Cole & Weber United - Our Work

ACLU of Washington 9/2001: As the first integrated branding campaign produced by a state affiliate of the ACLU, our aim was to introduce the ACLU, and the values for which they stand, to a new generation of Americans. Their ideals were brought to life through the position that everyone should have the "freedom to differ." The key to the campaign's success was addressing controversial topics with an air of positivity, rather than with the typical doom-and-gloom approach.
Bonfire Snowboarding 9/2004: If there's one thing your average snowboarder appreciates most on the mountain, it's the beauty of unpredictability and latent danger. So why give him anything less when it comes to an advertising campaign designed to speak to him? Thus, the creation of "Comfort for the Damned," an underground-style viral film starring (unpredictably) a talking goat-head on a stick—the alter ego, if you will, of a typical snowboarder.
Borba Neutraceuticals 12/2004: Scott Borba came to us with a new product line that was provocative, to say the least: skin care that you drink. An idea that became "Healthy Skin from Within." One product attribute stood out to us: Pharma-grade. The advertising needed to convey a perfect blend of science, evolution, creation, innovation and style—if not a touch of too-good-to-be-true taboo.
Broadcom 10/2003: Broadcom is a leading provider of integrated computer chips that enable broadband communications and networking. To protect their products from commoditization, they needed to become an ingredient brand worth specifying by Information Technology (IT) decision-makers. We found that whereas Intel was connected to speed, Broadcom could own connecting "next-generation networks" with the many new types of devices and back-end systems that power businesses today.
Dell 9/2005: Dell found itself facing a huge mountain: With fewer resources than Apple, introduce a new MP3 player that would only be available online, to compete with the iPod Shuffle. Facing the monolithic iPod, we created a viral campaign that meant to stand distinctly apart from Apple's self-serious positioning. The campaign centered around Mitch Ferrence, a self-styled master of rhythmic movement, lip synchronization and air instrumentation. With the promise of "Maximizing the Music,"Mitch offered his instructional videos on the Web, free for anyone who wanted to deepen their connection to the music. Seeded virally, his Web site, myspace page, and viral videos spread the gospel of the Dell DJ Ditty around to consumers in places the iPod had yet to monopolize.
DLP 3/2007: With a new campaign running both online and offline, DLP Technology needed to give their website a makeover. The result is a re-energized DLP.com that seamlessly connects with their current campaign, while continuing to educate users on the advantages of DLP and direct them to retailers.
Mio 11/2007: Behind every great explorer is a great navigator. That’s the principal thought behind this campaign. We “revisited” famous moments in navigation, like the scene of George Washington crossing the Delaware River leading up to the battle at Valley Forge. We commissioned artist Mark Hess to recreate these oil paintings and utilized them in a variety of different media.
Colt 45 11/2007: An evening that starts off with Colt 45 is bound to be fast, cheap and a little bit out of control. That’s the inspiration behind the Tales of Colt 45. We partnered with cult graphic novelist Jim Mahfood to create an integrated campaign that included a full-blown graphic novel, print, wild postings, a new website, interactive games, multiple webisodes, unique POS and wall murals.
Devon Energy 11/2007: Devon Energy needed a branding piece that spoke to their humility and humanity. By filming the world if integrity were celebrity, we allowed Devon's management to credit their employees for their achievements.
Nike MLB 11/2007: For a Major League Baseball and Nike partnership retail effort, we mapped the geographic boundaries of team loyalty for each team in the Major Leagues, made nationalistic nicknames for Nike's biggest athletes, and created an online voting application that spread virally, garnering unknowable page views and registering over 25,000 votes in three weeks with a media budget of zero.
Nike Team Sports 9/2004: College football is a gigantic market, and Nike was/is the athlete's on-field choice. And yet, the brand's off-field market share among football fans was far from first place. The key to building that part of their game was capitalizing further on their reputation as an on-field force, by making a connection between college team performance and student fanaticism.
Nike Retail Brand Marketing 4/2004: The idea was to communicate that Champs Sports and Nike are your partners in football training. A truly inspired idea when you throw in an All-Pro like Marshall Faulk. But what if you were to really train with Marshall Faulk? And when you put him in outrageous training scenes, like a million stairs, or a ropes course that never ends, it drives the point home. The point? Better get some Nike (to better improve your odds of survival).
Dick's Sporting Goods / Nike 10/2003: While everyone else in this category focuses on selling specific products, we found Dick's could own the emotionally engaging moments of preparation. The bit for them was in their own tagline, 'Every season starts at Dick's.'
Gallo - Carlo Rossi 12/2005: In 2006 the Jug became an icon for sharing good times with great friends. And all across the country people were able to interact with Carlo and his wines.
Champs Retail / Nike 10/2002: The idea was to communicate that Champs Sports and Nike are your partners in football training. A truly inspired idea when you throw in an All-Pro like Marshall Faulk. But what if you were to really train with Marshall Faulk? He'd kill you. Leave you in the dust. Because he's that good. And when you put him in outrageous training scenes, like a stadium with a million stairs, or a ropes course that never ends, it drives the point home. The point? Better get some Nike (to better improve your odds of survival).
Rainier Brewing Co. - Year 1 12/2004: What do you do when the only thing the public likes about your brand is its past? You ask people to Remember. And Cole & Weber / Red Cell did just that with a campaign for Rainier Beer that integrated an 11-episode, 30-minute TV show (pitched to and bought by UPN), a Web site, retail events, a re-created Seattle landmark, all sorts of traditional media including :30 TV spots, and a press kit that helped frame a news story so incredible it couldn't have been scripted.
Rainier Brewing Co. - Year 2 5/2005: With the successful return of Rainier Beer into the Seattle lexicon thanks to our 2004 efforts, in 2005 we continued the adventures of Tim and Chuck (co-hosts of RainierVision) and resurrected one of the brand's most beloved characters of the 1970s: the Wild Rainier, or 'Refreshus Verticus.'
Science Fiction Museum 6/2004: The aim of this launch campaign was to lure the general public in the museum's doors by first destroying the "science fiction geek" stigma. How? By doing what every great science fiction movie does: inspire the imagination by blurring the lines between reality and fiction. And so we teased Seattle residents with a series of ads promoting futuristic products and services that were, at first glance, very real…and coming soon! This campaign was designed to get Seattleites and tourists to ask, if just for a moment, "Is it real?"
Tree Top 9/2003: While the Tree Top brand revolved around quality, heritage and family, it was missing an emotional connection with the target: moms with kids under six. We needed to give the old apple a new sheen by creating a compelling brand position that moms could relate to—that would compel them to pluck Tree Top from the shelf. "Nurtured From the Start" became our philosophy for raising happy, healthy apple juice.
Venge Wines 8/2005: If a good wine is to be judged in part by its complexity and finish, then how might one describe the complexity and finish of an outstanding wine like Venge? Surely no mortal words will suffice. Thus, we enlisted the opinion of several creatures reincarnated from previous human lives—their taste buds still savoring that long-ago sip.
Woodland Park Zoo 5/2004: How do you promote a zoo's new spider exhibit without totally creeping out your audience? To us, the answer was clear: Show how the exhibit will affect the lives of those who experience it. And given our target (parents and their kids between the ages of 7 and 11), we wanted to tell this story in classic fairy-tale fashion. What's the lesson of our fairy tale? If you really want something, all you need is a little ingenuity and some patience.