TAD rocks NYC

Have we told you lately that we have the greatest clients in the world? Last week was proof: Vandoren sent us to the Big Apple to photograph a dozen of NYC's most famous woodwind musicians for their We Are Vandoren campaign.

How famous, you ask? Well, we had Grammy-award winners David Sanborn, Paquito D'Rivera, and Jon Manasse; Grammy nominees Jimmy Heath and Bruce Williams; and the highly acclaimed JD Allen, Ralph Bowen, Sharel Cassity, Dennis Diblasio, Mike Dirubbo, Pascal Martinez and Lenny Pickett.

We were especially excited to work with Sanborn, one of the biggest contemporary saxophonists in the world (24 albums and six Grammys). He played on Stevie Wonder's Talking Book album, jammed with the Rolling Stones, and toured with David Bowie. Remember that great sax solo on "Young Americans?" That's him.

Then there's Jimmy Heath. He's performed with nearly every jazz icon from the past 50 years, including Coltrane, Dizzy, Miles and Wynton. But our favorite part of his career may have been just before this shot was taken, when he said Todd has "Justin Bieber hair."

We agree with Jimmy on this one.

After that we met another David Bowie connection: Lenny Pickett, tenor saxophonist and musical director of the Saturday Night Live band. It's a good thing cameras have gone digital, otherwise we would've run out of film by this point.

Another day, another degree closer to Bowie.

Believe it or not, all this excitement was just a lead-in for the grand finale, the VandoJam. That's where we got together with Vandoren artists Ralph Bowen, Denis Diblasio and Mike Dirubbo for an exclusive midnight session at Iguana Lounge.

Mike Dirubbo, VandoJamming.

Of course, the trip could only end one way: With a monster pastrami on rye from Carnegie Deli. We took home some of their incredible cheesecake too, but forgot it in the hotel room fridge. Sorry for such a sad ending to a happy story. But at least we can sleep at night knowing that no one can ever take the pastrami away from us.

I will remember you... will you remember me...

All told, it was definitely a time to remember. But if you think that was cool, wait until you see the finished product.

Don't have competition? You still need branding

Imagine that you’re a king. Your kingdom is in the middle of nowhere, with no potential threats for miles. Would you build a wall to protect it?

If you say no, you'd have a good point. After all, why should you? There’s no one to protect it from.

That may be true...until it isn’t. Let’s face it: someday, someone will come. They’ll ride into your kingdom with swords unsheathed, hell-bent on taking what’s yours. And when that happens, it’ll be too late to build your wall.

Medieval analogies aside, it’s a good lesson for a seasoned marketer. Your kingdom is your product’s position in the marketplace, and your wall is that product’s brand. The stronger the brand, the stronger the wall.

To protect your position, you need to have a strong brand in place long before a competitor threatens you. That means hiring an agency that can guide you toward years of focused, on-strategy branding ­- even if you don’t think it’s necessary yet.

It may seem like a waste of money, just like that kingdom wall. But so does health insurance, and damage protection for your rental car. It’s all a waste of money...until it isn’t.

Prepare your company for the future. Hire a great agency to make your brand strong before you need it.

That way, when competitors come to take what’s yours, you’ll be ready.

Noteworthy news

We made front-page news last week in The Elkhart Truth.

The City of Elkhart asked us to create a new advertising campaign for the city noise ordinance.

In the works are four billboards that will be placed around the city and a public service announcement that will air on local television stations. Newspaper and radio ads will also be a part of the campaign to help make the city of Elkhart a more peaceful and healthy place to live.

Here's a link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/8a7yqtp

New Work: IU Health Goshen "Often Imitated, Never Duplicated" Campaign

Laughter truly is the best medicine.

That was our approach to a recent challenge for Indiana University Health Goshen Center for Cancer Care.

Cancer is no laughing matter, that is for sure. And health care organizations should not make empty promises or claims when it comes to this kind of care, either.

That is a philosophy IU Health Goshen Center for Cancer Care has always upheld, but when local competitors began claiming to offer the same kind of compassionate, integrated, team-oriented, patient-centered care as Goshen, our client decided it was high time to call their bluff.

Although IU Health Goshen has been attacked in smack-down campaigns by competitors in the past, they have always elected to take the high road. So imagine our surprise when they told us they wanted to be “more direct” in addressing the misleading claims of their counterparts.

The challenge: how do you expose competitors on their untruths while maintaining integrity?

TAD’s shockingly simple solution: sophisticated humor.

Enter: the metaphorical parrot.

Yeah, you know, the talking bird that never says anything original; it just repeats what everyone else says.

Here’s how things turned out...

New Work: Scorpion Logo

We pride ourselves in doing great work, fast. So it's only fitting that our latest logo design for Scorpion was seen going 200 miles per hour last week.

An industry leader in truck bed liners and window films, Scorpion asked TAD to create a logo that not only captured their aggressive look and attitude, but also the protective qualities of their products. And just like that, the Scorpion shield was born.

The new Scorpion logo is scheduled to make a few more appearances in NASCAR races this spring. Don't blink, you might miss it.

New Work: We Are Vandoren

Baptiste Herbin is among the artists featured in the campaign.

At Todd Allen Design, we always look forward to working on location with Vandoren. For some lucky creatives, it means a trip to France! For the rest of us, it means we get to marvel over gorgeous photos and video footage of Paris and the Mediterranean seacoast along the Var Region of southern France.

One of Vandoren's cane fields, overlooking the Mediterranian coast.

We consider it an honor and a privilege that Vandoren trusts TAD with their 100-year-old brand that spans three generations of the Van Doren family. In our latest work, we chose to build a community with our “We Are Vandoren” campaign that invites professional musicians, teachers, students and merchants to be part of this rich family heritage.

A full-spread ad featuring Bernard Van Doren.

The vibrant imagery and messaging of this campaign captures the essence of the people, places and products associated with the Vandoren brand in a way that transports you right into the sights, sounds and vibe of French culture.

Visit WeAreVandoren.com to see more of this current campaign.

New Work: Capturing the “Divine Moment”

Before he decided to change his life, Marcus weighed nearly 450 pounds and playing basketball seemed only a dream. Since contacting Team:Bariatrics, Marcus has lost 210 pounds, (that’s an NBA shooting guard!) and he’s back on the court, living the dream. Determined to help others actualize their own dreams, Marcus made a bold move by sharing his story and telling those still struggling with obesity, “It’s time to take your shot.”

Todd Allen Design teamed up with Overdun Productions to shoot this :60 TV spot at Rockne Memorial Gym on the campus of Notre Dame. Excited about the natural light this gymnasium offered, the entire crew was especially delighted when an amazing amount of light began pouring through the windows halfway through the shoot.

“We could not have planned it any better. Some of the crew called it ‘God Light.’ Guess that's a perk of shooting at Notre Dame,” TAD Creative Director Jeff Middaugh said.

You can witness this divine moment for yourself at the :30 mark, when Marcus begins to talk about Team:Bariatrics and how they helped change his life. The light continues to get brighter throughout the remainder of the shoot.

Seriously! Indiana. Basketball. Newt Rockne Memorial Gymnasium. Notre Dame campus. A personal success story. And a gift of radiant light. Now, how righteous is that?