NYC's Guerillafx recently hosted a New Media Roundtable during which a selection of agencies discussed the challenges they've faced in getting their clients' messages into emerging mediums. The event was moderated by Guerillafx director/creative director/senior VFX artist Thor Raxlen, who has worked on Internet spots for clients such as Nike, Cingular, and Coke Zero, among others.
KC Tagliareni, a partner at G2 New York, opened up the event and quickly noted that advertising has evolved beyond the traditional one-way communication of TV, radio and print. The Internet, he said, allows for two-way communication, and content creators need to evolve with the times. Vehicles such as blogs, Podcasts and vlogs offer new opportunities to advertisers that previously did not exist, particularly for tobacco companies looking for new ad space.
Creatives from AtmosphereBBDO discussed some of their recent work, including projects for FedEx/Kinkos and Cingular. Cabot Norton, a creative director there, said clients should not feel obligated to take components from offline campaigns (print, TV) and use them online. That said, he added, sometimes borrowing components from offline makes sense, as was the case for a FedEx/Kinkos project, based around the "No more all-nighters" theme of a TV spot featuring an office worker who hits the coffee hard. The online campaign took advantage of the character and incorporated an interactive office setting that shows how FedEx/Kinkos' service fits in.
Alex Colvin, an associate producer at Campbell Mithun, worked with Guerillafx on a Nexxus Web project. The TV campaign featured Ford models, while the Website offered a behind-the-scene look at a high-end shoot, as well as professional stylist How-To's.
Wieden & Kennedy's Darren Himebrook believes that Web content has to go beyond the "louder and brighter" mentality and offer more compelling content. "The Web," he said, "allows you to tell deeper stories than traditional broadcast."
Raxlen agreed: "We are all filmmakers, trying to tell compelling stories. It's a cool time, because there are no boundaries."