New Campaigns

Client: Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Little Rock, Ark. Agency: Martin & Martin, Little Rock Creative Director: Danny Koteras Copywriter: Shawn Solloway Art Director: Mike Farris Production Company: Jones Productions, Little Rock Well-known skydiver and stuntman Jamie Paul and "camera flyer" Joe Jennings were among the cast and crew assembled to shoot Martin & Martin's latest television spot for Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Jennings has taken to the air before for similar production endeavors [he filmed Pepsi's recent "Goose" spot for BBDO.] This time, he accompanied Paul on a 12,000-foot plunge for a commercial that culminates with the opening of a giant parachute emblazoned with a huge Blue Cross and Blue Shield logo. The ad is the latest effort in Martin's "Blue and you" campaign, which features different objects representing the company's reliable medical coverage and benefits. "When your life depends on it, reliability is a must," said Patrick O'Sullivan, client vice president of advertising and communications. "That's why the dynamic moves of the skydiver, showing speed and flexibility, and the ultimate dependability of the Blue Cross parachute worked so well in this spot." Creative director Danny Koteras choreographed and oversaw the shoot from the airplane. Print and outdoor executions round out the advertising campaign, which is running throughout Arkansas. --Steve Krajewski Client: Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, Dallas Agency: GibbsBaronet, Dallas Creative Director: Willie Baronet Copywriter: Max Wright Art Directors: Meta Newhouse, Bronson Ma No more J.R. Ewing 'round these parts. Rather than continue to hang its 10-gallon hat on the notoriety of the long-retired Dallas television series character, the Dallas C&VB instead will emphasize Big D's culture, restaurants and history in its 1998 image campaign. The new print component debuted with four ads the bureau hopes attracts conventions and tourists, with placements in trade magazines including Corporate Meetings and Incentives, Expo, Successful Meetings, Meeting Professionals International and Trade Show Week. In an ad promoting the city's variety of eating establishments--Tex-Mex, Thai, French, Ethiopian, etc.--the headline reads, "Dallas. More kinds of food than a potluck dinner at the U.N." The choice of malls to visit in Dallas produced an execution that notes, "It's what heaven looks like to a shopaholic." The new tagline is: "Dallas. The Texas star." The ads shift dramatically from the bureau's late 1980s work that capitalized on the fame of the fictional Ewing clan. Advertising in recent years had already begun the transition from Dallas, with the theme, "We've got it all. Dallas." GibbsBaronet teamed with other Dallas marketing companies on the campaign, including McCue Marketing Services, Cinco Media Communications, JW Enterprises and Create Tech. The ads are expected to run throughout the summer and fall, according to GibbsBaronet. --G.F. Client: Bassett Furniture Direct, Dallas Agency: The Beaird Agency, Dallas Creative Directors: Brice Beaird, Bucki Rogers Art Director: Mary Lou Catoe Copywriters: Rogers, Susan Taylor Bassett is a long-standing brand in the furniture category, but its retail concept is rather new--brand new for the Dallas market, in fact. The Beaird Agency is in the midst of the second phase of the grand opening campaign for three Bassett Furniture Direct stores located in North Dallas, Lewisville and Mesquite, Texas. In the first part of the $1.5 million advertising effort, the agency originally unleashed a bassett hound as a quick visual connection to the client. The dog has since been sent to the backyard as recent outdoor and newspaper work focused on the store's products and services, including computer-aided design centers providing guidance on furnishing homes. In that work, the agency utilizes the theme from Bassett's national work, "Let yourself go," but in a television spot created by Beaird in conjunction with Houston shop The Cohen Group, "Your one-stop furniture design store" serves as the tagline. Agency president Brice Beaird said the remainder of the year's work will include special events backed by outdoor, print, radio and television placements. --Glen Fest

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