The Challenge: Inspire local bar owners to stock Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale, by inspiring customers to ask for it by name.

 The Challenge: Help new BBVA Compass customers take advantage of opportunities ahead of them in their financial journey.

The Client: Verizon Wireless

The Challenge: Help associates prevent churn by identifying those customers who need special support and attention — because forgetting about them is a great way to lose their business.

The Solution: Forgotten Customers helped Verizon associates fight churn by learning more about the particular needs of some of their particular customers. Breakroom posters, emails, quizzes, and videos introduced the Halls, the Finleys, and the Bakers — three imaginary customers representing three types of very real customers who are prone to churn (leave their carrier early) if they aren't given the support they need. The campaign had such a significant effect on customer retention that the client chose to revive it the following spring, just to keep Tommy Baker (and his wife, Peg, and their dog, Ringo) at the top of associates' minds.

The Credit: Agency: o2ideas; creative director: Howard Pearlstein

The Goods:

The Client: Buffalo Rock Company, a regional soft drink bottler

The Challenge: Celebrate the 100th birthday of a beloved grape soda as it truly deserves to be celebrated.

The Solution: Those who grew up outside of the Southeast might not appreciate precisely how great a fixture Grapico is in its native land. Trust me: It is. In honor of the soda’s 100th anniversary, we honored the exceptionally Southern Southern Thing that Grapico is — as Southern as an empty bread aisle in preparation for a snowy forecast, or as Southern as mac and cheese as a vegetable option at a meat-and-three. A microsite, print ads, outdoor boards, and redesigned packaging were only a few pieces of a year-long birthday observance. Oh, yeah, and also an airplane. (Also, the campaign just happened to take home Best of Show at the AAFB Birmingham ADDYs, as well as gold and silver hardware from the District 7 ADDYs.)

The Credit: Agency: o2ideas; art directors: Ellen Hutchings, Jenny Burrows, Rob Hardison; interactive art director: Andrew Handley

Here's the website.

And the print ads.

The Client: RxBenefits, a pharmacy benefits optimizer.

The Challenge: Bring clarity to the complex pharmacy benefits industry for benefit advisors and employers.

The Solution: Pharm to Table started out as a small-scale menu of educational offerings for clients, and then grew wildly out of control until it became a much larger-scale initiative bringing clarity about a complex industry to clients, members, consultants, and the public at large. I was excessively proud to come up with "Pharm to Table" (and then, for the corresponding podcast, "Pharmland") during the branding process, because the only thing better than a good pun is a good pun that goes public for general appreciation. I also got to write copy, write content, help with the development of the podcast, and get a little, goofy thrill every time someone said “Pharm to Table” and then paused and said, “That is so good.” (What can I say? No one’s all “no 'I' in 'team'" 100 percent of the time.)

The Credit: RxBenefits Marketing

The Goods: Here's the page. (Highlights: What Benefit Advisors Should Tell Their Clients About Discount Drug Programs; 340B Double Dipping: Not Just for Medicaid)

And the podcast on Spotify.

The Client: Regions Bank

The Work: This campaign helps potential high-asset banking clients know they can trust Regions by putting the message in the hands of people they already trust. Lawyers, accountants, and others who serve individuals with a lot of assets to manage are hit up with mailers, emails, even complimentary coasters informing them of the services provided by Regions Wealth Management.

The Credit: Agency: Reflex Blu

The Goods:

The Client: Expatsi, a company that helps Americans leave the U.S.

The Challenge: Help prospective expats see moving abroad as an actual possibility for their regular, normal, not-fancy-person life.

The Solution: It’s easy to imagine moving abroad as something exclusive to the wealthy, the glamorous, and/or the adventurous. It’s actually something that holds a lot of people back, which is unfortunate, because it’s not true. This campaign lets them know that normal, regular people — people with challenges, people with responsibilities, people with worries — do move abroad all the time. So, if their challenges, responsibilities, and worries didn’t have to stand in their way, do yours really have to stand in your way? Why not you? And then the campaign seals the deal with (normal, regular) people who really did move abroad, with Expatsi’s help.

The Credit: Social media director: Jessica Govern; art director: Jenny Reed; creative director: also me

The Goods:

The Client: Ad agency o2ideas, member of Worldwide Partners

The Work: In honor of World Cocktail Day, The World Cocktail Day website invites o2ideas' partner agencies within the Worldwide Partners network to "share a drink with friends" by submitting unique cocktail recipes to try at home (or, let's face it, at work). An invitation video makes the connection between the stresses of advertising work (and they do exist) and the need for a good drink.

The Site: World Cocktail Day

The Credit: Agency: o2ideas; art director: Ellen Hutchings; interactive art director: Andrew Handley; video editor: John Heiser 

 The Goods: