Hellmann’s Light Taste Test Video Micro Site

Agency: Dashboard Communications

Project Role: Video and online Art Direction, Design & Managed Production.

 Can you taste the difference?

In August 2007 Hellmann’s launched a nationwide campaign and taste test to challenge Canadians and see if they could tell the difference between Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise and Helllmann’s Half The Fat Mayonnaise. Dashboard was asked to create an entertaining and strategic online campaign. We decided to hire a pair of hosts and a production company and venture out with camera in hand to ask everyday people from all ages and cultures in Toronto and in Montreal if they could take the taste test.

Over the course of 2 long days and a longer week of editing, we found our top dozen or so videos and hosted them along with product information and additional taste test locations on Hellmanns.ca. Not only did we nail our objectives and the brand strategy, the client loved the results and commended us with our initiative and work.

Ontario Toyota Dealers Parts & Service

Agency: Dashboard Communications

Project Role: Lead Art Direction, Design & Managed Production.

Site: Realpartsandservice.ca

In the fall of 2007 Dashboard helped the Ontario Toyota Dealers Association launch a new division focused on service to help existing vehicle owners called Parts And Service. In what became one of the longest single first phase initiatives in Dashboard (and my) history, we spent twelve plus months developing a strategic and creative power house for the OTDA which included this web site and the launch of a new regular Parts and Service focused direct mail brochure to be mailed out out to nearly 200 thousand customers from all the current 78 Ontario Toyota Dealerships.

Breaking new ground in customer service and launching along side a well received sales site, realpartsandservice.ca focuses equally on three key points; education, retail and lifestyle. It’s not just about getting your brakes fixed. Its about learning how your brakes work…what is a brake drum?….why and when do you need to have it checked and reminding customers that preventative maintenance will not only make your vehicle last longer, but keep you and your family safe. Honesty and sales working together, who would have thought.

The project featured a three day photo shoot, video recorded conversations with senior Toyota technicians for what added to hundreds of hours of research, months of build and development and for myself a complete understanding of all sides of advertising and client services as well as creative development. The project is ongoing with future phases already in development.

The direct mail brochures focused equally on three key points; education, retail and lifestyle. It’s not just about getting your brakes fixed. Its about learning how your brakes work…what is a brake drum?….why and when do you need to have it checked and reminding customers that preventative maintenance will not only make your vehicle last longer, but keep you and your family safe.

The direct mail brochures were structured in a very specific manner: we start with branding and mission statements (an introduction to the OTDA’s beliefs), then starting at the tires the brochures take the ground up approach (wheels to brakes, brakes to internal components like the engine or battery, and out to external and additional, yet still important parts and services. While doing all this it constantly infuses lifestyle and reality into why all this matters along side useful information such as the prices and benefits of each part and service that your dealer can help you with, all designed to push customers into the dealership.

Ontario Toyota Dealers Parts & Service
Realpartsandservice.ca Web site

Ontario Toyota Dealers Parts & Service
Fall Direct Mail

Ontario Toyota Dealers Parts & Service
Winter Direct Mail

Ontario Toyota Dealers Sales DVD

Agency: Dashboard Communications

Project Role: Lead Art Direction, Design & Managed Production.

In the fall of 2007 Dashboard helped the Ontario Toyota Dealers Association further amplify their newly launch sales site and service site with a dealer DVD.

Packaging all seventeen 3-5 minute vehicle walk around videos from one of Toronto’s largest summer commercial shoots to run on a standard DVD player was only part of the effort. We also developed animated screensavers, wallpapers, an icon package and a desktop video player for all the videos to further help the OTDA sales teams in communicating Toyota vehicles’ benefits included on the DVD. Delivered with a custom dealer mouse pad it was used in dealerships through out Ontario.

Juicy Fruit Synchronized Interactive Banners

Agency: Dashboard Communications

Project Role: Lead Art Direction & Managed Production.

Extremely interactive, ground breaking, online banners. Using a three separate interacting flash banners, these ads were able not only to pull users in through strong and unique calls to action and maintain their interaction for an extended time while they played with a dynamic braking of traditional banner boundaries.

