CATERPILLAR
Walk by most any job site and chances are you'll see a Cat at work. Since 1910, It's these yellow giants that have been hard at work help build the world we live in.
I grew up loving Cats. My son loves Cats. Show me a kid who doesn't yell "Digger" when he sees a Cat on the street and I'll show you a kid that needs glasses.
So when they came to us asking for a new brand platform to help reinvigorate the brand and attract a new customer base overseas, we did more than just say yes. We rolled up our sleeves and got down to work.
"Built for it" was the global platform we launched three months later.
THEY CAN'T ALL BE A-SIDES.
Back in the day, the B-side of an album was where you'd find extra songs and outtakes. This is my B-side. Some are here for language. Others for the look. And a few more simply because they were good ideas, despite hitting the cutting-room floor. Enjoy.
IBM SOUND POETRY.
I spent a bunch of years writing ads for IBM. The early days of e-business. Companies were scrambling to get on board. Meaning online. We did a ton of work. But nothing ever like this video. I was asked to interview a bunch of futurists about tech and the Web. They waxed poetic about the possibilities. Over thirty hours of waxing. A sound engineer and I created what you're about to hear. Everything is composed from the interviewees' voices. Every beat. Every sound. Everything. The phrase "MY-E-BA" is "IBM" in reverse. We planned to launch it unbranded. Coders would've eaten it up. The ASCII design was the cherry on top. "Too risky!" the lawyers said. We tried branding it. "Still too risky!" they said. Shelved. Until now. ; )
THE BEST RUN BUSINESS RUN SAP.
I worked on and helped run SAP for a few years. While a wildly-unknown ERP software company, SAP helps many of the world's well-known companies run better every day. When"the cloud" became all the rage, we developed "The Cloud Built For Business" campaign. I've always loved the art direction. The angular cloud shapes floating behind the headlines. Simply elegant.
LIFE RUNS SAP.
To demonstrate how SAP’s constant pursuit of better helps real companies continue to improve the lives of their customers, we created this campaign that points to everyday things we all rely on but don’t necessarily think much about.
MANIFESTO, INC.
The running joke at Ogilvy is it's the farm league for manifesto writing. We all write them. A manifesto can help crystalize an idea. Help a roomful of clients fall in love with a new platform. Bring a tagline to life. Manifestos establish tone, voice. They introduce intent, purpose. They can be lyrical or emotional. Provocative or pragmatic. You may have seen one or two manifestos on previous pages. Like I said, we write them a lot. Here are a few more.
A manifesto can help win a pitch.
A manifesto can unite employees during a pandemic.
A manifesto can motivate donors to dig deep into their wallets.
A manifesto can start a movement.
YOU, INC.
Like many tech companies, Cisco recognized small businesses as a big market to tap into. But unlike many of those companies who were retrofitting solutions made for the big companies, Cisco created a suite of bespoke "smart" collaboration tools specifically for SMBs. "You, Inc." allowed us to successfully talk with this audience in an authentic way. I've always loved the simplicity of the language and the look. Shot by the amazingly talented and prolific Michael McGlaughlin.
NOW HIRING.
If IBM had a cool kid in the family, it was Lotus. This small collaboration software company based in Massachusetts had a look and tone all its own. Silicon Valley vibes in the northeast. The recruitment campaign below met jet-setting techies on their travels. We spoke to them on digital displays in airports, train stations, online, and mobile. It made my B-side because it was a ton of fun to write. Edgy, cheeky. Not B2B.
