Agency Supports Growth For Ambitious Entrepreneur
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Adaptive mobility expert Scott Darnell is a consultant and developer of innovative solutions for wheelchair users.
Executive Summary
In 2003, DWA began its role as the creative and communications agency of record for Changing Stares, Inc., a privately held start-up focused on creating important new mobility options for wheelchair users. With Scott Darnell (brother to DWA principal Roger Darnell) unveiling his first product at the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, DWA took responsibility for all facets of brand communications for the company’s successful launch. In 2009, Scott was invited to attend the annual conference for the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association, where Adaptive Driving Alliance leaders presented him with their New Technology Award for innovation in engineering and technology for the physically challenged. As the venture has progressed, it has tapped DWA’s expertise to cost-effectively advance essential facets of its business, including sales and customer service. Thanks to Scott’s perseverance and DWA’s ongoing support, CSI has earned vital media exposure and consistently expanded dialogues with industry experts and customers through adept communications that include dynamic use of social media.
To me, one of the best ways to understand how effective marketing works is to look at campaigns that have won the most or the biggest creative industry awards, and you won’t find a recent campaign that has been more successful at winning major awards than this one from McCann’s office in Melbourne, Australia. I discuss many awards submissions with my clients every year, and in my experience, oftentimes what makes a project award-worthy is the documentation you can provide – especially when you can clearly present valid results the work has helped deliver. This theory is backed-up by the documentation for Dumb Ways to Die from McCann Melbourne, which was named “Most Awarded Agency” by Advertising Age in 2013 thanks to this project earning numerous “best of show” honors from the major international programs, including a record five Cannes Lions Grand Prix (in the Film, Integrated, Direct, PR and Radio categories).
Here are some highlights of the verbiage the agency used for this project, which was produced for Melbourne Metro Trains.
What is the magic that allows us to connect across any span of time, distance or imagination to experience the lives and lessons of others? Of course, it’s what we simply call the story. For me personally, some of the most riveting and impactful storytelling of my lifetime has been courtesy of filmmaker Ken Burns. Like legions of other Americans and fans of quality historical entertainment all around the world, Mr. Burns’ epic works have reached me thanks to television and the internet. And while his past projects have helped shape my world view and my aims for living, beyond his work, he is mostly a mystery to me. For all of these reasons, I’m very thankful to the filmmakers Tom Mason and Sarah Klein of Redglass Pictures who created the powerful short film embedded here… to offer us all more insights into Ken Burns himself and his unique perspective on story.
“We live in a rational world where absolutely we’re certain that one and one equals two, and it does,” Burns says in the short film, “Ken Burns: On Story.” “But the things that matter most to us, some people call it love, some people call it God, some people call it reason, is that other thing where the whole is greater than the some of its parts, and that’s the three.”
Read moreSarah Klein, Tom Mason and Redglass Pictures: Thanks for the documentary
Lippincott is a leading brand strategy and design firm with a 70-year heritage crafting authentic stories, memorable experiences and winning strategies for the world’s most iconic brands. Its expertise spans all aspects of brand building including strategy, design, experience innovation and organizational engagement. Recent clients include 3M, Delta Air Lines, Hyatt, Infiniti, Samsung, Starbucks and Walmart. Lippincott is part of Oliver Wyman, a global professional services organization owned by Marsh & McLennan Companies.
As the principals of design-focused production studio Leviathan begin their fourth year in business together, their impacts are growing in virtually every dimension. While the montage featured here and at www.lvthn.com presents most of their latest large-scale visual experiences crossing all media, many new achievements are currently in the works as well.
At each new turn, projects like these for The North Face and Callaway via Factory Design Labs, for Kelley Blue Book via Doner, for Western Digital via R&R Partners, for Dodge via Union AdWorks, for HP via Designkitchen, and for musical artists Amon Tobin, Skrillex and others are leading in new directions.
R/GA is a full-service digital agency that transforms the way people interact with brands. The slideshow embedded above was part of a March 2013 talk from R/GA Chicago’s Abraham Velázquez Tello and Joseph Delhommer revealing how designers and technologists are redefining the creative process through close – and frequent – collaboration. Recently at the One … Read moreAdapting to the unknown with R/GA