Associate Creative Director/Writer
Nike Lab
ROLE: Senior Copywriter
PROJECT: For the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Nike redesigned every single piece of athletic equipment they made available to all their athletes, with the hope that it might provide them with a small edge. We wanted to tell the deeper story of the innovation that helped get them there in a way that added onto our audience's viewing experience of the Olympics in a way that mirrored how we watch sports nowadays. So we created a site and mobile app that became a daily resource for everyone engaged in the Olympics, so when an athlete reached new heights, the audience could quickly find out how. The mobile version was launched in 13 languages and featured a Google mash-up retail locator.
ACCOLADES: One Show, London International Awards, FWA Site of the Month for July 2008.
ETC: Check out the site at nike.com/nikelab.
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Nike: The Complete LeBron
ROLE: Senior Copywriter
PROJECT: Even the most voracious basketball fans in the Far East had a very basic knowledge of LeBron James as he made his assault on the NBA. To help connect the fans to their newfound idol, we told his story from his earliest days in Akron to his legendary Game 5 performance in Detroit, allowing the audience to not only know him as a player but also as a man. The site we created featured videos, photography, a sneaker gallery, stats and biography that helped shaped the narrative, including childhood hoop footage from LeBron's personal stash, interviews with his inner circle and his own reflections on how he approaches his game.
ACCOLADES:One Show, Webbys.
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Nike: Kobe III One Move Ahead
ROLE: Senior Copywriter
PROJECT: When becoming mesmerized by the physical greatness of Kobe Bryant, you lose his true competitive advantage: that most of his success comes from out-strategizing his opponents. To help get our audience to understand what it is to play like him, we invited them to think like him by playing the game one move ahead. We created a site that brokendown one play and showed the rapid-fire decisions Kobe makes in each millisecond. The audience was shown the play at full speed, slowed down and at "Kobe Vision", with each one revealing more and more about his thought process. And each decision was clickable for Kobe's full explanation. The experience wound up being an invaluable insight during what became his first MVP season.
ETC: The entire process was chronicled on apple.com's homepage.
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Nike: Be Better Than Me Banner Ads
ROLE: Senior Copywriter
PROJECT: Nike wanted to inspire their fans to get out and play - or, in Nike speak, just do it. We created a banner ad that scared them into thinking that somewhere, someone is getting better than them. And since they're out there doing it, they'd better, too. So, on the pre-eminent basketball site catering to the biggest hoops fans around, we created and placed a rich media banner that, no matter the time of day, you can check out courts in Oakland or Atlanta and watch ballers playing and improving - while our audience sat around, looking at an ad. The banners set a record for the longest interaction, with an average of 83 seconds. Hopefully, those 83 seconds ended with someone lacing up their kicks and picking up a ball.
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Nike: My Game Is Made Outside
ROLE: Senior Copywriter
PROJECT: Nike learned that young ballers in the Far East tended to improve through the same regimented drills, and because of that, their games became predictable and bland. To help correct that, we showed how four of the biggest basketball players in the world used the summer and their playground during their youth to turn the fundamentals of basketball into their own unique creative expression. The site housed sixteen small documentaries - four videos each for LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce and Amare Stoudemire - with the athlete giving insight about what they worked on each summer, how they grew as players, how it fits into their games today and tips on how to add that touch to their own.
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HP: The Computer Is Personal Again
ROLE: Senior Copywriter
PROJECT: In the relaunch of the Hewlett-Packard brand, we wanted to show the highly individual and personal relationship people have with their computers. The TV spots were an exercise in branding, using the hands of celebrities as a vehicle for the storytelling. Our print needed to tie that top-line branding to specific products while staying simple, clear and elegant. The ads we created used the hands in a different manner - in this case, as silhouettes, signifying anyone. The line explored the human connection that product made with the person who used it. Furthering that connection, we teamed with a company called Personiva to put your likeness and what's important to you into your very own TV ad. The result? More connections were made: HP's revenue grew 24% from 2007 to 2008.
ACCOLADES: Ad Age's Campaign of the Year
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Xbox: Project Gotham Racing 3
ROLE: Senior Copywriter
PROJECT: Project Gotham Racing 2 had already established itself as a fine racing series. However, in an overcrowded market, they wanted to create a new niche as a driving game where style counts just as much as speed. We wanted to tell that story in a way that kept true to the idea of racing games - by keeping their hearts racing. They were invited to literally drive through our entire site by using the arrow keys to speed up and pass by some of the most stylish cars not only in our game, but in the world.
ACCOLADES: One Show, Cannes and the Clios.
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CMT: Flameworthy Awards
ROLE: Copywriter
PROJECT:
The Flameworthy Awards was meant to be Country Music Television's biggest night of the year, but ratings didn't necessarily reflect that. We decided that the best way to gain interest in it was to play off the immense likeability and unpredictability of its host - Dolly Parton. We created seven TV spots that contrasted her colorful personality against two serious and straightforward event panners, which showed that nobody really knew what's gonna happen. Leading up to the night of the show, over one million people voted to determine which artists won in each category.
EA: NBA Street Vol. 3
ROLE:
Copywriter
PROJECT:
EA Sports BIG wanted to get the NBA Street game series back to being a celebration of the inventive style of street hoops. To change the perception, we used street elements like graffiti, sketchbooks, trick plays and top ballers to blend our gameplay with the culture of playground ball. We commissioned world-class graffiti artist Sandro "Misk" Tchikovani to create design and typography that would serve as the "street" base for the print to show off gameplay, famous courts and trick moves. Psyop then used some of those elements and many of their own to create the TV spot that tapped into the imagination, creativity and style that the playground game demands.
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The Arc of San Francisco
ROLE:
Copywriter
PROJECT:
The Arc of San Francisco needed to get their mission statement out to corporations willing to hire developmentally disabled citizens into the workplace. We donated our time, effort and money to create a commercial that ran exclusively in theaters around San Francisco that was designed to make people think about what they took for granted. And, in doing so, we were able to employ one of them into our spot. If you think there's a spot open in your office for a hard worker who just needs a chance, contact them at thearcsf.org.