Besides making QR codes relevant again, Covid-19 has changed the way we approach creative. Production limitations have forced me to rethink, explore, and become more creative with executions. Here is some of that work + commentary. 

THE STORY: AN ALL FEMALE PRODUCTION AND ME.

Blue Shield of California has one of the highest percentages of female board members for a company of its size and wanted to create a spot highlighting female empowerment in healthcare and beyond. We recruited an all-female team of creatives, account managers, producers, director, editors and colorists to bring an authentic POV to the story. So what the hell was I doing there, you ask? Our team was solid, so I focused on managing clients due to my previous good relationship with the brand, and filling in the production gaps for the junior creative team.

WHAT I LEARNED: 

The process was super smooth until the very end when it came time for upper management client approvals. We began to hear the feedback, “not emotional enough.” That feedback began to be echoed by a handful of agency folks as well. After a little digging, we realized the disconnect - all the feedback citing the work not being ‘emotional enough’ was coming from the male voices in the room. I had made the mistake of assuming emotion was emotion, but female empowerment imagery resonated more emotionally with women because it was their story. We all had to have some difficult conversations about it but it proved to be a great learning experience for all involved. By the end, one of the junior creatives called me a “feminist king” which is a title I bring up as often as possible to anyone who will listen.

Unfortunately the pandemic and shelter-in-place hit hard the Friday before launch. The project was shelved, until…

LET’S MAKE A PANDEMIC COMMERCIAL ABOUT THE PANDEMIC

While the female empowerment story was shelved, Blue Shield of California still had a lot of purchased media to fill. The story shifted to talking about the pandemic and how we’re all in it together…without actually saying “we’re in it together” while featuring essential workers and small businesses like every other brand was doing. We wanted to tell a different story - one that hit on the isolation of shelter in place, while still feeling positive and uplifting.

The result: an interpretation of these emotions through dance. With the director / DP that created Nirvana's iconic Nevermind and Blind Melons “bee girl” video, a skeleton crew, and professional dancers (whose work was devastated by the pandemic, we were able to pull off a spot that I feel is beautiful and unlike anything that was being put out by other brands. It was supposed to launch at the end of May, the same week George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer’s knee. This spot was shelved because the country needed to heal and the voices of racial injustice needed to be heard.

THE PANDEMIC IS MAKING PEOPLE COOK AGAIN AND WE NEED A LOT OF ASSETS REAL FAST.

Last up: Rao’s Homemade. This was a pretty typical ask where the client needed everything from digital and social to broadcast, while sticking to a very tight budget. What made it less typical? Production being scaled back thanks to the pandemic. We came to the conclusion that the best way to make Rao’s assets work hard (and do it in the year 2020) was to find a badass photographer and create a video out of stills, while still building a giant library of assets for all their other channels. Simple.

WE CAN’T DO LIVE ACTION SO USE SOME COOL ANIMATION.

CELEBRATING WOMEN: TAKE TWO

My next pandemic production with online retailer, Zulily, focused on female empowerment through a more light-hearted lens. I joined Nicole Michels McDonagh, who had been cooking up this lovely and emotional concept about the real hero of the holidays: Mrs. Clause, AKA mom. It was the first and only time I’ve presented work that made all the clients cry (in a good way, of course).