New Campaigns

Client: Mirro/Wearever, Manitowoc, Wis. Agency: Cramer-Krasselt, Milwaukee Creative Director: Neil Casey Copywriters: Pat Knapp, Anwar Floyd-Pruitt Art Director: Kris Jenson Director: Jay Vigon Cramer-Krasselt's first ad for Newell Co.'s pots and pans division uses a product demonstration suggestive of the percussion show "Stomp" to show the resiliency of the Wearever line's nonstick surfaces. The 30-second TV spot shows a group of high-energy percusssionists using various Mirro/Wearever pots and pans as drums. For drumsticks, the players use metal spatulas and spoons and other cooking tools that are potentially damaging to nonstick surfaces. But the cookware, viewers are told in a voiceover, can withstand such pounding thanks to its DuPont Silverstone with ScratchGuard coating. The spot is airing nationally on cable TV. The agency won the estimated $3 million account last spring. --Trevor Jensen Client: UMB Bank, Kansas City, Mo. Agency: Barkley, Evergreen & Partners, Kansas City Executive Creative Director: David Farmer Associate Creative Directors/Copywriters: Jeff Chase, John January Art Director: Peter Corcoran Senior Art Director: Dave Wilhm Copywriter: John Carlton Senior Broadcast Producer: Terry Nichols Print Production Manager: Rhonda Jones This TV and print campaign for UMB Bank--a holding company operating 16 banks in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Colorado, Oklahoma and Nebraska--is all about strength and reliability. Playing to consumer uncertainty about the economy and financial decisions, ads cast UMB as a solid, 85-year-old source of expertise. "When your financial questions get bigger than your financial expertise," one spot says, the answer is to "Turn to your strength," a phrase that provides the anthem for the campaign. The tagline for TV and print is, "America's strongest banks." Reinforcing the image of dependability is actor Sam Elliott, who provides the voiceovers. Known for his many Western films, including Lonesome Dove, his voice is at once "strong, confident, warm and inviting," the agency contends. --Scott Hume Client: HealthPartners, Minneapolis Agency: Kruskopf Olson, Minneapolis Creative Director: Sue Kruskopf Art Director: Bill Whitney Copywriter: Dan Mackaman Agency Producer: John Lick Production Company: Azalea Films, New York Director: Randy Shreve Kruskopf Olson's campaign for HealthPartners aims to combat the negative press HMOs have been getting, but lets patients put out the positive word. One 60-second spot tells the story of Kristin, who was born with a congenital heart defect. Her story begins with a handwritten message, "Srgry makes me nrvous." The spot continues with the girl's parents describing their fears as their daughter was in and out of hospital operating rooms. "We were worried about our daughter's life, but we didn't have to worry about insurance," the father says, stressing the financial advantages of HealthPartners managed care plan. Four other spots move along the same lines, with stories including overcoming disabilities and fighting cancer. Each closes with a handwritten thought from the patient, such as "I'm glad to still be here," and the HealthPartners logo. The handwritten notes were actual responses the patients gave when asked about their greatest fear and what made them the happiest, said agency managing partner Jean Koelz. --Aaron Baar Client: Kansas Health Foundation, Wichita, Kan. Agency: Sullivan Higdon & Sink, Wichita Associate Creative Director/Copywriter: Bob Hamrick Art Director: Diane Johnson Broadcast Producer: Jo Anne Lofland We've all become accustomed to pleas to help "disadvantaged" children from broken homes or with battered lives. What's most compelling about Sullivan Higdon & Sink's $5 million campaign for the Kansas Health Foundation is that it urges adults to pay attention to a different group of kids--those who may be in the room watching TV with them. "Am I important? As important as your job?" asks one young girl. "If I wasn't here, would you miss me?" asks a fresh-faced young boy. The goal, as one spot explains, is to have parents "turn off the TV and talk with your child." The campaign's message--children directly asking parents to "Spend time with me. Grow up with me"--is offered at the close of the TV spots and the bottom of accompanying print ads, bus cards and outdoor boards that are appearing throughout the state. It is shocking and sad that parents need this sort of prodding. --Scott Hume Client: Mercy Health Partners, Cincinnati Agency: Sive/Young & Rubicam, Cincinnati Creative Director: Michael Kitei Art Director: John Nagy Copywriter: Leanne Bryant Producer: Doug Bergheger Director: Ken Morrison, Morrison Productions, New Orleans Music: Whistler's Music, Nashville Most healthcare organizations position themselves as having state-of-the-art technology and a highly trained medical staff that's up-to-date on the latest advances. Mercy Health Partners takes a slightly different approach in three 30-second TV spots from Sive/Young & Rubicam. The spots show patients receiving traditional medical care augmented by nontraditional healing. In one spot, for example, "Mike" recovers from a compound leg fracture with the aid of Tai-Chi classes. In another, a heart attack patient learns to lower her heart rate with biofeedback. "You won't find a better combination of scientific practices complemented by natural approaches than at Mercy," explain the ads, tagged "Practicing what works." The claim that Mercy goes "beyond single solutions," as each ad explains, positions the network of four hospitals as unafraid to find uncommon solutions. --Scott Hume Client: United Way Twin Cities, Minneapolis Agency: Peterson Milla Hooks, Minneapolis Creative Director/Copywriter: Joe Milla Art Director: Mary Patton Agency Producer: Gary Tassone Production: Stetterholm Productions, Minneapolis Director: Andrew Walton Editor: Michael Mees Sound Design: Eric Pilhofer & Co., Minneapolis Peterson Milla Hooks uses three people to represent the needs of many in its new TV spot for United Way Twin Cities. In the 30-second spot, the three are tossing coins into a wishing well. "I wish I could give everybody a place to sleep tonight," says a little girl. "I wish things didn't have to be this way," says an old man. "I wish I could keep him off drugs," says an elderly woman. "Wishes can come true," suggests a voiceover, as the ripples from the coins recede and the United Way logo appears. The spot kicks off United Way's annual donation drive in the Twin Cities. Offering hope is not only a strong message for the organization, it's also a way to increase its effectiveness, said creative director Joe Milla. "People are more inclined to give more if there's a ray of hope," he said. --Aaron Baar

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