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VOICE OVER – Kamel Films
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This is a big week.
It’s the pause before the plunge. This Sunday is Superbowl 47 and it really sets up a whole year of advertising and media.
Starting tomorrow the commercials will be leaked. The goal being a good laugh and for people to stop the party this weekend with the encouragement, “I saw this already, it’s hilarious, you’ve gotta see it!”
I think Volkswagen got started even earlier and so did M&M’s
So what’s going to make a great commercial?
A simple truth that’s relatable taken to the farthest degree.
For the VW ad, it’s that cubicle life/regular work world is terrible.
For M&M’s, it’s that some people can’t control themselves around chocolate.
Both solutions will keep their brand top of mind and that is the essence of connective storytelling.
Also on the docket for Sunday’s game are movie trailers.
I know we’ll be seeing the first trailer in the Fast in the Furious series, “Fast 6″. Plus I fully expect to see the first trailer from:
- The Wolverine
- Thor: The Dark World
- Hangover 3
- Despicable Me 2
We should also see installments from:
- Iron Man 3
- Oblivion
- GI Joe: Retaliation
- A Good Day to Die Hard
- Star Trek Into Darkness
- Man of Steel (It doesn’t get more America than the Superbowl)
On Sunday which is it, the game or the commercials?
What commercials are you looking forward to?
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It occurred to me that we hadn’t posted any of the sweet audio goodness from Novembers release of The Non-Profit Narrative in audio format.
So here’s the Overview, and the Intro.
Remember, if you want to find out who gets it in the end.. (Was it Colonel Mustard with the rope in the drawing room?) You’ll have to pick it up on Amazon, iTunes, or Audible.
Enjoy! (You can download these tracks for FREE!)
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This week I’m collaborating with long time coconspirators Abandon Films.
Their latest film, “A True Friend” releases next week and I got a chance to cut the trailer to this project. Additional polish is courtesy of Won Novalis.
Take a look and let me know what you think!
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It’s possible you missed it. It might’ve slipped right under your nose. In between the trouncing of Notre Dame at the hands of Alabama last night- an incredible ad launched.
The ad was for Monsters University – the upcoming prequel to Monsters Inc.
It’s a great melding of buzzworthy content and seamless hat tips and winks to the audience. It’s brilliant!
I had been tricked, hoodwinked even bamboozled! But I wasn’t mad, instead I loved it all the more.
Notice the dynamic, positive message wrapped in fun!
Remember, one of the crucial rules in storytelling is to: Give your audience what they want but not the way they want it.
What are some ways your next campaign can mimic current lines of communication and then reveal a fun surprise?
PS. Check out the photo realistic preview of The Blue Umbrella – The short that open’s in front of Monsters University
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It’s a new year and it’s full of possibilities. So I was thinking, we should probably work together. Here’s a few ways:
Better your communication systems.
We work with your team to build a communication continuum that uses your story as the catalyst for engagement. We’ve seen this help with donor conversion and with community cultivation. It also gets all the ships sailing in the same direction and breaks down silos quickly.
Get to the heart of your story.
If you’re having trouble connecting all the dots for your companies/organizations story or you feel like it’s falling flat, give me a shout. I live, breathe and eat story. In short order we can have a dramatic effect on your company.
Creating a campaign to connect.
We’ve got the creative chops to build a campaign that has multiple engagement points for maximum possibilities. We’ll brainstorm on with your team on how to the most good for your brand!
Get some coaching.
Need help putting together your editorial calendar, crafting your messaging or reaching your audience in an engaging and influential manner? Let’s talk it out - weekly or monthly.
Shoot me an email dan@portnoymediagroup.com or give us a call 626.487.9822 and let’s get this party started.
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It’s December and I’d like to take a moment and recap all that happened this year
2012 started with a bang! We launched The Non-Profit Narrative. On location with Jones Coffee and complete with a photo booth. And thanks to so many of you, the book has been a real success. Thank you for buying it, talking about it and for your reviews!
