CHURCH OF HOOPS

Due to a steady increase in the crime rate in Chicago, the city—arguably the basketball Mecca of the world—has seen a significant drop in basketball participation among middle- and high- schoolers. Nike wanted to restore belief in Chicago basketball to help keep kids in school, off the street, and on the court.

What better way to reignite belief and a sense of belonging in Chicago hoops than to create a basketball HQ with faith at its core? We gutted the old Church of the Epiphany and turned it into a complete training grounds for our target. Boys and girls of middle- and high- school age were invited to a Nike boot camp. The space offered the high end amenities of a proper basketball facility, including a full length court, lockers and lounge area, weight and trainers room, and free Nike gear.

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CANNES LIONS: 01 Grand Prix + 01 Bronze + 02 shortlists

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Role: CD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
CD: Amir Farhang
ACD Copy: Greg Weber
ACD Art: Mike Costa
CCO: Omid Farhang

AMEX JERSEY ASSURANCE: THE FIRST-EVER PROTECTION PLAN FOR BASKETBALL JERSEYS.

NBA fans love to wear the jerseys of their favorite players. And at $200 each, they aren’t cheap. No wonder fans are distraught when their favorite player changes teams - in the NBA, 70% of players changed teams in 2018, alone. 

Partnering with the NBA and Fanatics, we created a way to turn sports disloyalty into brand loyalty – “American Express Jersey Assurance” is the first-ever protection plan for basketball jerseys.

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CANNES LIONS: 02 Bronze + 06 Shortlists | D&AD: 02 Wood | ANDY Awards: 01 Gold | ONE SHOW: 01 Bronze + 03 Merit | CLIO Awards: 01 Gold + 01 Bronze | NEW YORK FESTIVALS: 02 Second Prize + 02 Third Prize + 01 Finalist | EPICA Awards: 01 Silver | EVENT MARKETER: 01 Gold

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Role: CD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
CCO: Omid Farhang
ECD: James Robinson

NEWYORK-PRESBYTERIAN x DOMINIQUE ANSEL

NYC is in the middle of a blood shortage crisis and NewYork-Presbyterian wanted to create a blood drive unlike any other that would drive real donations and real interest to do so (repeatedly). Because when someone donates blood, they have the power to save up to 3 lives.

Whenever blood is donated, the donor needs to recalibrate their blood sugar immediately to not get dizzy or faint. And what are they given? Usually, a basic, ordinary cookie.

So we partnered with world-renowned chef (and inventor of the Cronut), Dominique Ansel, to create a limited-time only, extraordinary treat--the 3 Lives Bar--that could only be enjoyed by blood donors. The 360º campaign led to an increase in donations, ultimately saved lives, and rewarded these donors with an exclusive treat.

Since winning the account at the end of ’21, we’ve led the reframing and building of NewYork-Presbyterian as a true consumer brand. Stay Amazing, the new creative platform, tells raw, unfiltered stories of patients from New York and how next-level care lives closer to home throughout the greater New York area.

In the past year, we’ve done a lot (see below), and what you see is but a smattering of that work.

9 TV Spots
17 Radio Spots
97 OOH
29 Print Ads
69 Digital Banners
109 Social Assets…and more to come.

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ONE SHOW: 01 Merit | AICP POST: 01 Shortlist Docu-Style + 01 Shortlist Regional | LONDON INTERNATIONAL Awards: 01 Gold | NEW YORK EMMY Awards: 03 Nominations | Campaign US BIG Awards: 01 Shortlist

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Role: ECD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
CDs: Brian Pluta (CW) & Jon Cochran (AD)
ACD: Alejandra Guerrero (CW)
Art Director: Emily Haugbro

THE BROWSER THAT ADJUST FOR TREMORS.

More than 50 million people around the world suffer from Parkinson’s disease and other neuromuscular conditions, which share a common symptom: debilitating tremors. Those who suffer from tremors have to contend with the seemingly simple, even using a smart device, becoming almost impossible. In partnership with Havas Germany, we created Staybl, an anti-tremor browser, available for free. It compensates for tremor movement in real-time, so even if your device shakes, your browser window stays stable.