This set in particular where targeted at late teens over the summer of 2007 and specifically made to fit into muchmusic.ca and tsn.ca page templates, yet brake the banner boundary boxes when interacted with. The banners literally took over the screen and allowed the Juicy Fruit brand to be infused into their audiences minds. The strategically and creatively placed new product (new Juicy Fruit Tubes, featuring 22 pellets of gum) are thus used as the games main interactive mechanism and the branding of more gum-the 22 pieces-being the games goal to achieve.

Hellmann’s Plot Your Own Garden

Agency: Dashboard Communications

Project Role: Lead Art Direction, Design & Managed Production.

Awards/Recognition:
Davey Silver Award 2007   category: Branding
Also included the hellmanns.ca 2007 refresh.

Vaseline Clinical Therapy Online Campaign

Agency: Dashboard Communications

Project Role: Lead Art Direction, Design & Managed Production.

In the winter of 2008 Vaseline released Clinical Therapy across Canada after a successful U.S. launch. Vaseline Clinical Therapy is a clinical strength skin cream meant for severely dry skin. To prove how strong it was the U.S. team traveled to Kodiak, Alaska and let the people there sample and pass it along to someone they knew if it worked. It worked and before long most of the town was using it.

The Canadian launch was a support campaign revolving around the continued deliver of their key messaging, the Kodiak story and encouraged trial. Strictly living within media buys the campaign used a series of banner ads (including standard banners, vokens and voken to big boxes) to point users to a custom Save.ca page where they could get a coupon. The concept of the online banners was a simple yet effective one: sharing the product because it worked.

Burlington Ribfest Identity Redevelopment

Agency:Little Green Tree

Project Role: Lead Art Director, Illustrator, Designer & Managed Production

Rebranding of The Burlington Ribfest – Canada’s largest ribfest – for the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore while at Little Green Tree. Consisted of a new logo, promotional material, event outdoor banners and coupon. The Rotary Club have since continued to use and grow their new brand under the guidance Soma Group marketing into website and new marketing material each year – yet the bold and distance look and feel I first developed is still going strong. Not a bad (and ironic) accomplishment for someone who has been a vegetarian since the mid 90′s.

Hog Skateboard Packaging and Design

Role: Lead Art Direction, Illustration, Design & Managed Production.

In 2006 I designed and illustrated a series of skateboards, a box design, wheels and helmut for Hog Skateboards – a product range from Sevenstar Sports

Sevenstar Sports Packaging and Design

Role: Lead Art Direction, Illustration, Design & Managed Production.

In 2006 I designed and illustrated a series of skateboards, sports packaging, various ball designs, skateboard wheels and helmut.

Blue-Kote Identity & Online Activation

Role: everything.

Florida’s Blue-Kote by Euroglass had a problem. They had an established background in the marine industry for over 20 years, clients all over the U.S., a new product line they and no identity. Using a dated logo built of clip art featuring a boat and an umbrella, they knew it wasn’t enough to stand out and gain respect and business. So they came to me and we began the painful yet exciting process of erasing the old and building the new.

As with all our branding projects, it starts with the identity. After hours of research and concepts the  Blue-Kotes new logo was. Clean, simple, memorable and bold, Blue-Kote now stood for trust worthy protection in the marine industry. As with all our logos we build from the ground up. We look at your competition, look into your market audience and try to figure out what will suit your clients the best and represent you with a clear and simple iconic graphic.

Once their logo and stationary where developed (including business cards and labels) work on a high end, efficient and user-friendly, interactive product showcase web site started. Built with flash, php and html, Blue-Kote’s site was simple and reliable, yet still able to come in under budget. By removing online sales for a simpler ordering/email system, Blue-Kote’s staff is able to receive email orders detailing everything they need to then contact their clients directly to give them final costs with shipping. This small business approach lets Blue-Kote keep in contact with their customers and offer them convenient yet personal service. Miner Thought and I continue to maintain and develop Blue-Kote’s brand as we develop more internal and external visual material for them to keep them at the top of their game in Florida and North America’s Marine industry.

Visit the Blue-Kote web site.