KEITH KLEIN & Co.

CONCEPT, CREATIVE DIRECTION, WRITING

After establishing the European office for Euro MVBMS Fuel, our first assignment for Volvo was to re-brand the company and create an integrated campaign that had enough flexibility to be tailored to the needs of specific regions, while maintaining a unified brand message.

To solve this, we embraced the principles of Scandinavian design and values inherent in the Volvo brand without walking away from safety. Using these values, we developed a graphic identity that brought consistency to the brand across all media and environments that was flexible enough to adapt to market needs.  Key to this was the creation of an assets library of over 30 images and messages, so each region had choices to support their market. 

Through the efforts of our team, we were the first agency ever to successfully produce an integrated pan-European campaign for Volvo. 

FOUNDER, CREATIVE DIRECTION, CONTENT & MENU

Combining our love of food and branding expertise, we began working on this self-generated project, effectively hiring ourselves to create a new food brand.  Working with designers Hal Wolverton & Alicia Johnson, we came up with the name Milk Truck and created a design motif rooted in Americana. This let us use different textures and images while remaining consistent to the foundation.  It also gave us a set of values to build upon as we launched the business, which helped shape the culture of the company.

After launching a stand at the Brooklyn Flea on Jan. 16th, 2010 (and being reviewed by Pete Wells of the New York Times, the Village Voice and New York Magazine) a truck was added a year later.  In addition to the truck, we operated pop up stands at the Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg, Brooklyn Bridge and Seaport, have an licensing agreement with Houston Hall, and to handle our growing catering business, built a kitchen at the Pfizer building, becoming part of the community of like minded brands and small makers.  

We have built our social media presence organically to over 25K and have a presence through messaging, press and word of mouth content that far surpasses our size. 

Milk Truck has been named one of the 10 best food trucks in NYC by Refinery 29 and one of the 50 best in America by Stylecaster. Our classic has been ranked the best in NYC by the New York Times and our Mac & Cheese voted #1 in NYC by the Village Voice. We've also won the Greatest Breakfast Sandwich Ever contest on Good Morning America and been featured several times on New York Fox 5 News.

We were also part of the roster of trucks to be honored with the Hero's Award, given by Mayor Bloomberg for our efforts to provide over 350,00 hot meals to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, WRITING

On this project, HP wanted to modernize how people saw their brand.  Working with Creative Director Steve Luker and designer Giles Dunn, we came up with the idea to blend the organic (human) with the inorganic (machine).  Visually, it was stunning and new, and we used the language in the writing to bring the elements together.  This was a powerful campaign for HP that elevated the brand image beautifully and intelligently.

CONCEPT, CREATIVE DIRECTION, WRITING

Delta wanted to re-establish its presence in New York and maintain its dominance in its hometown of Atlanta in the face of increasing competition during a very difficult time in the organization.  We were asked to find a way to promote the international routes Delta was introducing in an impactful way.

We saturated the two cities with a high visibility outdoor campaign and a compelling station domination effort in New York that included both the Times Square and Grand Central trains stations, as well as the shuttle cars themselves. We created over 80 unique messages that ran between March and June.

A similar campaign was created in Atlanta for MARTA, the rapid-transit system there.

CONCEPT, CREATIVE DIRECTION

Manhattan Mini Storage is a Manhattan based storage company known for its highly creative, highly irreverent messages. Working with Art Director Rob Smiley, we pitched and won this work.  This was the first campaign to use images and increased awareness of the brand by over 2000%.  

CONCEPT, CREATIVE DIRECTION

The data on shavers showed that once a person chose a razor (usually around 1the time that men begin shaving), their choice became fixed for most of their adult lives. Gillette came to us asking for a re-branding to reach this audience.  We knew we didn't want to talk about the qualities of the razor.  Instead, we chose a graphic and cheeky identity for Gillette to communicate a sense of fun, something the brand had not been known for.  This campaign was wildly loved and embraced. But they ended up not running it.  

CREATIVE DIRECTION, CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, WRITER, RESEARCHER

Bass Ale, once the highest selling beer in the UK, and the "tan" in a black and tan, is another wonderful and iconic brand.  We hired Christopher Guest, supplied him with some Bass stories and then stood back.  These spots are the result.  