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CANNES LIONS: 01 Gold + 02 Silver + 01 Bronze + 03 Shortlists | D&AD 02 Wood + 05 Shortlist | ONE SHOW: 02 Silver + 04 Bronze + 05 Merit | CLIO AWARDS: 02 Silver + 06 Bronze +01 Shortlist | CLIO HEALTH AWARDS: 01 Gold + 01 Silver | ART DIRECTORS CLUB: 01 Merit + 04 Shortlist | NEW YORK FESTIVALS Genius 100: 01 Shortlist | CAMPAIGN The Power of Purpose: 01 Shortlist | CREATIVEPOOL Awards: 01 Silver | FAST COMPANY Innovation By Design Awards: Winner of Best Designed Apps & Games + Honorable Mention for Accessible Design | LONDON INTERNATIONAL Awards: 02 Gold + 04 Silver + 1 Bronze | EPICA Awards: 02 Gold + 01 Silver + 01 Bronze | EUROBEST: 01 Gold + 01 Silver + 01 Bronze + 03 Finalist | WORLD SUMMIT Awards: 01 Winner | CAMPAIGN US Big Awards: 01 Honorable Mention | WEBBY AWARDS: 02 Winner + 01 Nominee

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Role: ECD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
CD: Walter Ziegler
CD: Michael Schoepf
CD: Guido Eichhoff
CX: Kathrin Hoffman
CT: James Huerta
Designer: Janice Chen
CCO: Dan Lucey
CCO: Eric Schoeffler

THE ISSUE WITHIN THE ISSUE

NYC is struggling with homelessness, especially youth homelessness. Staggeringly, 40% of the homeless youth population identifies as LGBTQ+. To raise awareness, we partnered the Ali Forney Center (AFC), an organization dedicated to housing homeless LGBTQ+ youth, with New York Magazine, to develop an issue where 40% of the total ad inventory (28 pages) was dedicated to the challenges this group faces.

The Issue Within the Issue included bespoke editorial content that highlighted the plight of homeless LGBTQ+ youths.

We enlisted editors, writers, designers, artists, and photojournalists (all of whom were either LGBTQ+ or allies of the community) to write exposés, op-eds, features, poetry, retrospectives, and more.

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TYPE DIRECTORS CLUB: 03 Awards | CLIO Awards: 03 Bronze + 01 Shortlist | D&AD: 01 Shortlist | ONE SHOW: 02 Shortlists | NEW YORK FESTIVALS Genius 100: 01 Shortlist | CAMPAIGN US Big Awards: 01 Finalist | CREATIVEPOOL Awards: 01 Bronze | CAMPAIGN Power of Purpose Awards: 01 Shortlist | DIGIDAY Greater Good Awards: 02 Shortlists | ADAGE Editor’s Pick

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Role: ECD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
Design Director: Brian Lai
ACD: Katharine Flynn
Copywriters: Carlos Matias, Nick Malone, JP Winders, Patrick Chase
Art Directors: Camille Walker, Hamza Ali, Rudy Troncone
CCO: Dan Lucey

THE SURGE x BURGER KING PAGER

Surge, the popular 90s soft drink, is back exclusively at Burger King. We helped Coca-Cola spread the word of its return by looking to another 90s icon—the pager. The throwback tech does one thing, and one thing only: lets you know when Surge is flowing at a BK near you.  The campaign is comprised of a teaser, a long form piece (similar to a new product reveal), and hidden camera footage of an actual pager kiosk set up right outside of an Apple store. In addition, functioning pagers will be distributed to hardcore Surge fans to help spread the word.

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ADWEEK Editor’s Pick

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Role: CD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
ACD Art: Greg Tatum
Senior Copywriter: Bob Tallman
CCO: Omid Farhang

POWER BRANDING

Sports apparel brands created the business model that pays elite athletes millions of dollars in exchange for their visual identities, then exploits those identities to profit by the billions. They become commodities—their image, style, and even initials absorbed as part of the great commercial machine. Powerade wants to disrupt the model, by giving all athletes—not just the elite few—the power to know they can own their own identities.

At this year’s McDonald’s All-American Game, we gifted all 48 participants with the power to own their very own, professionally designed brand identity. Most importantly, they received a document, turning over full ownership and the copyright of the design to them, allowing them to use it however they wish, in perpetuity.

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Role: CD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
ACD Art: Mike Costa
ACD Copy: Greg Weber
Senior Copywriter: Bob Tallman
CCO: Omid Farhang

SUPER RALLY: A DIGITAL GAME HAD REAL-WORLD CONSEQUENCES?

Super Rally, a first-of-its-kind tennis game, went beyond augmented reality, blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds. Guided by tennis legend Venus Williams, players returned digital serves at real-world targets. With each hit, physical targets inside our activation space would light up, drawing the interest of spectators into the experience.

The video says it all.

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CLIO SPORTS: 01 Silver + 02 Bronze | Ex Awards: 01 Gold | Event Marketer: 01 Gold

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Role: CD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
CCO: Omid Farhang

YOU CAN'T SMELL LIKE AN NBA SUPERSTAR. BUT NOW YOUR KIA CAN.

