Last year, we put an end to the Grinchy side-eye and HOA hate that comes with decorating "too early."
November 1st? It’s now Deck the Everything Day. A day dedicated to guilt-free, full-throttle festivity — for the holiday head-starters ready to unleash their inner sparkle.
We went all in: early decorating memes (see here and here… also you’re welcome) and the one and only Danny Pellegrino as our holiday hype king. The vibe was pure festive freedom.
To kick things off, we dropped a storybook-style TikTok and IG Reel that took maximalism to new heights—think wall-to-wall HomeGoods finds and a blizzard of tinsel.
And to spread the gospel of early cheer? We teamed up with influencer faves Steffy, Amber and Michelle, who showed us how to let our festive flags fly high.
side note: i'm a holiday head-starter, don't @ me
agency: Edelman
gcd: Jocelyn McCanles
acd team: Kelsey Kovalcik & Laura Walsh
Production Company: Versus
Illustrator & Designer: Jordan Bruner
New Worlds Reading Initiative by University of Florida & Scholastic
Reading is powerful and can transform lives in incredible ways. But we’re facing an illiteracy epidemic. Over 60% of American children can’t read proficiently — and those who can’t by the third grade are four times as likely to drop out of school before earning a diploma.
The goal of this multi-touchpoint campaign was to raise awareness about a free book program that helps Florida kids boost their reading skills.
the results: since this campaign launched, Scholastic & UF have given 5 million+ free books to Florida students, enrolled nearly half a million kids in the program, and introduced countless families to the love of reading.
side note: working on this campaign brought back all the childhood feels around the magic of Scholastic book fairs.
agency: Edelman
cco: Isidoro Debellis
cds: Rodrigo Bistene & Katie Dropick
senior creatives: Laura Walsh & Nancy Zhu
producer: Lizzie Shook
project director: Ashley Mendez
account leads: Kyrsten Aspegren & Nikki Todd & Kate Linkous
directors: The Hudson Dusters, Greenpoint Pictures
music + sfx: Paola Altamirano & Raul Garcia, Animal Music
editing: Lorenzo Bombicci, Cosmo Street
color: Quinn Alvarez, Apache
Bring the Energy - San Diego Gas and Electric
Energy is taken for granted. It has been commonplace and “invisible” for so long that we don’t value what it takes to power our everyday lives.
But it takes energy to make energy. Every day, the people of San Diego bring their passion, their grit, and their ingenuity — they bring the energy. And SDGE brings the energy that powers all they do.
side note: San Diego tacos might be the best in the country
agency: Edelman
ecd: Isidoro Debellis
gcds: Rodrigo Bistene & Katie Dropick
acd & script writer: Laura Walsh
producers: Domenic Delcarmine & Aldo Gagliardi
account leads: Lee Alman & Rona Hoang
editing: Marek Luczak, Cutters Studios
music + sfx: Jordan Stalling, Another Country
What do Maxxinistas love more anything? Getting lost in the candle aisle. So we granted her deepest desire: more candles.
Welcome to TJ Waxx, where she'll discover scent-sational deals on all things candle-related. But for just one day: April 1st. This April Fools’ rebrand had us flipping our "M" to a "W" on Instagram and Threads, and our fellow Waxxinistas lit up the comments with love.
the results
Across platforms, Maxxinstas, Waxxinstas and a couple of candle brands applauded the prank — with many saying they fell for it. In less than 24 hours, we more than doubled our engagement and impressions benchmarks.
The prank was even covered by Parade Magazine (24.4M UVM) as one of the best April Fools’ Day pranks from brands this year, alongside Dunkin’ Donuts, Sweetgreen, and more
side note: This was really just my subtle plan to pave the way for TJ Maxx to launch a limited-edition line of candles under the TJ Waxx moniker. Stay tuned.
agency: Edelman
gcd: Dan Licht
senior creatives: Laura Walsh & Nancy Zhu
producers: Nate Millado & Roy Kim
account leads: Kim Nguyen & Kalli Yonowitz
Dove Chocolate’s new chocolate bar is for the fun-seeking, joy riding, pleasure-grabbing woman.
As an extension of the Dove Chocolate Bar campaign, we partnered with Spotify to create audio ads, banners, and promoted playlists to intersect her life in places and moments when she’s already chosen pleasure — with the propensity for her to unlock more. To further round it out, additional playlists are housed on Dove’s Spotify profile page for users to find and enjoy organically.
