Seattle Storm “Pure Champions” Campaign

The Seattle Storm, two-time WNBA champions, needed to sell more tickets and increase its fan base.

Research showed that, overwhelmingly, women are the ones that plan social outings for family and friends. Problem is, they’re not necessarily that into sports. We needed to convince them that going to a Storm game is about more than just basketball—that it’s a viable entertainment option. First, we created a strong verbal and visual identity for the Storm that defines what the Storm is, who the Storm is, and what sets the Storm apart. Then we extended it to a full media campaign, with campaign tactics sharply focused on raising awareness and getting new fans in seats.

How did we do it? With a full arsenal of media, both traditional and digital: TV spots, Billboards, Print ads, Posters, Game day promos, In-arena and online digital assets. All tactics consistently define the Storm, relate it to Seattle and the community, and set it apart from other entertainment choices—with a constant rally cry to “be part of it.”

We achieved our goals of increasing both awareness and game attendance, while at the same time increasing return on advertising spend. Our results for the season were: Single game ticket sales for advertised games up 33%, Group ticket sales up 19%, Total ticket revenue up: 19%, 134% increase in return on advertising spend

Y&R Group Seattle Sponsored Speed Meet Event

On the tails of attending the national 3% Conference held in San Francisco, Y&R Group Seattle wanted to create a local event where creative agency professionals could connect to foster the increase of women in creative leadership roles. 

The 3% Speed Meet was a carefully planned, fully co-branded event. In addition to the artfully designed email and Facebook page, unique materials were created for all Y&R Group Seattle social channels. Guerrilla art was installed around the office in the week leading up to the event.

During the actual event, attendees were greeted with branded journals containing teaser questions to ask fellow attendees. A DJ set the tone for mingling, and guests could also steal away to the branded photo booth. While the event was initially intended to last from 6–8 p.m., the Y&R Group Seattle bistro was still brimming with guests until around 9 p.m. The event received much acclaim—even from the 3% Conference—in its ability to raise awareness around this topic. Attendees included men and women, which helped to facilitate an atmosphere of support. With a guest headcount of just over 100 people, we were very pleased with the turnout—and excited to keep the momentum behind the 3% movement going.

E-commerce site redesign

Crocs had relaunched their brand and tasked us with creating a more current e-commerce experience that appealed to a wider audience without alienating their current customers. It was our job to bring the story of their brand evolution to life online. 

We implemented new shopping tools, designed new site templates to better highlight product images and lifestyle photography, and removed visual clutter that detracted from the product and overall shopping experience. Finally, we updated the shopping cart and checkout processes to increase consumer confidence and trust, and reduce cart abandonment/checkout dropout.

2013 Silver ADDY Award winner
Seattle, WA

Website Redesign

The goals set for the Landor.com redesign were simple: Generate leads and inspire interaction.

We created a dynamic website that better conveys the company culture, client set and design aesthetic that Landor has developed over the last 60 years. Bringing elements like social media and audience response-driven design to the forefront, the new site helps confirm Landor as an industry innovator and better expresses who they are as an agency.

From the audience point of view, the site is more functional, friendly and delivers a more consistent experience from initial visit to creative partnership. The utilitarian tasks have been prioritized while the deeper content surfaces, enticing visitors to dive deeper.

Program Brand Identity

When Gap Inc. asked us to help them launch a new customer loyalty initiative, we sought to set it apart from a points, perks and the “spend more, get more” model. After extensive research and customer testing, we discovered an interesting opportunity: rewarding engagement, not dollars spent, could actually drive interest and enrollment. By infusing the act of shopping with joy, the allure of a carefree, fun retail experience could far outclass the notion of an elusive or hard-won VIP status.

Based on our key insights, we named the program Embark to deliberately evoke a spirit of freedom, adventure and delight. We crafted a complete brand and messaging strategy to help launch the program in select Banana Republic stores. 

Brand identity system

When Wunderman Global rebranded, this gave our local offices an opportunity to tailor and apply a unique twist to the over arching brand, defining our own personality. We wanted our individual brand to stand for all that we do and are as Wunderman Seattle. From our color palette inspired by the Pacific Northwest, to our custom photography that ranges from gritty to majestic, to our friendly voice and tone, right down to the specific angle of our branded elements and patterns, we aimed to present a Seattle point of view—quirky, unique, thoughtful, lively, bold, and confident.

Site redesign

Once upon a time, getting help from Microsoft was harder than it had to be. So we set out to change things. Working with the existing site taxonomy, we removed the biggest barriers—clearing the clutter, refocusing the site, and giving customers direct access to the support they needed. We not only changed how the content was displayed—we also changed the content itself—making everything easier to digest and understand.

The new and improved support site now works across all devices and screens. But most important, we made it easier and faster for customers to get the help they need. Now they're happier with their support experience—and happier with Microsoft too.

Agency branded pie-hole stuffing event

Wunderman Seattle met esteemed startups Peach and Porch during #PeachMadness (an epic hashtag war elimination tournament of agencies pitted against each other hosted by Peach)...and all that fun led to our own tri-company pie-eating competition called Crumble Rumble!

We held a photoshoot at our offices, created collectors' cards, custom bandana bibs, social media assets, and a blingy championship belt buckle made of bedazzled pie tins. You can watch a video here of the epic pie hole stuffing event: 

Site redesign

In short, we needed to show business leaders that Microsoft is a source for relevant news vs. solely a channel for selling products; a destination worth visiting, engaging with, and coming back to as a source of relevant information.