This year we continued our work with The United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Last year we worked together to revamp their digital communications and launched a complete rebrand of their website in just 9 days. It wasn’t a lot of sleep but it was a whole lot of good.
First up, we launched a new site for their Home for Good initiative.
This group of business leaders, state officials, faith communities and non-profit partners are moving people off the street and into permanent supportive housing.
We helped to create a video about their first year results and helped recap their conference.
Over the summer it was all about community heroes.
Together, the team from United Way, Double Vision Inc and Portnoy Media Group all worked together to build a profile for a campaign that was dynamic, engaging and a whole lot of fun.
This was a great integration of print and digital, of traditional and new media to create this campaign.
It was incredible to see top executives from LA’s largest corporations getting involved with the campaign and making it their own.
This year we also got to work with Nnamdi Asomugha and created a PSA about the work that he cares about with the children of LA.
We also provided media and the stage production at this years Homewalk. Over 10,000 angelinos raising money for the homeless it was great! With attendees like Mark Valley from Body of Proof and Jon Huertes from Castle – Homewalk was a star studded community event!
We coordinated cameras, created the production visuals and covered the event. Homewalk is a great event that helps a lot of people but it doesn’t hurt when Kobe Bryant is the honorary chairman.
In the late summer and fall we partnered with ArcLight Cinemas, incidentally my favorite place to see a movie in the country and produced the Behind the Curtain Series.
First we met Frank an incredible man who loves film and loves to set the stage for the best possible movie going experience.
Next we met the actual man behind the curtain, the director of projection and sound Mr. John Sittig. His decades of knowledge and work with the Hollywood studios makes him a legend! My jaw dropped more than a few times at the stories he told.
This year ended with a big bang of stellar proportions. We worked with The SETI Institute and were able to spend some time talking with TED prize winner Dr. Jill Tarter. and Founder of the institute Dr. Frank Drake.
We worked together on The Communicate campaign
It was a really full and fun year and I can’t be more thankful for all the challenges and the great people that have helped make all of this amazing work happen.
For everyone here at Portnoy Media, I’m Dan Portnoy Be safe.
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Communicating your message is a tricky thing. When campaigns are created, assumptions are made. We’d like to have an audience move this way so we’ll show them that.
A few months back I had the chance to hear Pete Docter give a talk on storytelling and the use of visuals. The Oscar winner had a lot of great info that informed us on the world of Pixar and the environment that was created. The way that John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton and others would challenge each other for the best possible choice on each piece of the story.
One of the ways that they push each other is to take away the dialog and see if all the visuals reinforce the message that they’re trying to communicate.
It’s now old hat to talk about the first 40 minutes on stories like Wall-E or Tom Hanks’ depiction of being lost on an island alone in Castaway. But I like to use options like this to challenge me in my storyboarding process. Also, just about any animated short these days doesn’t have dialog. I’m sure it’s a financial choice just as much anything else but it’s wonderful to see what’s communicated just from action, body language and expression.
Below is the story of Carl and Ellie. I know what’s coming and yet it still chokes me up. – all without the use of words. We’re shown a montage of 60+ years of their lives and we feel Carl’s loss.
Sadly, the amount of words used in a campaign tend to make people feel better, especially in committee. This has to be resisted. The strongest work makes every word beg for it’s existence. The best stories show cause, are simple in nature and tap into a truth about life. Next time, a an exercise with your team, try your campaign without words and see what happens. I can bet you’ll be happy with the outcome.
How are you using words in your campaigns?
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“Whether you download this book onto your e-reader or flip through the pages of the paperback version, this is a great read for anyone in the nonprofit sector. As many of us know, engaging content is the key to attracting people and dollars toward our missions. Yet so much of our sector is mired in mundane philanthropy-speak that we have forgotten the importance of creating a compelling, heroic narrative to describe our work. Applying the idea that all organizations have great stories to tell, Dan Portnoy encourages nonprofits to interpret fundraising and engagement through the perspective of storytelling.”
Also on the list:
Women’s Audio Mission Soundchannel Subscription
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