#180la

[acmeadstudio]

To My Great-Granddaughter (:60) - University of Phoenix)

Agency: 180LA

[campaignsoftheworld]

Boost Mobile: Boost Your Voice

Some voters face obstacles to casting their ballot. Let’s make this year every American has an equal voice. Boost Mobile launches Boost Your Voice campaign

In one of the biggest election years ever, we discovered voter suppression was a real issue in low income neighborhoods. Lack of outreach, confusing polling places and lines around the block. Boost Mobile stores are located in those neighborhoods. So we turned Boost stores into polling places, transforming them from a place that sells goods to one that does good. Credits Entrant Company: 180LA Campaign: Boost Your Voice Agency Network: TBWA Holding Company: Omnicom Group Production Company: The Corner Shop Advertiser / Brand: Boost Mobile Post Production Company: Therapy Studios Music/Sound Company: Atomica Music Library Digital Design Company: Jam3 Music/Sound Company: Eleven Sound Visual Effects Company: Jogger Studios Post Production Company: Cut+Run Chief Creative Officer: William Gelner Executive Creative Director: Eduardo Marques Executive Creative Director: Rafael Rizuto Creative Director: Mike Bokman Creative Director: Jason Rappaport Director of Art & Design: Chris Welsby Associate Creative Director: Tylynne McCauley Associate Creative Director: Brian Farkas Digital Designer: Matt Jensen Designer: Delaney Maher Digital Creative Director: Karan Dang Director of Integrated Production: Natasha Wellesley Executive Producer: David Emery Producer: Aine Carey Senior Manager, Content & Social Activations: Jay Lledo Social Media Manager: Karla Burgos Digital Producer: Ryan Schmidt Executive Digital Producer: Stephen Fahlsing Project Manager: Lisa Payton Creative Technologist: Jefferson Wu Senior UX Designer: Stacey Savage Head of Account Management: Chad Bettor Brand Director: Mike Slatkin Account Manager: Eric Reilly Planner: Theo Soares Planner: Cecelia Girr Director of Business Affairs: Loretta Zolliecoffer Business Affairs Managerv: Amy Sharma Producer: Brian Scharwath Editor Dave Groseclose Executive Producer: Joe DiSanto Director of Photography: Erik Ljung Producer: Blake Pickens Producer: Stephen Love Jr Executive Producer: Anna Hashmi Director: Malik Vitthal Director of Photography Isiah Donté Lee Government Outreach Team: Jason Huddleston Government Outreach Team: Leah Couvelier Government Outreach Team: Steve Brothers Government Outreach Team: Russell Milton Government Outreach Team: Nicole Rejwan Government Outreach Team: Khalilah Waajid Government Outreach Team: Kayla Mitchell Government Outreach Team: Lawrence Gilliam Government Outreach Team: Missy Evans Government Outreach Team: Jordan Zolliecoffer Government Outreach Team: Chance Zolliecoffer Government Outreach Team: Breely Windham Government Outreach Team: Shek Shem Asst. Editor: Heather Bartholomae Creative Director: David Parker Flame Artist: Tony Pettiti Executive Producer: Rich Rama Sr. Producer: Nancy Nina Hwang Mixer: Ben Freer Asst. Mixer: Jordan Meltzer Executive Producer: Suzanne Hollingshead Executive Producer: Amburr Farls Producer: Brian Mulvey Editor: Sean Fazende Creative Director: Brian Beshears Tags: Grand Prix, Cannes, Boost Your Voice, Boost Mobile Stores, Clio Awards, Omnicom Group, TBWA, Boost Mobile, Santa Monica, US, 180LA, The Corner Shop, Therapy Studios, Atomica Music Library, Electronics, Technology, OOH Advertising, Best Outdoor Advertising Campaigns, Best OOH campaigns, Best Outdoor Ads Read the full article

[effieworldwide]

NA Winner Profile: “Boost Your Voice” by Boost Mobile & 180LA

October 11, 2018

2018 Gold Effie Winner North American Effie Awards

It’s no secret that, now more than ever, launching purpose-driven messaging platforms is a priority for many brands. In the strongest examples, the chosen cause is highly integrated with a brand’s DNA, which signals authenticity and ultimately drives effectiveness against philanthropic and business goals.

2018 Effie winner Boost Mobile already had a long-standing brand purpose: to give the hardworking person a voice through affordable, reliable phone service. But ahead of the 2016 U.S. election, Boost and 180LA identified an opportunity to add new dimension to this purpose – by elevating the voices of Boost consumers in a new way.