To listen to the playlists and discover others, simply click on the banners.
side note: 4.67 pounds of Dove Chocolate ended up being consumed for project “research.” And yes, we counted.
ecd: Susan Golkin
cds: Casey D'alleandro & Jay Spahr
ad: Ting Peng
cw: Laura Walsh
agency: BBDO NY
In early 2020, five Planned Parenthood affiliates in New York State merged to form “Planned Parenthood of Greater New York.”
We won the honor of helping craft PPGNY’s narrative, look and feel, and launch creative.
With chaos in the 2019-2020 news cycle and the state of women’s healthcare under threat at the national level, donors and activists were eager to see impact in their neighborhood. So, we focused our debut message on the great things that were happening here because of the merger and the most positive outcome of all: a better, bolder, brighter future for women’s healthcare in NY.
After crafting the new narrative, we created posters, social posts, business/palm cards and designed the new website.
side note: Although PP performs abortions, the essential organization is much more. They also provide people with important services such as cancer screening, STD testing and treatment, and hormone therapy — they’re a vital part of the community for many who don’t have health insurance or don’t have the money to pay for big health organizations’ services.
ecd/cw: Kristen Kusterer
designers: Adri Ramdeane & Anna Wingard
cw: Laura Walsh
agency: Edelman
To introduce Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ new brand vision as part of a larger brand refresh, we created two spots, “Sunshine” and “Change,” that reflect the nonprofit’s mission to impact kids’ health.
side note: You might want to have some tissues nearby.
ecd: Isidoro Debellis
cw: Laura Walsh
videographer & editor: Chris Jordan
agency: Edelman
Content. Content. Content. It’s important for many brands in the digital age, but for ViacomCBS, content is truly king.
As ViacomCBS’ social agency, we provide ongoing strategic and creative counsel for all content creation, community management, and reporting.
I.e., We write, design, and create social content that talks about how amazing the content is for one of the leading producers of premium entertainment content. Did I mention the part about content?
side note: I picked up a lot of new shows by working on this account. Also learned more than I ever wanted to know about Star Trek.
cd: Skylar Bergl
designer/animator: Michelle Barrueto
cw: Laura Walsh
agency: Edelman
Need an ice-cold treat to take things to the next level? Hold your tiny horses. The Dr Pepper Cherriot has arrived. And Dr Pepper Cherriot, by way of Dr Pepper Cherry, makes everything better — even ads.
side note: If the horse sounds familiar, it’s because he was voiced by the infamous Tom Kaine.
ecd: Brian Linder
cd: Daniel Beaudoing
cd: Nick Denman
cw: Laura Walsh
agency: TRG
director: Eric Wareheim (yes, that Eric Wareheim)
Invisible to most who pass them by, each person has a story about how they fell through society’s cracks and ended up homeless. Many times people walk right by them, acting as if they’re invisible, believing the false premise that the homeless have a choice in the matter or it’s all their fault.
This is OOH campaign utilizes digital billboards in high-density, urban areas — where homelessness permeates the most — to get people to look past their preconceived notions.
Help USA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help those who are homeless become and remain self-reliant.
side note: After spending time with individuals experiencing homelessness for this project, I uncovered my passion for doing purpose-driven, social good work that — as cheesy and cliche as it sounds — helps make the world a better, more equitable place.
ad: Caroline Moss
cw: Laura Walsh
agency: college spec campaign/SMU
Best Ad Campaign – DSVC National Student Show, April 2018
Judges Choice – DSVC National Student Show, April 2018
Best Copywriting – DSVC National Student Show, April 2018
Copywriting – Silver Addy, Dallas 2018
Ambient Media – Bronze Addy, Dallas 2018
Wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Or did you soundly sleep through the night and are now fully prepared to take on the day? Regardless of how it’s going or what it looks like, there’s a McDonald’s for every morning.
side note: I learned McDonald’s has weird production rules about kids touching food in their commercials. Also learned that food stylists have a thousand-and-one tricks up their sleeves. Like making delicious-looking “ice cream” out of unmeltable mashed potatoes.
ecd: Kevin Sutton
cw: Laura Walsh
agency: Moroch
2018 American Advertising Federation - Silver Addy - "Two Yous"
