INTERSECTIONS

The Academy of Art University has been stocking humanity’s collective lake with beautiful, artistic fish for over 80 years; making our world just a little more tolerable, elegant and functional than it would have been otherwise. But while they’ve been busy helping others take their artistic potential full-sail, their own brand has gradually drifted out to sea.

When we were brought on to help create the annual Academy of Art lookbook, we recognized that the brand needed more than another piece of collateral; it needed a rudder, a captain and a cargo-hold full of attitude.

We quickly dispensed with the idea of making a simple look-book and decided instead to create a unique experience; a gilded galleon of sparklyfresh re-brandedness, seaworthy and ready to sail. The result was Intersections, 200 pages of classic forms interacting seamlessly with modern technology.

Intersections won a Gold Addy for Advertising for the Arts and Sciences in 2013.

INSPIRE

The second video was one of two 30 second national spots we worked on to help The Academy of Art University capitalize on the thematics brought to bear by Intersections.

Crisiswear found its start designing for the Goth and Cyberpunk nightclub scene in the early aughts. And though the neon goggles and spiked hair largely came and went, the Chicago based company found staying power in its reputation for clean lines, modern design and extreme durability.

But despite its reputation within vaunted circles, Crisiswear was having difficulty in capturing a wider audience. For some, the look was simply too edgy; for others it was the price point. As the incoming Brand and Marketing Director, my task was to create a new, cleaner brand that still carried street cred, while widening the design aperture just enough to help bring in the normies.

Doing this involved creating a look and feel that was familiar to the brand's existing audience, but also opened the doors to customers who would could be sold on the company's newer and more mainstream techwear lines.

And it worked. Within less than a year of debuting the new visual brand elements, copy approach and mixed media advertising strategy, Crisiswear was on a path for growth, realizing a three fold increase in online conversions, a doubling in wholesale accounts, and a quickly growing social media presence.

Today, Crisiswear is making the pivot from local to international production to keep up with demand for its uniquely dark vision of future fashion.

See the brand at www.crisiswear.com

MARKETING LAND

Kool-Aid can be delicious, but as all cults and companies eventually come to understand, too much can be poisonous. Everyone can believe their own product or service is fantastic, a cut above the rest – problem is, how do you convince everyone else?

For companies like Quova (now Neustar), it starts with being able to quickly and concisely explain what it is that you do.

Our goal was to help Quova effectively communicate the complicated nature of IP Geolocation while emphasizing its value to marketers, advertisers and other lay people. All without making potential clients feel like they just tossed back a handful of Ambien.

After getting our facts straight with everyone from the CEO to the internal IT team, a central truth began to emerge. Their basic premise, their core competency, their Raison d’être, was to put the Right Thing in front of the Right Person, at the Right Time.

Part 1 served to introduce the problem and provide our client's solution. Part 2 served as a deeper drill down into the specific services and benefits of Quova's IP Geolocation technology.

Back in 2015, Okta had a fistful of hot sales leads. Like Glenngary Level hot. But the email and landing page dance wasn't going to cut it this time. Their target—IT Managers—were inundated with sales proposals from similar SaaS providers and were getting tired of being asked to the same prom over and over. If Okta was going to convert these leads to sales, they were going to have to up their game and rent that stretch Hummer.

That's when Okta turned to the creative minds at HERO Marketing. Tasked with taking these leads to the next level, we put our research helmets on and dove in, finally emerging with a strategy that wrapped good old fashioned direct response around a high tech gift. The result? "Okta:Find": a beautifully designed box of out-of-the-box solutions for IT security--and in this case, even keys.

When San Francisco’s Double Dutch turned to Rehab Media to help save the boom box, they turned to us to help turn up the volume. We broke the knob.

Not content with simple flyers and mylar balloons, we decided to go whole hog and push a bar rebrand in a way that had never been seen before. To do this, we created an alternate reality campaign celebrating the Coalition to Save The Boombox; an organization dedicated to honoring the cultural and historical significance of the boombox.

A three part online video series, along with an official website was promoted by serious street action, including wild-postings, huge murals in the mission and even a flash protest.

A once-inconspicuous bar on a crowded nightlife corridor, Double Dutch needed a dose of brand refreshment. We served them our signature cocktail: a double-shot of weird with a pint of kickass.

POCKET AQUARIUM [SPEC]

The Monterey Bay Pocket Aquarium combines the existing functionality of the current MBA mobile app with a fresh take on experiencing and sharing the magic of the aquarium, neighboring businesses and the Monterey Bay at large. Using in-app purchases, social-based gamification, exclusive merchandise and local deals, the MB Pocket Aquarium encourages visitors to engage in whole new ways.