Many communities affected by barriers to voting were also home to Boost stores. So Boost would use this footprint as a tool.

After a challenging planning process, Boost transformed stores in Chicago, Atlanta, and Southern California into polling places. And in other parts of the U.S., the brand mobilized voters through a variety of social tactics, regardless of mobile carrier. The achievements in sales, earned media, brand perception – and, importantly, voter turnout – demonstrate the effectiveness of the campaign.

“Boost Your Voice” won a Gold (Brand Experience: Live) and Bronze Effie (Positive Change: Social Good – Brands), and was a Grand Effie contender at the 2018 North American Effie Awards. We talked to Becca Taylor, Strategy Director at 180LA, for insight into how this ambitious campaign took shape.

What were your objectives for the campaign?  

BT: Prepaid wireless’s biggest selling point is, ironically, the biggest hindrance to loyalty: no long-term contracts.

Boost’s customers can leave them in the middle of the night. And they do. Who can blame them? Competitor A is offering free phones, Competitor B throws in lines for the kids, and Competitor C has the new iPhone. And of course, these competitors were outspending Boost 4-to-1 in media.

Boost Mobile’s target customer has bigger problems. He’s 30 years old and making $15/hour. He’s Black, Hispanic, or both. He has 1-2 kids or family back in Latin America to support, so he works multiple jobs to bring home $30k/year. How do you earn this guy’s attention, respect, and business - if only for another month?

180 proposed that Boost stop fighting for attention, and start fighting for their customers’ rights. (Boost proposed that 180 do it without a dollar of paid media.)

In one sentence, what was your strategic idea?

BT: Boost the voices of underheard Americans on the day they need it most: Election Day.

What was your big idea? What was the insight that led to it?

BT: “I don’t vote. It's too hard.”

Our social media manager, Karla, blurted this out to a room of confused creatives. Wasn't voting just a simple, 10-minute detour on the way to work? Karla, who's Hispanic and from East LA, explained that's never been her experience. The data had Karla’s back. For many minority and low-income voters, it’s not easy to be heard on election day. Their path to the polls is rigged with barriers. Their biggest barrier? Time.

Low-income, minority Americans are: - 3x more likely to have difficulty finding their polling place. - 6x more likely to wait for 1 hour or more in line. - 3x less likely to receive requested mail-in ballots.

The longer the line, the farther the polls, the smaller their paycheck. Boost Mobile’s customers literally cannot afford to vote.

180 reasoned that many poor, urban neighborhoods don’t have grocery stores, green spaces, or polling places, but chances are, they have a Boost Mobile store. Grab a map of urban polling places, then overlay it with Boost Mobile’s retail footprint (like Chicago below). You’ll see how this little brand could fill a huge governmental void. So, that’s what we did.  

View the “Boost Your Voice” creative reel on the Effie Case Database.

Were there any challenges in bringing your idea to life?  How did you overcome those challenges?

BT: McFarkas (a portmanteau for creative directors Tylynne McCauley and Brian Farkas) will tell you that 180 grossly underestimated the problem. The effort required 30 volunteers cold-calling 817 counties over the course of six months. While most Boost store owners were game, our little call center had to overcome resistance and skepticism from the local officials. Despair set in when it was clear every county official would be giving us nothing more than their uniquely preposterous list of reasons why they can’t help minority voters.

Finally, one like-minded county official was willing to take on the risk of trying something completely new in order to change the system. Then another said yes, then another, and another, until on November 8th, 2016, Boost Mobile stores in Chicago, Atlanta, and across Southern California would activate. Willing store owners who couldn’t get official polling place status hosted in-store Party at the Polls events.

How did you measure the effectiveness of the campaign?

BT: Voter suppression is a complicated, systemic problem that's existed since democracy itself. Boost Mobile had no delusions that a single marketing effort could fix it. We also foresaw the challenges of boosting minority turnout in 2016: stricter ID laws, polling place closures, less emotional investment in candidates (vs. 2012 Obama). Despite the national trend (see chart), in the Black and Hispanic neighborhoods where Boost stores activated, voter turnout increased (+23%).

Boost Your Voice was equally effective at fulfilling our less ambitious objectives: (1) Earning their attention [impressions + brand buzz] 766 million earned impressions + 108% lift in positive buzz about Boost (2) Earning their respect [brand perception metrics]   “is a brand for people like me”, “would be proud to work for”, “a brand on the way up” (3) Earn their business [re-ups] Stores that activated saw a 26% sales lift

Boost’s differentiating purpose is “the wireless ally that gives the hardworking person a voice.” Can you expand on how the campaign and its creative elements allowed the brand to communicate this purpose?