CREATIVE DIRECTION, WRITER, CONCEPT

Guinness is one of the great beer brands in the world. Between beer wranglers, the Blue Bell steam train and nearly freezing our @!#lls off, hopefully we did our job of not embarrassing ourselves.

CONCEPT CREATION & DEVELOPMENT

The Jab is a project under development that intends to bring the boxing workout into a modern context. We are intending to create a new boxing fitness culture with cutting edge boxing classes that measure progress using sensory technology, social media grouping and friendly competition among class members.

Our studios are designed to overcome the gritty stereotypes of a boxing club, being bright, airy and aspirational. We know that boxing is a great workout. Celebrities like Olvia Munn, Adriana Lima and Padma Lakshmi all box for exercise. But we believe there is something deeper to the boxing movement, an underlying self-confidence that you gain by learning how to stand up for yourself. Additionally, we believe that boxing provides a physical, tactile counterpoint to our increasingly technologically dominated environments.  We are creating a brand that talks to people who are looking for a way to connect their workout to a larger cultural movement. 

CONCEPT, WRITING

The assignment here was to promote the Retirement services for our client.  Traditional retirement service focused on basically planning for the end of your life. We decided to reframe the idea of retirement to reflect the healthier, active lifestyles that people in their 60's, 70's and beyond were living.  This campaign was a huge success for Aetna, identifying the  company as a leader in retirement services that reflect the new realities of retirement.

CONCEPT & EXECUTION

Trinity Wall St., a 320 year old Episcopalian church in lower Manhattan, has two buildings where people attend services. One is Trinity Church, which is a more traditional service with older, more ethnically diverse members from all five boroughs. The other, St. Paul's Chapel, has a family service that brings in young families from the neighborhood and is growing rapidly. 

Most churches have a Parish center; a meeting space where the entire congregation can gather and socialize outside of church. Trinity doesn’t currently have one (a new building is being built but won’t be finished for several years). Without a common place to meet, the congregation was becoming disconnected from one another and there was a gap developing between the two groups.

The challenge was to unite these two groups and remind them that they are part of one congregation. 

So we created this program called Sunday Suppers.  The idea was that people from all parts of the congregation and downtown community, including the working poor and the homeless, would all gather and sit together at tables with people they didn’t know and share a meal served family style.  It would be  entirely volunteer run, except the catering.

It has become an enormous success.  We have done four so far, and it’s become a twice yearly event. The last one we held served over 250 people, with a wide range of multicultural and multigenerational congregants sitting and eating with the homeless and working poor. Children volunteers brought a special magic to it, running the food and serving people. 

Most importantly, it’s become an place that brings our entire congregation together and reminds them that we are all here to bring service to each other.  

CREATIVE DIRECTION, CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, WRITER

Telecommunications business campaigns are usually about speed and price. We wanted to put Verizon's business services into context by highlighting companies using Verizon to have a real and meaningful impact on lives.  

CONCEPT, COPYWRITING, CONTENT

Charles Schwab is the original innovator in the retail brokerage firm space and had done a good job evolving from a discount broker to a full service brokerage firm.  They wanted to target decision makers and influencers (C level, analysts, press) in the business arena that their capabilities extended beyond retail and that they were uniquely positioned for growth and able to capitalize on future trends. We created a series of communications that were rooted in their philosophy of helping the individual investors while communicating that their capabilities positioned them well for the future.

WRITER, EDITOR, ESSAYIST

Created a book that highlights the winners of the Chairman's Award, a prestigious honor earned by only 50 people in the entire organization for their outstanding contributions to PwC and for embodying the values of the company. We interviewed the winners, edited the book and I provided the intro and ending essays. A very rewarding project.

CREATIVE DIRECTION, CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

We wanted to promote CNN as a place where not only could you get the news, but as a place where interesting news stories were being told. In that context, Larry King was an obvious choice. 

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, WRITING

Equinox is more than a gym; it's a lifestyle brand. Or at least that was the brief.  The truth is, working out does increase your stamina. How you use it is your business.