The redesign frames the site as a conversation with Enterprise customers and introduces a variety of fresh, relevant content. The new design is a crisp, clean, easily scannable canvas that lets the content breathe. 

Campaign

Media planners and ad agency creatives—our primary audience—may have considered Microsoft Advertising products in the past, but their current perception is that it’s lagging behind other platforms, with nothing truly new and compelling to offer. Our job was to shift this perception and drive reconsideration of Microsoft Advertising as the platform for digital innovation. We needed to show the innovation, depth, and breadth of what Microsoft Advertising has to offer.

To spark interest we came up with a contest, also promoted by actress, comedian, and writer Felicia Day. Entrants must develop a forward-looking, world-class media plan for the brand or non-profit of their choice. The key judging point being how effectively a campaign plan innovates across the entire Microsoft Advertising platform. The global winner gets a VIP trip to Cannes 2012.

The Microsoft Advertising Story Awards (MSAs) attracted entrants from the world’s top 6 advertising holding companies, representing global brands that included Maybelline, Nestle, O2, WWF, Xbox, Tourism Australia, Orange, Taco Bell, and EA FIFA. 

Digital holiday greeting

The Wunderman Network sent out this fun digital greeting card to it's clients and partners. The email led the recipient to an animated landing page with a link to download a special year round gift—an animated screen saver. The custom illustrations were animated to cycle through each season. 

Deployment resources

Large companies, or Enterprises, spend millions licensing Microsoft software. It was our goal to make sure it’s easy to install (deploy).

The deployment resources were there, but via different sources and not altogether easy to discover. So, we centralized the resources. Made them customizable. And made them simple to use through a new app and website.

Brand identity and website

With their 70th anniversary approaching, the Boyer Children’s Clinic saw the need to create a new, more modern brand identity. The existing one had grown outdated, and didn’t meet their needs for a consistent look that could bring together events, communications, the website and other properties.

To compliment the new identity, BCC desperately needed to update their website. But rather than a re-skin to bring the design up to date, they opted to rebuild the site, focusing on improving the usability and making it easier to maintain.

We began with a content audit to narrow down the vast amount of information available, making the site more concise. The new site was also built with a simple-to-use content management system enabling the small team within Boyer to make updates and add new content as needed. It presents the information in clear, intuitive buckets that are easy to navigate.

In addition to better content organization, we also developed a clean, simple brand identity that uses crisp colors and professionally shot photography focused around the children of the Boyer clinic. We also delivered a style guide to help the internal team maintain their new design, along with brand guidelines to ensure consistent usage of the brand voice and identity elements.

Identity System

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit is a state of the art organization that keeps customers and people safe online from cybercrime. They came to us to develop  a visual identity system to accompany their updated office interior and overall look.

We created an identity system that would resonate globally, ladder up to Microsoft as a whole, and look strong, professional and authoritative without looking "Big brother-like". To do this, we developed a system that includes iconography, patterns, colors and voice guidance based on the One Microsoft all up guidance. 

The style guide made it easy for their internal groups to create their own marketing communication across all formats.

Web portal and dashboard

Microsoft recognized that getting help on Microsoft.com for their Business Center customers was harder than it had to be due to the siloed nature of individual business units, resulting in one inconsistent experience after another. Additionally, Microsoft knew business customers were forced to spend more time and effort than necessary managing their various accounts–no central location existed where all account information was easily accessible.  

The resulting redesign focused on creating an easier process for incident submission, account and support request management. We created one portal, removing unnecessary clutter, simplifying decision trees and process flows, and a redesign of the content itself with a uniform, recognizable visual hierarchy to make the content easier to digest and understand. A dashboard was designed to give in the moment, at a glance information and updates on the customer’s existing products and support requests. The site was also redesigned to work across different screen sizes and operating systems, ensuring maximum accessibility for customers.

Brand identity system

Forward, upward, westward. We are onward pioneers!

Y&RG Seattle identified itself as a creative agency that combined three powerhouses: data, CRM and digital expertise. Working with global and local clients, we saw an opportunity to put the PNW on the map with our agency rebrand as well as aiming our focus on more local client work. Taking a specifically Pacific Northwest position with our branding we showcased our roots through photography, brand voice, patterns, iconography and color palette—all derived from Seattle's unique personality and moody landscape.

Hosted lounge

We saw chance to make an impression with our new brand by hosting an event space at the 2014 Seattle Interactive Conference.  Outside of the sessions, SIC is all just boring tchotchkes, and salespeople, it doesn’t feel like Seattle. 

Our mission with SIC was to host an ultraunique space that featured living forests, iconic Seattle imagery and the best makers around to help 3,500 of Seattle’s brightest and most talented interactive minds relax, unwind, and make a few new connections of their own—all while immersing themselves in the awesome that is Seattle.

Instead of handing out useless branded tchotchkes, we partnered with the National Forest Foundation to plant actual trees in honor of every single mention of #YRGrowSomething on Twitter or Instagram. This resulted in planting 326 trees in the Pacific Northwest thanks to SIC 2014 attendees.

Letterpress card

With the launch of Y&R Group Seattle's new name and brand, we wanted to create a holiday message that would stand out from the digital ecards that flood email inboxes during the holiday season. The aim was to create something fresh and memorable that also harkened back to the tangible and nostalgic, something that had a maker feel to it.

We sent out this fun letterpress card that imaginatively highlights our enthusiasm for creative ideas and our partners who make us who we are. With a Seuss-esque rhyme and custom illustrations we delivered the quirkiness of the Pacific Northwest in an old fashioned holiday greeting card to our clients.

This is creative work that was either pitched for new business, or hasn't gone to market yet.