BT: Boost Mobile built their business around the obstacles facing hourly workers living paycheck to paycheck. No credit checks standing in their way. No hefty monthly fee they're contractually obligated to pay. Just cheap, reliable, pay-as-you-go access. The thing is, every prepaid carrier is “giving a hardworking person a voice” - at least functionally.

As an industry, we’re prodigiously good at telling purpose-driven brands to “put their money where their mouth is.” We’re less gifted at telling our purpose-driven clients to put their money in their budgets, so we can prove the brand purpose later. Boost did not have money, so we were forced to look at owned but overlooked brand assets. Boost’s omnipresence in low-income neighborhoods has been a punchline for years (see tweets), but never an asset. Donating their footprint not only gave their neighborhoods a bigger voice on election day, it gave their presence a purpose.

Becca Taylor is a Strategy Director at 180LA.

Check out the full “Boost Your Voice” case on the Effie Case Database.

Have an idea that worked? Enter the 2019 Effie Awards United States competition.

[tw0ng]

#firefox @scoutdamonster #dogsofinstagram #180la #twbwseries (at 180la)

[portfoliomasterclass]

We Need to Talk

A Student's Perspective on Networking

by Randi Cantrell Working Associate Editor & Portfolio Studio Copywriting Student 

I’m just going to say it: there’s something about networking events that makes my palms sweat. For me, it feels a bit like being a cat; I am both curious and wary, excited and full of dread. One part of my brain thinks, “I’m a student. What can I possibly say? I have no idea what I’m talking about.” The other says, “Look! A chance to ask all those questions you have. Go!” Walking into The One Club for Creativity’s Intern & Creative Summer Networking Event was no exception, but by the end, I came to think of networking in a different light. Held at the Los Angeles office of POSSIBLE for the first time ever, the event was relatively small. This made it easier to mingle. Well, a little easier. Within a few minutes of assessing the scene and debating who to talk to, my friend and I approached a woman standing by herself. Soon after, a man politely interrupted our chitchat with her, saying, “I’m going to talk with you guys because I’m a lone wolf here.” Both were creatives who worked at agencies in the LA area. The four of us talked about portfolio school, the local agency scene, photography, how small a world the advertising industry is—a wide spectrum of topics. We had introduced ourselves by name, but titles hadn’t really come up. Until they did.

I suppose I should’ve asked sooner, because it turns out we were actually talking to two of the event’s panelists. One, a Creative Director at Team One and the other, the Executive Creative Director at 180LA. No big deal.

Before I could scold myself for not recognizing their names, for not saying or doing something more memorable, for not asking something more important that would uncover my golden ticket into the agency world, both were whisked off to join the other panelists. The Q&A was about to start.

In those moments before the panel began, I realized something important. Something I hope I’ll remember as I walk into whatever networking event I next attend, while my brain is playing that tug-of-war between fear and curiosity. Here’s the thing: having a conversation without first knowing who they were was actually a good thing, because it meant I could focus on, well, having a genuine conversation. Without being intimidated by their titles, I was better able to just listen to their perspectives and maybe, if I was feeling brave, share my own. Some of you may disagree. You might think I should’ve had an elevator pitch ready to go and a resume to hand off. You might say I should’ve pushed for an internship or a chance at a portfolio review. Maybe. There’s a time and place for those things for sure. But what if, instead of worrying about what we can immediately get out of a networking event, we focused on talking to other creatives like they were real, regular people, and not career genies who can grant all of our creative dreams if we charm them in just the right way.

I’ve since looked up their LinkedIn profiles and stalked their portfolios (oh, hi!), and they are both crazy talented and smart, but they don’t need me to tell them that. If I took away anything from the advice they shared during the panel, and I took a lot, it was that advertising doesn’t need more people to tell advertising creatives how smart they are. Advertising needs people who aren’t intimidated by a title, people who feel brave enough to share their opinion and bold enough to ask questions, people who can crack a joke and laugh at themselves. I’ll be the first to admit I’m still figuring this advertising thing out, but in my opinion, all of that starts with just having a real conversation.

You never know who you’re talking to.

Portfolio MasterClass is the place that you can change your future with professional development and portfolio building. 

[micahschweitzer]

[proyectovisual]

"Cuentos injustos" relata las desgarradoras historias de los niños afectados por la guerra en Siria. @UNICEF @180LA