A few months after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc over the New Jersey Coast, Brushfire was awarded with the assignment to create a fully integrated campaign reminding people that New Jersey would be open for the Summer and that it would take more than a devastating hurricane to drown their spirit and strength.
“Stronger Than The Storm” was one of the most important and influential campaigns I had the pleasure to work on in recent years. The advertising was broadcast on national television, heard on the radio, had a digital and social presence and huge digital billboard on the corner of 42 and 8th in Manhattan that I made sure to point out to anyone each time I was there. The campaign became a symbol unto itself.
Even President Obama, while making a speech on the Boardwalk in New Jersey reminded the people that they were indeed Stronger Than the Storm.”
And most importantly, the message spread. Visitation for the summer of 2013 grew to 87.2 million while consumer spending increased to 40. 4 billion.
My first experience with DTC pharmaceutical advertising was when I helped pitch and eventually won the Xenical business for Lowe and Partners. It was both enlightening and educational as I found myself writing fair balance copy that became legendary in it's graphic explanation of the drug's gastro-intestinal side effects.
When I joined DDB I was given the responsibility of using my award- winning consumer experience to spruce up their pharma accounts. Over the next five years I worked on several different drugs for Merck, Novartis, Schering-Plough and Astra Zeneca. I found the work challenging, yet ultimately rewarding.
My work on Vytorin won "Best Branded T.V. Campaign" in the 2006 DTC National Advertising Awards.
In the past several years I had the wonderful opportunity to work on both the New York and New Jersey Lottery accounts.
Lottery advertising tends to be humorous, which made me a happy camper, since I've been called a very funny guy.
I was able to create broadcast, radio, rich media and out of home advertising which brought smiles to faces and bodies to the stores that sold tickets.
What's more, my television commercial for New Jersey Lottery Win for LIfe won Best of show at the 2014 New Jersey Awards.
Every time I create something, whether it's a piece of copy, a finished commercial or a new illustration, I am filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I want to tell the world "I Did That."
And that is the insight behind this campaign for Minwax Stains and Finishes. While the brand has been known for its functionality I thought it was time to explore the emotional side of the equation.
What makes this campaign even more special is the client allowed us to create atwo minute video for their website that took this emotional approach to an even higher level.
"The Best Teacher" tells the story of pride, accomplishment and the passing of the torch to the next generation, ensuring the brand a healthy future.
One of my most successful pitches in recent years was for Remington Shavers. We spent months brainstorming, conceptualizing, honing, finessing and finally fleshing out three strong ideas for the presentation.
The agency favorite by far was "Serious Face Time." We all felt it was a fresh, concise way to drive home the concept of how important it is to look and feel your best for all the moments in your life that matter.
It was an exciting pitch. You could feel the enthusiasm and energy exuding from all of us. And from the smiles and nods we saw in the room, we knew our client was suitably impressed.
Oh, and yes, we won the account.
Some of the most enjoyable work in my 30 years has been in Consumer Packaged Goods. I had the opportunity to work with several wonderful brand icons in the process. For example. Snuggle. Our assignment for the fabric softener was to update the Snuggle Bear to compete against a hipper crowd that used Downy. We focused on softness in a unique and arresting way by creating a lovable gruff porcupine. The campaign increased brand awareness and was even mentioned on the Conan O'Brien Show.
I also never realized how much fun I could have creating a spot for bathroom tissue. The simple Three Bear-inspired premise for Angel Soft produced one of the highest testing spots for the brand and is one of my recent favorites.
I'm proud to have created hundreds of pieces of advertising in all media. Choosing favorites among "your children" is difficult. But here are few examples I produced that I especially love.
Sure, there are more, and as time goes on I might just mix things up so the other spots don't get jealous.
I started freelancing steadily in the fall of 2014. Since then I have had the pleasure of working both on-site and remotely on pitches, manifestos, brochures, websites broadcast campaigns, radio spots and more pitches.
I’ve created concepts and finished work on accounts including Ford Trucks, Sea World, Vonage, PSE&G, Ruby Tuesdays B&H Photo and Mike and Ike’s Candy
Here are just a few examples of the work I’ve had produced.
This was one of the most exciting and enjoyable pitches I had to work on at FCB/Garfinkel. The assignment was to create three different animated campaigns for a hypothetical pharmaceutical product . Each ad had to utilize a different style of animation and a different point of view. Here is just one storyboard page from the first campaign we developed.
Besides being a writer I am also a cartoonist. I studied cartooning and animation at the School of Visual Arts and while pursuing advertising as my career I never stopped drawing.
In 2009 I opened my Etsy shop "Daydaykay Designs" featuring humorous greeting cards as well as cartoon illustrations for children.
Here are a few samples of my favorite pieces.
If you like what you see, please visit daydaykay.etsy.com to view the whole shop. And feel free to buy something. It goes to a worthy cause-Me.
