Objective: Challenge pre-conceived notions about Best Western hotels while giving the brand a fun persona.

Best Western has a reputation for being a “lower end” hotel chain, and this campaign aims to dispel it. The campaign works on the notion that, if consumers were to be shown images of outstanding Best Westerns, they may be taken by surprise. The use of the old “Well ____ and call me ____.” expressions conveys that surprise. A reply by a fictitious Best Western employee shows that they get that reaction all the time, and thus take the phrases literally.

Watch me talk a little more about the campaign:

Objective: Use Netflix’s massive movie library to capture the attention of every kind of movie lover.

Netflix queues can be seen as extensions of someone’s movie-watching taste: they’re unique to each person. Using that logic in a television campaign, a Netflix queue is manifested by combining two movies, as if by sitting side-by-side on someone’s queue, they bled into one another. The queue “greets” the viewer, reminding them that the movies are waiting to be watched. Even if the viewer does not have a Netflix account, it works as an example of what the service has to offer.

Users would be encouraged to create their own movie mash-ups with two movies from their own queues. Netflix would direct users to tweet the YouTube links, retweeting them and possibly taking the most popular ones to air as official commercials. By using the already popular pastime of editing movies for YouTube (see: most of the supercuts on YouTube), Netflix would have numerous testaments to the strength of their movie library.

Watch the commercials below:

Watch me talk a little more about the campaign:

Objective: Utilize Altoids’ signature quirky charm to encourage consumers to think of the mints as a small pick-me-up.

It’s common for people to say that a bad experience or unpleasant memory leaves a “bad taste in your mouth”, and this campaign would make use of that in both its literal and figurative sense. Fake “how-to” pamphlets will, when unfolded, give readers tips on how to complete very specific tasks that often result in unpleasant outcomes. The final step in each guide tells you to pop an Altoid–in a sense, dust yourself off and continue with your day. Altoids, therefore, serve as a pick-me-up and a sign that not everything sucks.

The ads would target specific consumers–”how to wing a final exam”, for instance, would appear in publications with young, college-aged readers.

Watch me talk a little more about the campaign:

Objective: Parlay the buzz from 2011′s “Beneful is advertising to dogs” hooplah in Europe by creating a tongue-in-cheek campaign that takes the concept a step further and paints Beneful as the only dog food company that truly “gets dogs” as a target audience.

A print campaign would speak exclusively to dogs, never referencing the fact that it’s actually the owner viewing the advertising and making the dog food purchases. The ads would run alongside fake ads that target dogs as well, but with considerably less finesse. It takes the age-old advertising concept that “you need to know your audience” and makes it literal, while putting a self-aware spin on that aforementioned “advertising to dogs” story. Outdoor aspects could achieve the same end with advertising that is exclusively dog-targeted.

Another aspect of this “Beneful gets dogs” campaign would feature the opening of a Beneful customer service Twitter account (pictured below). This would be manned by dog who “dictates” his tweets to a colleague who has opposable thumbs. Admittedly, he’ll do less customer servicing than your average rep, but his stunted communication style will appeal to anyone with a fondness for dogs or parody Twitter accounts while promoting Beneful along the way.

Watch me talk a little more about the campaign:

Objective: Encourage girls aged 9 to 11 to join the Girl Scouts by highlighting one of the organization’s core values: sisterhood.

A print campaign takes characters easily identifiable to young girls (Disney princesses) and uses their well-known stories to illustrate the ways that friendship can change lives for the better. A reflective material on the princesses’ faces symbolically calls for the girls to place themselves in their shoes. A young girl will see Aurora, call to mind her story (princess fulfills prophetical curse by pricking her finger on a spindle), and can instantly understand how different that story might have been had she had a close friend at her side. It gives value to the Girl Scouts when a girl realizes that by joining them, she will be given an easy opportunity to make friends.

Watch me talk a little more about the campaign:

Objective: Increase consumer interest in Bic’s line of ordinary writing utensils and position Bic as a company that wants to improve the world with its products.

A print campaign boasts improvements on Bic’s classic writing tools, bending the laws of science to entice customers. Subsequent YouTube videos show news reports that reveal the dark side of trying to “enhance” these products: a 10-year-old girl makes her little brother cease to exist, pencil lead manufacturers go on strike and countless people forget their passwords and PINs. A final video shows the fictional Bic CEO apologize for going too far in enhancing these products and, to make amends, the company donates supplies of Bic products to schools with the greatest need. The donation is real, even if the scandal isn’t.

Watch me talk a little more about the campaign:

Objective: Inspire loyalty for Jelly Belly’s 50 flavors and create distinctions for each one.

The Unpopularity Contest would call on consumers to rally behind their favorite of Jelly Belly’s 50 flavors to save it from being sent to the chopping block. Their actions on social networks and in public demonstrations would earn points for their favorite flavor or dock points from a least favorite flavor. All activities would be tracked on a JellyBelly.com subsite. Inserts in Jelly Belly bags will promote the contest. At the end of the period (running during the summer months), the flavor with the fewest points is officially removed from the 50 flavor lineup and will have the rest of its stock sold with its unpopularity vaunted.

Watch me talk a little more about the campaign: