welcome to engine c o 1. Come on in, and let’s talk about how to create strong brands by working on a more human scale.
Humanity? Don’t talk to me about humanity. Tell me how you’re going to help me move some merchandise.
We hear you. Maybe, though, the key to moving your merchandise is really understanding the people who are most inclined to buy it. Pull up a chair and let’s talk about how humanity could make a big difference for your business.
That’s one spiffy tie, by the way.
Match the FACE to the FACT: (1.) Tried out for the 49er Nuggets Cheerleaders and was picked as an alternate. (2.) Restored an old Craftsman house in Oakland. (3.)
Inducted into College Sports Hall of Fame. (4.) Completed 10 Ironman races. (5.) Vomited in the hotel room of the Nigerian Ambassador to Japan. (6.) Was the most requested Jungle Cruise skipper at Disneyland for 2 years running in the mid-‘90s. (7.) While hanging outside a shop in NY, Dave Chappelle said our 2-year-old daughter was cute. (This was during his “missing” period.) (8.) Attended the Easter Egg Roll on the lawn of the White House in 2010. (9.) I know how to make homemade olive oil. (10.) Moved to SF from a foreign country based on intuition. (11.) DJ’ed an internet radio show called Songs for the Lovesick (all ‘70s ballads, all the time). (12.) My name is “fires” spelled backwards. (13.) Classically trained vocalist (and can imitate almost any singing or speaking voice). (14.) Helped Kate Hudson buy lingerie. (15.) Rock climbed
Smith Rock in Bend, Oregon while blindfolded. (16.) Formed Jill’s Legacy after Jillian Costello to create awareness, educate and raise money for lung cancer research. (17.) I bungee jumped in Queenstown, New Zealand. Twice. (18.) President Ronald Reagan once visited my house in Indonesia to shop at my mom’s boutique store. (19.) Once sang backup for Josh Groban. (20.) Went cage diving to watch great white sharks. (21.) My fiancé and I hosted a cocktail party for friends and family and surprised them all by getting married during the event. (22.) Can spell most words backwards, out loud within a few seconds of hearing the word. (23.) I know how to juggle. (24.) Was onced trapped under 700 lbs. of bagged ice. (25.) Brewed dozens of batches of beer in my home brew lab. Of all the recipes and styles I’ve tried, my favorite was a mint-chocolate stout. (26.) Great grandfather was the Secret Service agent assigned to protect President Woodrow Wilson at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
49ers
the exhibit
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With the season threatened by lockout, see how we helped 49ers fans connect with the franchise they’re crazy about. (Yes, we said crazy.)
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Befitting their grit and dedication, 49er fans have come to be known
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over the years as “The Faithful.” Leading up to the 2011 season, that faith was put to the test like never before: the Niners had missed the playoffs for nine consecutive years, and a lockout was looming. In other words, it was an excellent time to show some love to the fans. So we launched a social media campaign asking people, “what does Faithful mean to you?” We then took those fans with the best answers and immortalized them on season tickets and in print, TV and out-of-home ads. We even created a microsite to serve as the hub for all Faithful brethren, allowing them to create and share their own Faithful Fan Cards. Mercifully, the football gods smiled upon the 49ers and 2011 shaped up to be their best season in many years. Faith is a powerful thing.
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1 fan recruitment print and facebook ads: A social
media contest to identify the most zealous fans. 2 microsite/fan cards: Where fans could create and
share cards from the era of their choice. 3 out-of-home: Blanketed the Bay Area with The Faithful. 4 season tickets: Instead of featuring star players, we
featured star fans.
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5 playoff tickets: Celebrating the Harbaugh era. 6 print ads: To promote ticket sales in local newspapers. 7 television commercials: Edited from longer-form
documentaries that appeared online. 8 promotional scarf: Essential gameday attire for
every Faithful. 9 site takeover: Inviting fans to interact with the
“Forever Faithful” site. 10 expandable banners: To promote ticket sales online. 10
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How do you get people to care about which internet browser they use? They’re all pretty much the same, right? Well, maybe to the casual observer. But when we dug a little deeper as part of a brand strategy assignment for Mozilla Firefox, we found some interesting things. First, in interviews with staff, management and the developer community, we found a zealous commitment to protecting an open internet. (Mozilla is a non-profit foundation.) Next, our research showed that the vast majority of Firefox’s 450 million users didn’t know about the non-profit mission, and further, that once people heard about it, they were far more likely to choose Firefox. And thus, a campaign was born. First, we armed the internal audience with tools (a brand book, microsite and compelling language) to spread the story and encourage downloads. Now we’re reaching outward with out-of-home and online campaigns. Stay tuned for what’s next. 6
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1 brand book: Our strategic assignment resulted in a book that set forth
the brand’s position, look and voice. 2 tactical campaign: To encourage downloads of a new Firefox browser,
this site let users watch, support and name actual firefox cubs. 3 caltrain station takeover: How better to reach the tech community
than as they commute to and from Silicon Valley every day? 4 station takeover: Banners. 5 station takeover: Pillars and more pillars. 6 station takeover: We even owned the clock. 7 firefox swag: T-shirts are cool, but we even transformed our billboard
sheets into shoulder bags. 8 manifesto video: First we wrote the manifesto, then we made it into a
film that lives on the Firefox website. 9 wallscape: Spreading the good word. 10 out-of-home: Firefox’s point of difference in a few short words. 11 caltrain pennants: Yet another element of our station domination.
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When Rubio’s hired us, they were struggling to differentiate themselves in a sea of “fresh Mexican grills” flooding the category. Drawing on Ralph Rubio’s roots (a beach bum who discovered the fish taco on a road trip to Baja), and the insight that regular customers liken a trip to Rubio’s to a “mini-vacation,” we set about rebranding Rubio’s and its cuisine as “Beach Mex.” Suddenly, Rubio’s had a platform that spoke directly to its essence, carved out some new mental real estate for the brand, and created a whole new category that Rubio’s could own instantly and completely. In each of the first two years of our integrated Beach Mex campaign, same-store sales increased 9%. Within three years, Rubio’s had grown from 140 to 200 stores. And in Fast Casual.com’s list of Top 100 Movers & Shakers, Rubio’s was ranked #5 for having positioned itself so smartly for growth. 7
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1 keeping it real: Ralph Rubio discovered the fish taco while
7 store design: Rubio’s even redesigned their stores to
surfing in Baja. Our goal was to convey that authenticity. 2 rubio’s a-go-go: We named Rubio’s catering service and
designed all the packaging. 3 television commercials: Our “Elements of Beach Mex” spots
fit our Beach Mex brand strategy. 8 store design: Graphic for the wall that pretty much says it all. 9 app: Our “Have a Nice Taco” app was a nice way to
focused on the ingredients that made Rubio’s uniquely Rubio’s. 4 sampling: We suggested that fish taco trucks surf the
send a friend a thoughtful and tasty greeting. 10
streets and distribute Beach Mex to the uninitiated. 5 out-of-home: Celebrating “The official food of guys who just
hang out for a living.”
11 new store opening banner: Introducing customers
to the Beach Mex ethos.
6 promotions: We designed Rubio’s cruiser bikes, then suggested
Rubio’s sponsor a beach-cruiser derby across San Diego.
brand book: Our “El Libro Grande de Rubio’s” introduced the Beach Mex positioning to Rubio’s and served as a brand bible.
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bus shelters: Spreading the Beach Mex gospel.
