New Campaigns

Client: Anderson Design, Plainville, Conn. Agency: Tom Davis + Co., Lexington, Mass. Creative Director: Damon Meibers Art Directors: Chuck Taylor, Way Tay, Ken Cool, Damon Meibers Copywriter: Craig Walker Give me an "A." The first letter of the alphabet--rendered in stone, steel and sculptured crystal--figures prominently in Anderson Design's latest branding campaign. A series of print ads feature uncluttered art direction and simple headlines, including "The products of riveting ideas" and "The products of a solid relationship." Apart from the client's address, telephone number and Web site location, no other copy is used. The goal of the campaign is to convince manufacturing companies to avail themselves of Anderson Design's services, said Rick McKenna, executive vice president of Tom Davis + Co., which has handled the account for the past several years. Anderson Design recently developed the PartyMate blender for Black & Decker and the Cuddle Tub, an infant bathtub marketed by Century Products. The ads are running in Innovations and other specialty magazines covering industrial design, McKenna said. Spending is in the six figures, he said. --David Gianatasio Client: DJ USA, Boston Agency: Partners & Simons, Boston Creative Director/Art Director: Tom Simons Copywriter: Jane Roper A heavy-metal drummer engaged to a New England debutante? A woman betrothed to a horse? These are just some of the unions envisioned in DJ USA's latest campaign, now running in regional bridal magazines. No matter how odd the match, the company's tagline promises: "There isn't a wedding we can't set to music." One execution takes the form of a mock wedding announcement showing a demure, pearl-wearing blonde and a sneering rocker with a spiked dog collar around his neck. According to the text, when Anne Whitney Tyler, a media planner at a conservative ad agency, wed Eric "Grip" Smith, a drummer with Suck the Marrow, the music at the event was a "seamless combination of Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and Celine Dion." The guests danced all evening, pausing only briefly "when the groom's father sustained a minor head injury in the mosh pit." "One of [DJ USA's] strengths is their ability to customize," said Partners & Simons copywriter Jane Roper. "They really listen to the couple's likes and dislikes and put together music that manages to get everyone up and dancing. There really isn't a wedding that they can't provide music for, no matter how nonmainstream." --Sarah Jones Client: Checkered Past Records, Chicago Agency: Pagano Schenck & Kay, Boston Creative Director: Woody Kay Art Director: Jon Wyville Copywriter: David Register Grim alternative music is the focus of Pagano Schenck & Kay's new campaign for Checkered Past Records. The Chicago-based record company, founded two years ago by Larry Lipson, associate creative director of Cramer-Krasselt in Milwaukee, specializes in folk and rock artists who aren't afraid to express their darker side. The print effort evokes circus advertisements from the 1950s, with headlines including "Little ditties about loneliness, paranoia and manic depression" and "A lifetime of pain, suffering and heartbreak digitally mastered for your pleasure." Copy in one execution promises that artist Johnny Dowd's "Wrong Side of Memphis is something darker than blues. It's bone-chilling reality. . . . Take a ride with Johnny and you may never come back." The headline: "Songs that will stick in your head like an ice pick." The Boston agency's mission was to focus on the unusual musical stylings, rather than promote specific releases, according to copywriter David Register. "Most of the songs deal with themes like poverty, drinking and urban isolation. We juxtaposed the mention of music with the depressing subjects." Ads are appearing in small magazines such as No Depression, Corn Fed, Alternative Press and Magnet. --Sarah Jones

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