‘November 2’ Is First for Portland 12

NEW YORK Wieden + Kennedy’s 12’s first work for nonprofit coalition National Voice features a TV spot showing people from around the country wearing T-shirts that read “November 2,” the date of the presidential election.

“We learned a lot. We did everything from account planning, account service, media buying, art direction and copywriting,” said Jelly Helm, director of W+K’s 12, Portland, Ore. “It was an intense, satisfying, complicated, wonderful experience.”

The campaign was created via photographs and video taken during a bus trip from New York to Miami, via stopovers in the Midwest. During the tour, ’12’ staffers handed out iron-on letters spelling “November 2” and asked people why they did or didn’t vote.

“What we needed was some way to articulate a non-partisan message that would encourage people to get out and get involved in the election,” said Suzanne Stenson O’Brien, communications director at National Voice in Minneapolis. “The ‘November 2’ slogan they came up with is so perfect, it couldn’t be any more simple.”

The TV spot, directed by Stacy Wall of Epoch Films, shows people of different ages, sex and races wearing multi-hue T-shirts with the November 2 logo. Onscreen copy proclaims, “On November 2, we decide.” The ad directs consumers to the www.november2.org Web site.

“It’s tough to find compelling imagery for voting,” Stenson O’Brien said. “It’s kind of a short act, not very sexy. In this creative execution it’s shown in a very bold way why it’s important, why people feel it is important.”

On the Web site, also created by W+K’s 12, visitors can upload pictures of people or themselves wearing a November 2 shirt, purchase November 2 T-shirts and hats, and make donations to National Voice, which has not advertised previously.

This is the first completed project for the 12 participants of W+K’s ad school, which does not individualize creative credits. New work for clients Grokker and Ecotrust is due out this fall.