AOY '08: Crispin's Product Plays

What does Whopper love smell like? It's "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat," as captured by Flame, the body spray from Burger King.Introduced in December, just in time for the holiday shopping season, the cologne is the latest offbeat product idea from BK shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Adweek's U.S. Agency of the Year for 2008 (see main story). "We're having a lot of fun with it," says Russ Klein, the fast-food chain's president of global marketing, strategy and innovation. "We're not in the business of fragrances, but we are in the businesses of being relevant in pop culture, and it's one of those-to use [Crispin co-chairman] Alex Bogusky's term-additional momentum points that we threw in the market. And it works."Made available exclusively at hip New York City drugstore chain Ricky's and at FireMeetsDesire.com (where the King is seen lounging in front of a fire, wearing nothing but an animal fur), the fragrance quickly made its way into late-night talk-show jokes and was soon selling on eBay for a whole lot more than $3.99.The buzz-building scent, packaged to look like a matchbook or lighter, isn't the first BK-branded item masterminded by the Colorado- and Miami-based agency. Two years ago, Crispin won the prestigious Titanium Grand Prix at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes for its top-selling series of Xbox games it created for the brand. The shop has even invented popular BK food products, like Chicken Fries.The endeavors are all part of a growing design and product-innovation discipline at Crispin that is taking the agency deeper into its clients' businesses.For example, one of the pieces of 2008 work that Bogusky is most proud of, he says, is the online BFD ("Big Fantastic Deal") Pizza Builder, which lets visitors to Domino's Web site build, name and register their own specialty pizzas. "It bridges the space between what we're doing in digital and product innovation," says Bogusky. The agency is also working on a unique offline ordering system for Domino's called the Knock Box-a sleekly designed box that customers keep at home and, when knocked, connects them, like a speed dial, to an order taker at the pizza chain.And though details are under wraps, Crispin is planning new work for OldNavy, one of the shop's big account wins of 2008, that will showcase itsdesign and product-innovation thinking.Crispin's product-innovation department, launched in 2007, is led by John Winsor, executive director of strategy and product innovation, and Neil Riddell, director of product innovation. The design group is often briefed alongside creative and other agency departments and now boasts its own 3-D rapid prototype printer, allowing the agency to swiftly demonstrate its product-building capabilities to clients. The ultimate goal, says Bogusky, is "to inject marketing into the product, so you know what your narrative and your hook is going to be and have it baked into the marketing for all the products that you launch."The agency doesn't get royalties from the sale of products developed for big clients like BK and Domino's. Instead, much of the agency's research and development work that can potentially produce a profit is for smaller clients. For example, the agency has a royalties agreement with Twist, a Boulder, Colo.-based startup that makes non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning sponges, for which Crispin is involved in everything from identity and package design to product development."That's been rewarding," says Bogusky. "And the way of working is neat, too, because being tied into the success of a product with royalties is much more satisfying than equity in a company where you don't unlock any wealth until it's sold."(Crispin has formed equity partnerships in the past with former advertising clients such as Method Home Products and Haggar apparel.)The agency is also the lead participant in a bike-sharing venture called B-cycle with health-insurance company Humana, bike manufacturer Trek and bike component-maker SRAM. Modeled after the Velib program in Paris, B cycle is set to roll out in Miami's South Beach in July. The agency is designing the system to allow participants to track their activity online."We've put together the entire program, including the bikes and racks," says Crispin CEO Jeff Hicks. "And we're working with them to sell those programs into cities. We're creating a brand. [And] a foundation for a business."The agency is also working on a camera for Volkswagen that would record a journey with views inside and outside the car, as well as a portable pen-shaped dispenser for WD-40. With initiatives like these, Crispin is preparing itself for a future that Bogusky says will require marketers to increasingly rely on constant product innovation and customization. "For the customer, it is all about the experience," he says. And it starts with the product.And for the agency, it's a chance to craft something that lives longer than an advertising campaign. "We get to experience a lot of new ideas and get to work on a lot of different things, but our work doesn't last very long," says Bogusky. "Sometimes, building something gives you a different creative charge."

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AOY '08: Crispin's Product Plays

Eleftheria Parpis

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Eleftheria Parpis