Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (aka “Coke Zero”) asked AKQA to develop a full-blown 2024 campaign. The challenge? Despite multiple product reformulations and great marketing, a lot of people still don’t believe it will taste good. And it was up to us to change that. But how? Why should people just take our word for it? We needed Coke Zero to speak for itself (with a little bit of help from the creatives at AKQA).
If Coke Zero was going to start talking, we obviously had to give it a voice on every platform possible. We worked with liquid specialists and AI experts to leverage ACTUAL Coke Zero condensation, bubbles, and mist and turn them into self-confident, punchy statements from the soda itself.
We also had Coke Zero make a splash on TV in a series of fun spots where Coke Zero took on the voices of a soda sommelier, Netflix night owl, and even boy band NSYNC. All the banter and singing lent itself perfectly to engaging and hilarious activations too.
I was lucky enough to serve as copywriter from the campaign’s conception to launch — with everything from headline, script, and case study writing, to casting and wardrobe, to riffing with comedians in VO sessions.
After having a laugh about being pulled onto a video game account, I buckled down and put myself in the shoes of a gamer. Activision tasked AKQA with thinking up an epic launch for Destiny 2 — a tall order considering how devoted fans had become to Destiny 1.
So, how do we hype an already-satisfied audience, gain new players, have fun with it, and tie it all back to the game itself? The answer quickly became clear: find someone famous to mimic the victory dance of the game's character, The Guardian.
Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers is known for his goofy dances in the end zone, and our launch just so happened to coincide with the start of football season. As fans eagerly awaited Antonio's moves, we had him post a fake-out video, where he practiced his moves for "the big game." Little did his fans know, that "big game" was Destiny 2.
For privacy reasons, Apple work is only available to view securely upon request. But it’s really good!
Working for Audi through their digital Agency of Record, AKQA, is fast-paced and exciting — just like their cars. From experiential campaigns, to seasonal events, to banner ads, to website and app copy, I've gotten to know Audi and its models inside and out. The subtle wit they expect in messaging and clean design of the brand perfectly align with my own style.
May 20th 2018 marked the 145th anniversary of the original blue jean — The Levi’s 501® — and we wanted to celebrate in a big way. From events, to a custom collection, to tons of social teeing it all up, we were responsible for making sure we gave denim the birthday it deserved.
In the spirit of inclusivity and Levi’s ongoing mission to collaborate with artists and shoppers, we decided to make 2018’s 501® Day all about collaboration, customization, and creativity.
Insightec is a medical device company that sells Focused Ultrasound equipment. With this equipment, physicians are able to target and destroy deep tissue to treat patients without incision. They can also monitor progress in real-time during the treatment.
It’s pretty remarkable technology, and we had the honor of unpacking it and determining how to best position Focused Ultrasound as a treatment for Essential Tremor at a Medical Expo.
Expos can be chaotic and flooded with information, so we had to make sure the Insightec booth stood out with a memorable and meaningful interactive experience.
While neurologists are deeply knowledgeable about Essential Tremor, they still aren’t able to truly put themselves in the shoes of their patients. We felt that by doing so, they could better empathize with the travails of the people they treat, and in turn fully appreciate the profound relief they could provide with Insightec’s Focused Ultrasound.
We created three mini experiences that mimicked the difficulties of daily tasks for Essential Tremor patients, and provided relevant information about Focused Ultrasound after each experience.
The 2017 Young Lions brief was to drive donations for a non-profit called Brave Beginnings. Brave Beginnings fulfills grants for hospitals, so they can purchase the expensive and specialized equipment needed for premature infants. We decided to enter both the print and film categories, and take a different conceptual approach for each.
With a topic as sensitive as premature birth and the equipment that can mean life or death for a newborn baby, we knew there was a fine line between raising awareness with raw, honest executions, and over-dramatizing just for the sake of tugging at the heartstrings.
After speaking with new parents and narrowing down the different insights we explored, we landed on two that felt the most relatable and jarring: All of life’s most cherished moments are only possible with the right care in those first critical hours (our film insight), and no parent is prepared for a premature birth, so it’s crucial that hospitals are (our print insight).
