Monster Music, in collaboration with Roc Nation, hired us to conceptualize and produce a video marketing series promoting their new line of headphones and speakers.

The Sound of Champions accomplishes two functions:

1. it introduces a new line of state-of-the-art music products, showcasing various products without overwhelming consumers, and
2. it reshapes the application and use of their products, situating their gear in the arena of health and fitness alongside relaxation and leisure.

To meet the standards of Monster Music, Roc Nation, and their consumer base, we chose to create athletic showcases featuring star athletes in boxing and basketball.

The athletes are, ultimately, the centerpiece of our series, however, subliminally attached to their character is the presence of Monster Music marketing. This soft-sell elevates the series, creating a Nike-Esque marketing scheme in which consumers identify with the character and the sensation of using their products more-so than the product itself.

Featured in the video above is Luis Arias, an American professional boxer currently at work with Mayweather Productions. On the right is another professional boxer, Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz, a Cuban professional boxer and two-weight world champion in the bantamweight and super-bantamweight divisions. The video below features former NBA star, Charlie Villanueva, a New York-born star of Dominican heritage with over a decade of actively playing in the NBA.

Heart Piece Plus creates a dialogue around social responsibility, using video games as the framework for a grand, interconnected (and shared) coming of age story. The inspiration for Heart Piece Plus is based on “new game plus,” or NG+, which is an added component to video games that allows the player to restart the main storyline upon completion.

Essentially, when a player finishes a game, they are given the option to start from the beginning using the same character. Though the game is made more challenging, it offers players an opportunity to explore the game world on a deeper level; to explore bypassed areas; unlock missed puzzles; interact with new NPCs; and find elusive easter eggs.

This notion of starting anew — and using the knowledge/experience from a previous playthrough to enrich the narrative — is what drives Heart Piece Plus. The lifestyle sketch docuseries caters to gamers and gaming enthusiasts. The hosts, Doctor D and Master Joe, a.k.a. Desinia and Joseph Miller, speak to people whose lives were shaped during (and, in part, by) the heyday of gaming. Using nostalgia as storytelling fuel, they show how lessons learned in gaming can be used to enrich one’s life during adulthood.

Within the context of video games and gaming culture, exists a comparison: the difference between analog and digital. These rival components to gaming, which distinguishes OG gamers from the new-age geeks, is the chosen metaphor for the program.

In gaming culture, analog is authentic and real; it is tangible and true. There are no hidden layers, no secret buttons. Whereas digital is replicated and plastic. Though it is modern and more technologically advanced, it is also distant and disconnected. In the real world, it is best to live an “analog lifestyle.” In the gaming world, it is more fun to play with digital software. Finding a healthy balance between both worlds while navigating life as an adult is what Heart Piece Plus teaches.

In other words, authenticity is their message. They remain true to first-class gaming software and hardware, using original products to solicit emotional connections and to bond with their audience. At the human level, this translates to staying true to oneself; never faking or pretending; to being proud of your likes, dislikes, emotions, and preferences because they are all uniquely you.

One way Heart Piece Plus illustrates this idea is through, well, illustrations. Viewers will notice a clever balance between graphic design and photography. These different mediums allow Master Joe and Doctor D to draw comparisons and create similarities, ultimately creating a marriage between an analog and digital lifestyle.

The content featured on Heart Piece Plus belongs to a niche sub-genre of video gamers. To attract their targeted audience, we created photography that would evoke nostalgia in their viewers. We used product signature to this very particular gaming culture to appeal to their interests. We also paired the items associated with gaming culture, particularly Nintendo, with other reputable brands from the 90s and early 2000s, which our audience would recognize.

Situating the content within this timeframe was the first step in conditioning their audience. Additionally, this shows that the hosts of Heart Piece Plus belong to this culture. One of the challenges we faced in creating this product photography was avoiding cliches and stereotypes. Many of the brands and images we used are widely recognized. Imposters often repurpose similar memorabilia to appeal to the same demographics. However, those who truly belong to this class of ‘adult gamers’ can identify the fakes. Even still, this approach walked a fine line. In the end, however, our product photography fulfilled our intentions of driving curiosity and creating a sense of belonging in the viewers that Heart Piece Plus wants to attract.

Similarly, the content and the channels where these photos are circulating were always destined to appeal to certain people. We made them appealing to audiences new to gaming culture, or simply attracted to saturated colors. The bright, clean aesthetic was intentional and used to appeal to the senses first, attracting the viewer’s gaze so they are interested in taking a deeper look.

The product photography created for Heart Piece Plus differs from the media used to build their Instagram profile. Keeping the two separate made sense. We did not want to fatigue their audience with repetition. The photography purposed for ad space needed to remain true to that intention, while photography used to engage the audience needed to remain casual, authentic, and personable.

Heart Piece Plus uses a structured Instagram grid, building cohesion through consecutive clips that make up a larger image. This pulls the viewer deeper into the grid, prompting them to explore older content with the same enthusiasm they would a new post.

