Universal McCann believes that better science and art lead to better outcomes. As a global company, they excel in creating deeply rooted, innovative, and thoughtful campaigns. Funny enough, Daniel Pierce and Andrea Ebert both introduced themselves with a picture of both left and right brain - a testament of how they use both sides in their roles with UM. The concept of the left and right brain is so interesting to think about in a company perspective. By utilizing insights gained by the strategy department, they are able to think of ways to execute the activations in a creative way, leading to better outcomes.
Our talk with UM went over a variety of concepts from types of media to how and where you show your media. What was most interesting to me was the case studies that actually showed how they executed certain campaigns in different ways. For example, the Handmaid's Tale was something I'd heard about this summer when my friend was interning for Hulu. There were so many people excited about the release - and UM did a great job at keeping that excitement running. I think my favorite activation was when they made a public art piece that allowed people to get a free copy of the book.
For our M4G campaigns, our budgets are fairly low and our audience is somewhat specific to LMU and the community around it. Therefore, it was important to hear about how different media channels could lead to different outcomes. For example, TV reaches a broad range of people, while Social Media may be more targeted to specific groups. Another case study that stood out to me was the Reeses Christmas Trees - that many thought were shaped like sad poop emojis. Amidst the anger of the shape of the product, Reeses was able to provide comedic relief by embracing their imperfections. By using twitter, they were able to turn a very simple comment into a full-blown advertising campaign that actually increased the popularity of the trees. AMAZING.
Maybe it was the bright red, bold signs and decor around the building that got me excited to learn more. But UM is a company doing great work in the US and Worldwide.