The Wig Exchange is a wonderful organization that collects wig donations from cancer survivors and donates them to patients who are dealing with hair loss during chemotherapy. It is all about community and empowerment, and speaking to an audience that is feeling a variety of different things. It has been humbling and enlightening to concept and write for The Wig Exchange. Based in Westchester, New York, they have recently launched in San Francisco, and hope to raise awareness about what they offer.
Levi’s tasked AKQA with coming up with a social play to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We could have gone with a simple approach and posted a photo of a couple kissing, both wearing Levi’s, but we decided that would just not do. Instead, we made the most of the 48 hours we had to create and deliver. We decided on customizable Instagram Story Valentines with cute, jean-centric messaging, as well as a post that shows off the customization potential in a pair of Levi’s.
Nimb is a company with one important mission: help people feel safer in their day-to-day lives. With this, comes empowerment, the opportunity to experience more in life, and that ever-sought sense of calm. How will they accomplish this? A Smart ring that is connected to a network of trusted friends and family, and even the local police. The modern-looking, unassuming ring has a button on the inside that allows people to reach this network of people and let them know they’re in trouble and need help. Through a connected app, loved ones can figure out where they need to go or who they need to call.
So, that’s a lot to say in a U.S. launch campaign. Or is it? Basically, the ring is saying “fuck fear.” So that’s exactly what we did to launch it. We decided to start with the college audience, since that’s a time where kids engage in a lot of new experiences in a new place, and parents are at home constantly worrying. We decided to find tweets about fear from schools around the country, and say “fuck that.”
“Let’s redesign a whole site between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” they said. “It will be fun,” they said.
And, it kind of was. After having been on the pitch team that won AKQA the TOMS account, I was all in. What started as a few new pages of the existing site turned into a pretty significant brand refresh. As the sole writer on the project, I got to do a bit of everything. I worked with UX designers and strategists to lay everything out, designers to come up with a clear way for TOMS to both sell product and clearly explain their mission, and of course, I wrote the site copy.
After lots of late nights and way too much pizza, we had a slew of beautiful new pages for TOMS to launch.
2018 International Women’s Day was a difficult one for brands to navigate. For Levi’s, we wondered: do we rally around the Time’s Up movement despite a current and legitimate partnership? Do we lighten it up with a simple social post of women looking badass in jeans? We floated all the ideas around and settled on something both simple and arresting. With my background in poetry and the Art Director’s flair for social strategy, we decided that Levi’s should post a poignant poem about women and their contributions, struggles, and power via Instagram Stories. We also paired it with a statement that wouldn’t disappear in 24 hours — an ode to women stitched onto a custom Trucker Jacket by a Levi’s tailor. We were delighted that the clients loved the ideas and were stoked to see the final products.
Nevro is a medical device company that uses a neuromodulation platform to treat chronic pain. Basically, they use high-frequency spinal chord stimulation to mitigate symptoms, as opposed to opioids that can compromise quality of life.
As someone who happens to be pretty interested in medicine, the science behind it did intrigue me. But as a creative, I wanted to dive right into the outcome; the benefit. Nevro treats your chronic pain and you feel a lot better. Then what? That’s what the concept needed to capture.
Texture, a client of Hub San Francisco, is an app that allows access to all the best magazines for one fee. Changing their name from Next Issue to Texture and hoping for a larger presence in the U.S, they wanted to announce themselves in a big way with a national campaign.
These days, social media is a huge part of any company's advertising. Social campaigns aren't always the most coveted or conceptual, but I see that as a reason to have all the fun I can with them. As someone who spends way too much time scrolling through Instagram on my phone, I recognize the pleasant surprise in a social post or paid ad that actually grabs my attention.
While I've worked on social posts for agencies themselves, I've also done them for clients like Peet's Coffee and LOTS for Levi's. My dog's account (@leodrazen) also has some of my best work.