Our latest work for Kia Motors unveiled their newest innovation: air fresheners with the "distinct in-game musk" of your favorite NBA teams.

We revamped a forgotten piece of automotive paraphernalia to excite and engage NBA fans—giving them a new, compelling reason to stop by their local Kia dealership for a test drive. 

Over 18,000 air fresheners were created and distributed to 190 dealerships across America. Additionally, the content was made available for dealers to run in local markets and the 190 participating dealerships. 

The video launched with Creativity naming it an Editor’s Pick, and The Drum and LBB also provided great coverage. Finally, NBA star LeBron James gave an unsolicited approval on Twitter to his 34.5 million followers.

Press:
Creativity/Ad Age (Editor’s Pick)  
The Drum
Little Black Book  
Lebron James Twitter post
PSFK

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Role: CD
Partner: Dan Tucker
CD: Craig Miller
CCO: Omid Farhang

BASKETBALL DECONSTRUCTED

All-Star Weekend is a celebration of more than just basketball. It’s where art, tech, and of course the culture of basketball intersect. So, we deconstructed basketball, so fans could see and feel basketball in a new, yet familiar way – part interactive hoops museum, part Instagram paradise.

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CLIO SPORTS: 01 Silver + 02 Shortlists

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Role: CD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
ACD Art: Greg Tatum
ACD Art: Mike Costa
ACD Copy: Greg Weber
Senior Copywriter: Bob Tallman
CCO: Omid Farhang

AIR TENNIS: A MULTI-SENSORY, 4D TENNIS GAMING EXPERIENCE.

Unveiled at the 2017 US Open, it helped fans feel the fundamentals of tennis in a totally untethered way. Combining the basics of tennis with gaming, fans were able to feel the heightened sensations of tennis, regardless of their skill levels. The game needed no controllers. The goal: keep the ball in play and go for the longest rally.

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CLIO SPORTS: 01 Gold + 01 Silver + 01 Bronze + 02 Shortlists

"AMEX aces the US Open Fan Experience." -The Drum; US Creative Work of the Week

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Role: CD
Partner: Bharat Kumar
CCO: Omid Farhang

DUB NATION TO THE IMAX: THE FIRST-EVER LIVE-STREAMED SPORTING EVENT AT AN IMAX THEATRE IN NORTH AMERICA

Golden State Warriors fans, known collectively as Dub Nation, root for arguably the best team in the NBA. With the team on their way to a regular season wins record in 2016, more than 150 consecutive sold out games, and the largest Season Ticket Holder waitlist in the NBA, demand to see the team live has made tickets hard to come by. To bring fans closer to their favorite team, American Express emulated the Oracle Arena experience at a local IMAX theatre, live-streaming one game just for Card Members. It was the first-ever live streamed sporting event at an IMAX theatre in North America. The experience sold out in under five hours.

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CLIO SPORTS: 01 Bronze + 01 Shortlist

Press:
Forbes 
CNET
Slam Online
SFGate
NBC Bay Area
KTVU Fox News
Sport Techie
IMAX

We created promotional posters for the event that were used for social and in-theater marquees (placed weeks before the event).

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Role: CD
Partner: Dan Tucker
ACD: Katie Honig
CCO: Omid Farhang

TAKE IT FROM A FISH

The purpose: to educate at-risk people and their loved ones about very high triglycerides, but in a thought-provoking, entertaining and sharable way. And who knows more about the benefits of fish oil then, well, fish? To bring it to life, we highlight the banter between two Striped Bass—Sal and Marty—who discuss the merits of exercise and a healthier diet, as well as some other rather inane stuff. It quickly became Twitter's Top 5 Performing Health Campaign ever.

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CANNES LIONS: 01 Grand Prix + 01 Silver + 01 Bronze + 01 Shortlist | CLIO HEALTH: 01 Silver + 02 Bronze + 01 Shortlist | ADAGE Creativity Pick of the Day

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Role: CD
Partner: Todd Feitlin
ACD (CW): Bharat Kumar
ECD: Mark Musto

We called upon comedian Sacha Baron Cohen to promote the NBA's upcoming season. In this campaign, Sacha, the star of HBO’s Emmy-award nominated ‘Da Ali G Show,’ interviews NBA elites as only the well uninformed Ali G can only do.

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Role: Art Director
Partner: Todd Feitlin
CD: Adam Hessel

Reebok used to be a major player in NFL apparel. We did some funs spots during that time.

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Role: Art Director
Partner: Todd Feitlin
ECD: Warren Eakins
ECD: Randy Van Kleeck