JUST WHAT THE
C AT HOL IC HE A LT HC A RE W ES T
DIGNI T Y HE A LT H
Starting in 2007, we worked with Catholic Healthcare West on a series of ad campaigns directed at policymakers expressing CHW’s support for universal healthcare, a cause very much in line with their deep Catholic roots, which dated all the way back to 1854. However, in 2011, the changing healthcare landscape, combined with the Roman Catholic Church’s increasingly stringent doctrine, led Catholic Healthcare West to make the difficult decision that it needed to change its name. In hiring us over the prestigious branding firms for the sensitive task of renaming and repositioning the organization as more inclusive, modern and forward-thinking, CHW cited the simplicity, clarity and humanity of the past work we’d created for them, pointing out that we not only understood their business better than anyone, but their heart and soul. 1 direct mail/social media: A piece sent out to
CHW employees and healthcare thought leaders encouraging them to contribute ideas on improving healthcare via a blog we’d created on CHW’s site. 2 advocacy campaign #1: Supporting healthcare 1
reform as California legislators debated the issue.
3 advocacy campaign #2: A more far-reaching effort
designed to keep healthcare reform—and CHW—top of mind. 4 rebranding: We changed CHW’s name to Dignity
Health, then explained that it perfectly represented what the organization stood for.
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MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM
D i v e i n.
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Our long-standing relationship with the Monterey Bay Aquarium constantly provides us with opportunities to tell a wonderful story. Every year, we’re tasked with promoting a new exhibit, while maintaining an overall brand personality that reflects the Aquarium’s mission to inspire ocean conservation. With every campaign, we try to create a sense of awe and wonder; this forces us to always be innovative, especially in our approach to media. Below, you’ll see some of our favorite examples, spanning several years of work. The results have been pretty spectacular, too. Pretty amazing what can happen when you break the walls between media and creative.
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6 1 out-of-home: Extension of the “Share the Love” campaign. 2 television commercials: A trip to the Monterey Bay
Aquarium is truly magical. 3 bart station installation: Transformed a dreary
underground space into an awe-inspiring experience. 4 online: Herbie Hippocampus became quite the online
celebrity in his quest for a mate. 5 "virtual dive adventure" mobile truck: A video game
that toured the San Francisco Bay Area and could be played on any smartphone. 6 out-of-home: Seahorses searching for love. 7 print and out-of-home: For the “New Ocean’s Edge Exhibit,”
an underwater experience that’s surprisingly close.
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87 172
radio spots produced
major industry awards
750 vendors 1 broom hockey tournament
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TV spots produced
10 Ironman triathlons completed
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Emmy awards
365 acts of compassion per year 56 media plans delivered
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countries where we’ve executed media campaigns
HOW MUCH AGENCY CAN WE FIT INTO A
5- S T O RY F I R EHO U S E ? It’s a question we seek to answer every day, as we develop more and more capabilities. We like being versatile and responsive; we think great ideas seldom come from big lumbering organizations with a bunch of departmental silos. From a client’s perspective, it’s nice to have a single resource that can solve a broad range of problems with
148,809 staff hours
minimum fuss.
36 fire axes
So, on any given day in the firehouse, a brand platform is
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websites developed
2.5 million online brand
conversations analyzed
1 pancake breakfast per month
72,000+ bricks 187 1:1 interviews completed
0
bad debts
7 first-ever, never-before-done media executions
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clients
being researched, a visual identity is being designed, a microsite is being developed, a radio spot is being recorded, a TV commercial is being written, a media plan is being optimized…you get the picture. We pack a lot of capability into a relatively small space. To create the kinds of campaigns to which we aspire, we have to be good at a lot of things. That makes it a little difficult to hang a label on us. Brand agency? Digital agency? Ad agency? Depends on the day.
For the stories behind these artifacts, visit www.enginecompanyone.com/artifacts.
By gosh, Engine Company 1, you’ve sold me. This humanity thing could make a real difference for my company. I just wish you had a catchy way to sum it all up… you know, maybe some kind of motivational poster for advertisers who want to do better? Great idea, Bob. Tell you what, send a quick email with your address to goldenrule@enginecompanyone.com and we’ll ship you one of these high-quality letterpress beauties. Just the thing for the marketing professional on the rise.
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ph 415-989-2500
San Francisco, Ca 94133
fx 415-732-9535