Creative Focus: SAN FRANCISCO

This month, Adweek's CREATIVE FOCUS leaves its heart in the City by the Bay. Featured campaigns include television commercials from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Leagas Delaney, Black Rocket and McCann-Erickson, along with print work from Winkler Advertising. Also, meet creatives Steve Stone and Bob Kerstetter, the peripatetic founders of Black Rocket, a new player on the San Francisco scene (page 38). with only a shoestring budget, the creatives at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners faced a daunting task: Convince gonzo, anti-establishment mountain bikers to feel warm and cozy about big corporate Nike. To strike the appropriate nonmainstream stance, the agency chose to spoof the tacky government education films of a generation ago. "There was no way Nike could come in and try to co-opt this sport by trying to be cool and edgy," says art director Paul Hirsch. Noting the skepticism of the average mountain biker toward slick ad campaigns, copywriter Josh Denberg jokes, "We knew we had to win them over in a simple, funny way, so we appealed to the lowest common denominator." Using grainy, jerky film, the '50s-style spots feature outdoor safety tips from a forest ranger. The lessons, delivered in deadpan seriousness, are interspersed with amateurish diagrams and scenes of racing mountain bikers. Among the topics: hunting for food, applying a tourniquet and treating mosquito bites. In one spot, a biker is shown using his Nike shoe "to crush nuts and beetles into a nutritious, edible paste," says the ranger. Art director PAUL HIRSCH Copywriter JOSH DENBERG --Joan Voight OPPORTUNITIES DO NOT ABOUND for letters of the alphabet to flaunt their individuality except, perhaps, on Sesame Street. That is, unless they're "Sharp Characters" in Winkler Advertising's campaign for Hewlett-Packard's LaserJet supplies. A new round of print ads for the 1-year-old campaign has the letter "A" driving a steamroller, the letter "T" climbing a stairway to heaven and a lowercase "i" donning a spacesuit and standing on the moon, where a white flag reads, "i was here." "We took on a category for Hewlett-Packard that was rather mundane," says Marci Roberts, Winkler's art director. "The ads all looked the same. So we brought letters to life, to bring the products that help create them to life." The "Sharp Characters II" campaign was launched in August and will run through Christmas. The "i on the moon" concept--"Lunar Landing"--which won high marks from Hewlett-Packard execs, even has a global "moonlighting" gig on customized recycling bins. The bins will be placed at HP client sites throughout Singapore for the recycling of HP toner cartridges. Art director MARCI ROBERTS Copywriter DAN KREWSON --Jane Irene Kelly To help dispel the notion that wine is only meant for special occasions, Leagas Delaney used humorous, sexy scenarios featuring good-looking wine drinkers who don't take themselves too seriously. The spots tout Sebastiani Vineyards' retail launch of its line of Nathanson Creek wines. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners alumni Harry Cocciolo and Sean Ehringer created the light-hearted $5 million campaign anchored by the tagline: "Plan to be spontaneous." The work shows couples who enjoy sex in unpredictable ways to make the brand appear both accessible and sophisticated. "Traditional wine ads take the position that wine is an important part of special occasions. We, on the other hand, are showing that wine is the catalyst for special occasions," says Ehringer, art director. In one spot, the family dog looks for its owners in a bedroom with a rumpled bed. After the pet leaves the room, a wood chest at the foot of the bed opens to show the embracing couple draped in sheets. Art director SEAN EHRINGER Copywriter HARRY COCCIOLO --J.V. It's Not Easy To Breathe Excitement into the canned fruits and vegetables category. After all, they are what they are--produce in a can. So, Black Rocket opted to tap into the ridiculous to drive home the idea that there's something "Just a little more special" about Tri-Valley Growers' S&W brand. In one of three new spots for S&W, a grandmother, peeved that her grandson chose S&W over her homemade peaches, takes the road to revenge. Tearing down the highway in her car, she sideswipes an S&W delivery truck, sending it careening over a cliff. She laughs wickedly as the truck blows up. In another ad, a boy tries to win the affection of Meredith, who refuses to go steady with him until he presents her with a gift-wrapped can of S&W kidney beans. "Since we're interrupting people's favorite shows to sell stuff," says Steve Stone, art director, "the work needs to be different and engaging. We want people to stop and say, 'Huh?'" Art director STEVE STONE Copywriter BOB KERSTETTER --J.I.K. Making money can be great fun-- as long as it's not associated with that boring "B" word: banking. McCann-Erickson's San Francisco office recently faced the challenge of adding some bounce to banking's checks and balances. In a television and print campaign for the American Bankers Association, the agency introduced "Dweeby Gerald," a 10-year-old geek with horn-rimmed glasses who is taunted by his peers every week as he walks to the bank branch--ceramic piggy bank in tow--to deposit his change. The local bullies in town go out of their way to slap a "Kick Me" sign on Gerald as he passes by, but he bravely ignores their cruel, predictable insults in pursuit of saving his pennies. Of course, Gerald gets the last laugh as an adult, when he is shown on board a spiffy yacht christened Kick Me, admiring the sunset with a sexy woman on his arm. "There's a saying that money isn't supposed to be funny," says copywriter John Mattingly. "But humor is a great way to teach banking fundamentals to a younger target audience, whose only exposure to modern banking is walking up to the ATM." Art director KEVIN McCARTHY Copywriter JOHN MATTINGLY --J.I.K.

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Creative Focus: SAN FRANCISCO

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