Encapsulate 50 years of iconic coffee culture for a brand that doesn’t do “brand.”
In 2021, Starbucks turned 50. Wild, right?
So for the first time in over a decade, instead of talking about a new seasonal beverage, we decided to talk about ourselves as Starbucks.
In a series of TVCs (along with social, digital, and influencer campaign arms), we looked forward — unpacking the brand’s present and future by asking the question that started American coffee culture as we know it: “what’s possible?”
We launched the campaign during the Summer 2021 Olympics with spots that showcased our longstanding commitments to community (via our Feeding America partnership) and people (via our free college tuition program for baristas).
As a whole, the campaign boiled down the brand’s purpose: connecting people over coffee.
Production note: Authenticity was key, so for both campaign pieces we used real baristas, farmers, families, couples, and customers.
Creative Direction | Concept | Copy | Video
50th Director: Arturo Perez Jr.
Olympics Director: Floyd Russ
Launch a hard-to-explain product to a cohort of hard-to-reach cold coffee drinkers.
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew is a velvety enigma wrapped in a mystery of smoothness. Sweet without sweetener? Creamy without cream? It is cold brew…but, at the same time, is it?
To explain the inexplicable whoa that is Nitro, and rally male millennials to try it, we called on trusted expert of all things in the universe, Bill Nye The Science Guy.
After all, Bill has been explaining the mysteries of the world to this audience since they were kids. So, why stop now?
The campaign was one of Starbucks’ most viewed and shared digital campaigns of 2019, and helped increase in-store sales of cold coffee by 6% worldwide.
Creative Direction | Concept | Copy | Video
Director: Tim K
Production Partner: Bullitt
Editor: Sarah Harvey
Get teen girls to reconsider a classic for their first day of school fits in a way that speaks their language. Literally.
The first day of high school is totally unpredictable. For some, it's a big debut. For others, a complete nightmare. For all, a serious rollercoaster of emotions.
Hello, hormones!
So we brought all those *feels* to life in the ultimate form of teen self-expression: the GIF. And got the ever-so-GIFable Millie Bobby Brown to lead the charge.
The takeaway? In a fresh pair of Chucks, you have the confidence to take on whatever Day 1 holds. The good, the bad, the weird. The everything.
Shorty Awards Gold Winner, GIFs
Shorty Awards Finalist, Short-Form Video
Creative Direction | Concept | Copy | Video
Director: Johan Anderson
Use World Refugee Day’s 24-hour window to show just what we lose if refugees lose our support.
In 2019, there were 70.8 million displaced people in the world. The most in history.
Since 1933, the IRC has worked to mitigate the refugee crisis, and World Refugee Day is a critical moment for their mission.
But what most don’t realize is that every day, our lives are touched by the impacts of refugees’ success. It’s a song on the radio, the medicine treating our bodies, a search engine running the world.
This single message was brought to life through 8 refugee success stories, told by 8 different people from all walks of life, including a few IRC Celebrity Advocates.
It culminated in a film series that served as a love letter to all refugees, stunts in The Met and Tate Modern museums, a full-page open letter in the NYT and Guardian newspapers, a billboard in Times Square, and 25 global video assets shared on IRC social channels and via pre-roll, and by celebrity and brand partners.
It was the IRC’s most successful campaign in history.
Best Integrated Campaign (Branded) | Webby’s
People’s Voice Winner | Best Integrated Campaign | Webby’s
Best Integrated Campaign | The Drum Social Purpose Awards
Finalist for Best Non-Profit Campaign of the Year, Best Video Campaign, Best Live Stunt | The Drum Social Purpose Awards
Creative Direction | Art Direction | Copy | Video
Director: Johan Anderson
Celebrate women during the dawn of the Trump era in a way everyone — left or right — can get behind and stand for.
Since 2005, YouTube has given women around the world the space to have a voice. So for 2016’s International Women’s Day, they wanted to celebrate those voices in a way only YouTube could.
But in a political climate more divisive than ever, we needed a message that wasn’t political (at a time when everything read political).
So rather than say something as a brand, we did what we always do: let women speak for themselves.
#HerVoiceIsMyVoice called on the YouTube community to share a video of the woman’s voice who inspires them. In turn, inspiring us all.
Concepting | Creative Direction | Copy
A zero-BS Earth Month campaign, designed for the biggest Gen-Z skeptics — and TikTok.
Starbucks is a giant corporation. Starbucks also cares about the planet…a lot. (Remember their game-changing anti-straw pledge?)
Problem is, most of their eco efforts tend to go unnoticed — especially by audiences passionate about the planet, like Gen-Z.
So we created a Gen Z-focused social-first campaign to shine a light on our sustainability story, and launch two new pilot programs: 100% reusable cup kiosk stores, and our commitment to replanting 100 million trees by 2025.
We broke down our practices into no-nonsense, fact-driven short and long-form content that allowed our audience to dive deep (mirroring the truest TikTokian behavior).
We even got Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer, Michael Kobori, to go on the record, AMA-style, and answer fan (and critic) questions about our pledges to the planet.
Creative Direction | Concept | Copy | Video
Create a moment around the iconic Red Cup in a way that channels positive conversation (for once).
For its 20th consecutive year, Starbucks kicked off the holiday season with a new holiday cup. A cup that never fails to spark a lot of conversation—and criticism.
