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August 13, 2001
News
and Creative Work from M.A.R.C. of Sophia, Bulgaria, is working to change attitudes about borrowing money with new creative work that uses classic American images—a hamburger, and a toaster—to show how easy the process of obtaining credit can be. Bulgarian-American Credit Bank, founded in 1996, selected M.A.R.C. in a six-agency competition to create an advertising campaign for its mortgage loan programs. The bank is owned by the Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund, a corporation established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 to assist Bulgarian citizens with various commercial loans. The agency's challenge was to overcome negative attitudes about commercial lending programs, which many people viewed as excessively complicated and time-consuming. Many people perceive bank loans as difficult to obtain, and many worry about the responsibilities of obtaining a loan. To solve the problem, M.A.R.C. created newspaper ads, showing a hamburger and a toaster filled with money. The advertising communicates the idea that credit is something normal and characteristic of modern life. The effectiveness of the work lies in the simplicity of the message: "Fast credit!" The hamburger is a symbol of quickness, comfort, affordable price—and the American lifestyle. The creative work, along with careful media planning, has been successful in changing consumer attitudes about applying for loans from the Bulgarian-American Credit Bank. M.A.R.C. (which stands for Marketing, Advertising, Research, and Communications) has undergone a number of developments recently. Public relations and direct marketing departments are adding new clients, and new personnel have joined three other departments: event management, Web design, and marketing research. These changes have raised the level of quality and competitiveness of the services offered by M.A.R.C. The advertising department has a new Media Director, Valentina Rogacheva. Her five years of experience planning media placement has made her a respected professional in her field. The agency has a new Art Director, George Topchienko. His creative ideas and the work of the artists under his leadership have been the key to success in several recent pitches. Vassil Baldjiiski is M.A.R.C.'s new Creative Director. He joined the agency in March, and worked as a designer before taking up his new role. Simeon Zhelev heads the marketing research department. He is a lecturer in marketing at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia. Other personnel in leadership positions include: Advertising—Svetlana
Kanazireva The
Eyes Have It: From deep within the pupil comes a compelling moral and marketing message: "Over time you get used to contacts irritating your eyes. Of course, over time you get used to dogs wearing little sweaters, but that still doesn't make it right." That's the text from one of several new ads created by Clarke Goward, Inc., of Boston, Massachusetts, for contact-lens maker Proclear. The agency is running the print work and radio spots in three cities in the first phase of the campaign, and is expected to expand its work for Proclear's non-irritating contact lenses later this year. The lenses are made with lipids, which reduces the discomfort many contact lens-wearers experience. Jim Amadeo, Senior Vice President and Creative Director at Clarke Goward, said the work presented a great opportunity to break new ground in the contact lens category. "Nothing interesting is being done," Amadeo said. "We wanted to create something visually and conceptually interesting." The text with the second image on the right reads, "When you think back on all the years you spent with contacts that irritated your eyes, try not to beat yourself up over it. You've suffered enough already." New Valentine
Radford Valentine Radford, Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri, has been awarded the Midwest Dairy Association (MDA) account, serving the dairy producer's checkoff program in a nine-state region. The agency assignment will include media planning and buying, as well as some promotional development in support of the "Got Milk?" and "Ahh, the power of Cheese" promotions. Win Factors: "Our committee was quite impressed with the Valentine Radford team, which demonstrated strategic insight well beyond the media assignment," said Kevin Stiles, Vice President of marketing and industry coordination for MDA. "Their integration of strategic promotional concepts into a strong media plan was a key factor, as was their motivation to work on the business." Valentine Radford will promote milk and cheese consumption in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and part of Oklahoma. Producer funds have previously generated $5-6 million for regional advertising on an annual basis. Billings for the new project have not yet been announced. "We felt like we were a really strong fit for the Midwest Dairy Association," said Valentine Radford Vice President John Sowell. "Our media and promotional results with consumer food products, national supermarket channels experience, and a deep understanding of producers all added up to the right mix for MDA. We plan to continue utilizing those strengths to ensure increased dairy consumption in the region." If you have questions, comments,
or submissions for Worldwide, please contact
Damon Gitelman (dgitelman@wwpartners.com) |
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