To balance personalized photography that showcases the hosts, their interest, and their love for each other and gaming, we created crisp, minimalistic isometric photography. This adds pleasant white space, which helps the grid breathe and feel modern. Moreover, the isometric photography ads three-dimensional depth to a two-dimensional plane. The placement of these images on the grid also creates a plus sign which emphasizes the brand’s image and the iconography used in their logo.

One of our strategies to accumulate immediate viewership is to show our audience who Master Joe and Doctor D are, as well as how they interact with their core audiences. This works in conjunction with their product photography. By showing our audience that we know who they are, as well as showing them things they are interested in, we can create bonds of trust early on. This is extremely important.

A program such as Heart Piece Plus relies on consumer loyalty and audience feedback to propel the narrative. Therefore, we needed to portray the two hosts as being approachable, relatable, and, you guessed it, authentic.

We achieved with ease. It’s amazing how fantastic lifestyle photography is when the models are instructed to be themselves. The imagery is playful, humorous, and quirky. Deep down, the viewer thinks to themselves, “Yeah, I’ve done that…”

When ReconVelocity approached us for creative marketing and content creation, they were a few months away from introducing their software to the market. They had absolutely no media, and also needed a website where they could convert consumers. In two months, we filmed and photographed a whole menu of branded messaging to spearhead their debut. We got to work filming educational videos, consumer-centric videos, walkthroughs and testimonials, and photographing content to support all social media marketing. As our content creators produced media, our marketing and web development teams got to work on the website. Not only did we have to design and build the entire site in less than a month, but we also had to write all of the copy and build a custom calculator.

Our first objective was to introduce ReconVelocity to automotive dealers. Hugh Hathcock’s eagerness to be involved in this phase was a huge advantage. Hugh Hathcock is one of the most well-known names in the automotive industry, so our message already carried significant weight. Hugh’s network of dealers, who he has been building relationships with since ELEAD1ONE and who now use ReconVelocity, also helped with the testimonials. One of ReconVelocity’s guiding core values is centered around building lasting relationships with dealers. The testimonials really drove this point home and helped distinguish ReconVelocity from the competition. Releasing this series of media on the launch days of ReconVelocity provided an immediate foothold in the market. It gave our website substance and attracted immediate attention on various social platforms, especially on LinkedIn.

CarOffer is the Industry’s First Instant Trade Platform. Their software marks the largest automotive technology disruption in decades. Their instant trade suite is designed to reverse margin compression by establishing a used car trading ecosystem composed of disciplined dealer groups and the nation’s largest pre-owned operators.

CarOffer was founded by Bruce Thompson, one of the most well-known names in the automotive industry. Bruce has been responsible for some of the most astounding tech innovations over the past few decades. His reputation as an innovator and business expert added a bit of pressure on our creative team. We had to make sure every piece of content was perfect and effective at the time of launch, which was two months after signing.

When CarOffer approached us, they had nothing in terms of content. They needed a whole menu of multimedia, from video production, graphic design, and professional photography. And they needed a brand new website to house their content and convert consumers. The main challenge was that they needed all of this in two months time, so we had our work cut out for us. Not only did we have to learn about the brand and their product, create mood boards, and quickly move into the production phase, but we also had to blend technology with automotive tastefully. This was the only way we would appeal to our consumer-base and properly represent the brand.

We worked on tight timelines. So, we included both our video and photography departments on the first media days. We split up, filming instructional videos in one warehouse and photographing website content in another. During this time our marketing and web development teams collaborated to design, build and populate a new website in a month.

During our deep-dive into the brand, we decided that the best way to portray CarOffer was through moody, dimly lit media. Given that the brands in the used car industry, especially dealerships, use bright colors and sterile photography, we chose to flip the script. We needed the CarOffer image to dominate the visual field just as their software was expected to dominate the industry.

During the first media day, we filmed six videos, which explain CarOffer’s proprietary features, and photographed the majority of content that would be used to launch the website and populate social media.

Fox Sports commissioned this thirty second spot featuring Miami’s very own, Flo Rida. We were asked to produce and shoot the short in order to promote the new app, Fox Sports Go, that allows anyone to pick up a smartphone or tablet and watch live games and Fox Sports TV shows while on the go. The spot was shot entirely at the Mandarin Oriental in Brickell Key, Florida and we used local talent and crew throughout. For more information or to discuss your next project, please contact us.

Featured Image Photo Credit

This is a video detailing the tools made available by Citrix Systems and how useful they can really be. In the video, we cover the partnership held between Citrix and Shelton Public Schools.

Programs like XenApp and XenDesktop have revolutionized what students and teachers interact with each other by allowing them access to resources at a more cost efficient rate.

Students come from all kinds of backgrounds and with the help of Citrix, now lower income families can more easily access the needed programs from whatever device they have at their disposal.

We worked on tight timelines. So, we included both our video and photography departments on the first media days. We split up, filming instructional videos in one warehouse and photographing website content in another. During this time our marketing and web development teams collaborated to design, build and populate a new website in a month.

During our deep-dive into the brand, we decided that the best way to portray CarOffer was through moody, dimly lit media. Given that the brands in the used car industry, especially dealerships, use bright colors and sterile photography, we chose to flip the script. We needed the CarOffer image to dominate the visual field just as their software was expected to dominate the industry.