But a single paper cup cannot and does not define the holidays. Obviously. So we used the reaction we knew we’d get as inspiration, and positioned the cup as “just the beginning” — a canvas for customers to make the holidays their own, all season long with Starbucks.
We launched the campaign with a film about the cup’s creation, showing a world of ways holiday goodness is celebrated and shared. Across traditions, geographies, relationships, skin tones, and family structures. The film served as a feel-good invitation for customers to decorate their own holiday cup at Starbucks.
It became the most watched holiday video of the season (76MM+), topping H&M and John Lewis, in spite of the "Gay Agenda" controversy.
On November 9, we created a mural manifestation of our message, where Starbucks artists - and some famous friends - brought fan-submitted holiday goodness to life on Facebook Live.
Did it get backlash? Yes. But was that the purpose? Of course. It wouldn’t be a holiday without an angry uncle at the dinner table, right?
Creative Direction | Concept | Copy | Video
Showcase Adobe’s suite of tools through a suite of talented young female artists — and elevate their work in the biggest way imaginable.
We transformed an entire Brooklyn neighborhood into The World’s Biggest Student Art Show, turning the artwork of 10 female students into 10 giant hand-painted murals – all in the name of empowering and elevating tomorrow’s female creative leaders.
The walls were painted by Colossal Media, and outfitted with beacon technology, so passersby could unlock more info about the artists, collaboration and campaign through Adobe’s Behance mobile app – just by being nearby.
OBIE Awards 2016 | Best in Show
Gold Winner, Business and Tech
Concepting | Copy | Video
Break down the new features of the latest Samsung smartphone in a way that tells a bigger story of how the brand fits into your life.
How can you redo the tech "How-To"?
Show how complicated products make life's adventures better. Simply.
We created a 3-part episodic series of social/digital videos that showed just that. And because information should be a la carte, broke it down into 25 pieces of "oh, I get it" content.
Because we all deserve to have our adventures better documented. If you want them to be.
Creative Direction | Copy | Video
Break through the COVID noise to drive donations for refugee communities already on the brink of disaster.
In March of 2020, as the world began to grapple with the reality and devastation of COVID-19, more than 70 million refugees and displaced people were facing a critical situation.
Without homes to shelter in, space to socially distance, and basic medical care to treat an already at-risk population, COVID-19 was projected to take 3.2 million refugee lives.
Never in their 87-year history had the IRC faced a situation where every crisis zone they served, across 40+ countries, was under attack from a new threat at the same time.
In a moment saturated with calls for help by communities in need, the IRC needed to quickly and effectively break through, direct people’s attention to this escalating crisis, and increase donations for crucial supplies and support.
We tackled the ask two ways:
1. Created an emotionally driven :30 PSA for NBC + BBC to drive necessary awareness and donations.
It was made entirely in lockdown, in 5 days, with footage sourced from family + friends.
2. Used World Refugee Day to re-up our message, with a 360 campaign that shed light on the realities of refugees, broke down politically-inflicted stigmas, and drew additional support from donors.
Our campaign, “Refugees Are Essential,” spotlighted refugees working on the frontlines to help fellow displaced populations fight COVID. The concept doubled down on the idea that not only are these refugee workers essential to combat crises and help humanity, but refugees are essential to making our world more compassionate, human, and vibrant.
The campaign broke donation records, and had lasting effects to help camps and communities fight COVID and stay alive.
Creative Direction | Concepting | Video
Be a defining presence at the Olympics by celebrating real-time moments that uniquely defy what’s never been done.
As an Official Olympic Sponsor, Samsung wanted to make a statement in Rio. One that embodied their new brand positioning of doing what you can't.
And they wanted to do it in real-time in Rio.
So we helmed 16 days of on-the-ground content that build narratives around the athletes and stories that embodied that core value of defying the odds.
The moments that are defined in a split-second. Or a second chance.
Because just like our boundary-defying technology, the Olympics remind us that humans are pretty incredible. And putting a spotlight on that, puts it all in perspective. For everyone.
Concepting | Copy | Video
Show how Adobe helps you ‘make it’ with Creative Cloud and a dream collaboration with hip-hop label Dreamville.
In another installment of our “Make It” series, Adobe partnered with Grammy-winning rapper J. Cole's label Dreamville to give one student the chance to go on the road with their Forest Hills Drive Tour.
Armed with only a camera and Creative Cloud, Loyola Marymount's Logan Koerner documented their story on the stage and behind-the-scenes — as we captured his.
Concepting | Copy | Video
Get people to stop "googling it" and "Bing it" instead.
It’s a tall order. So we focused on Bing’s differentiating factors: travel, photography, social connectivity and positioned Bing as the platform about doing. A tool to find what you want to get out there and see, feel, climb, hear, dive into.
We turned that insight into a 52-day campaign where each day started with a search word. Search that word, and you unlocked tons of content from influencers, special stuff from Bing, and $$$ prizes.
That word was also really f**king pretty, thanks to handful of all-star typographers and photographers who injected an adreneline shot of inspiration into every daily post.
People didn't just want to search - they wanted to discover. And we had plenty to see.
Weekly Pin boards, crowd-sourced Spotify playlists, Instagram feeds and contests, Foursquare must-go lists (and of course Twitter and Facebook), gave fans all the ideas they needed to get out there and do.
The result? Well...we may not have outrun Google, but we did make one memorable summer totally worth it.
Concepting | Copy
