Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts

Lauren Angeloni here! I hope everyone is squeezing out the final joys of summer. I try to center my points (often loosely) around a theme, but I have so many things I’m thinking about this week, I will use my highly-enjoyable AIVA Live chat w Massive Mission CEO Rob E. as a jumping off-point (watch the replay). We covered games and people really responded. I love when people, no matter how old they feel, reclaim a sense of joy and adventure through play. the LEGO Group - whose ethos is built on this truth - is at it again, ensuring that their mission is relevant and far-reaching, w a multi-year partnership w/ Nike, which will include cobranded products and more opps for play (not a new area for the swoosh either). Guinness Nigeria brought The Premier League hype w/ a Matchday launch event to Uganda. Fans flexed their love of the game to compete for prizes, the most exciting of which was an all-expense paid trip to the UK to watch their favorite team live. Immersive fan experiences (and pints) will pop up throughout Uganda over the coming season. In today’s “Why is this interesting?”, Ryan McManus explores the Mattel, Inc. Hot Wheels “Super Treasure Hunt” cars that are released in small batches and have the same vibe as a Wonka Golden Ticket. I LOVE when brands gamify their products. It taps into that kernel of play and attaches an indelible glow on a product that is so hard to achieve otherwise. PLEASE enter these types of projects in the AIVA awards… I want to build a platform to honor these amazing ideas. Rob & I also talked about Massive Mission’s Best In Show-winning film about the wonderful organization Backlight Productions who create opps for adults w intellectual and developmental disabilities to gain confidence and bolster their social skills through performance. The film is a heartfelt piece that follows their production of Shrek The Musical. Check it out (it’s in our DaveyAwards.com gallery) and consider supporting this org. As someone with a beloved member of my family with IDD, I was touched by the beautiful intro of Gus Walz at the DNC who supported his dad, Tim, with a full display of emotion and pride during his big speech. I tend to cringe waiting for the awful comments of the uninformed, but I found that (w a few terrible exceptions), the outpouring of love in the wake Gus’s raw emotional response was massive. Back to the DNC (I promise I won’t get too political here) and another huge passion point for me - the power of a well-crafted and well-delivered speech. As we are heading into the launch of Communicator Awards, it is heartening to know that the rhetoric (not a bad word!) genius is strong and hard at work. It’s been a while since I’ve witnessed one of those Shakespearean-History-Play-level calls to arms. And it’s not artifice… it’s nearly impossible to deliver at that level if you don’t mean it. Okay, I have so many more good campaigns to cover, but I’ll save them for next Friday. Enjoy your weekend!!!

AIVA Managing Director Lauren Angeloni will be joined by the founder and CEO at Massive Mission Media, Rob Erickson. As principal at Massive Mission, Erickson leads the creative ideation, writing, directing, and producing of advertising, brand films, digital media, and corporate communications for clients across various industries. With over 15 years of experience in media production, Erickson has delivered hundreds of pieces that engage, inform, and inspire audiences, while aligning with clients' goals and vision. — The Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA) is an invitation-only body of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, interactive, advertising, and marketing organizations like Walt Disney Studios, Groove Jones, PepsiCo, McCann Health NY, Netflix, IBM, Deloitte Digital, LG, and WONGDOODY among many others. The AIVA sanctions all judging for the Communicator, w3 and Davey Awards. To learn more about the AIVA, visit aiva.org.

Meet Kian Farhang, the creative genius behind amazing digital designs and branding! With stints at 2x4 Studios, Landor NYC, and The World Bank, he's led projects for big names like JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch. Armed with an MFA and working on his Ph.D., Kian’s research and designs have wowed the world, even snagging a design patent and a nomination for the A' Design Award. Learn more about Kian at the link below! https://bit.ly/3WVLTzi

Hello from the Delaware shore! Lauren Angeloni here, as ever. I'm not ALL lazing about on the sand, as I am closing out our w3 Awards grace period and planning for the Communicator Awards launch next month. But there may be a *touch* of sun-baked bleariness this week. But I still have the wherewithal to pull together what’s interesting (imho) in our industry. This week’s talking points brought to you by the wafting scent of boardwalk fries with Old Bay and malt vinegar…. I know I'm showing my age here, but I'm p much over the flocking to grab at any viral tiktok phrase that comes along. Now it’s the “demure, mindful” trend created by Jools Lebron. I feel like brands need a “first come, first served” rule like: if you are not one of the first 5 brands to employ the trend, you must cease and desist. Cleverness starts to feel like a very limited resource. Prove me wrong!! Here’s a good example of harnessing a moment the right way: TN Titan’s QB, Will Levis, went viral for mixing mayo into his coffee, prompting Hellmann's to give him a lifetime supply. Now in a wild step further, Hellmann’s has released a mayo-inspired cologne with Will. This stunt feels, to me, special and singular. Due to a work-around, Epic Games has brought Fortnite (among other games) back to mobile, since being pulled off in 2020 due to disputes with Apple and Alphabet over steep fees. This is not a fully global solution (yet), but should be huge for the fans (and for Epic) nonetheless. I enjoyed an article on The Verge by Kylie Robinson about testing OpenAI’s new Advanced Voice Mode, which is chock full of uncomfortably human characteristics like breathlessness, convincing vocal tics and… feelings? Read on The Verge for the full recap. Love this: Google is partnering with Netflix for the 4th Season of Emily in Paris. The sponsorship will incorporate the use of Google Lens, allowing fans to scan Emily’s iconic looks and make them shoppable. Brilliant. I completely lost track of what was happening on Killing Eve because I was trying to figure out how to get the DRIES VAN NOTEN suit that Jodie Comer wears (don’t worry… I eventually got it) Okay, I will let you get back to the last hours to get your projects ready for w3! I will now reapply sunblock. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about the tik tok trends that are making you crazy or the most brilliant promo stunts you’ve witnessed. 

The new episode of Small Desk, Big Ideas is here! 🎬 Join Josh Hester at Storyteller Studios in Springfield, IL—Lincoln's hometown. Explore the space behind the Gold-winning doc series on Lincoln. Watch now! https://bit.ly/4fHSd4T

Get ready for a new episode of Small Desk, Big Ideas! 🌟 Join us as we step inside the office of Josh Hester, Founder & Executive Producer at Storyteller Studios in Springfield, IL—Abraham Lincoln's hometown. Discover the creative space behind the Gold-winning doc series on Lincoln, and see where award-winning stories come to life. Don't miss it!

Hi, Y’all, Lauren Angeloni here again. I asked you guys to go for the gold for the w3 deadline last week and you delivered! Based on what I saw coming through, I cannot wait to see the winner’s list in a few weeks. It’s going to be a great end to the season and our jurors are going to have a Herculean (but v rewarding) task ahead of them. We did have a lot of saved entries and extension requests, so we're entering into the usual grace period. In other major news: I’m deep into planning for the next season (the 31st!) of Communicator Awards, which will be here before you know it. I forgot how busy summers are around the AIVA. That will not stop me from my annual beach trip next week (brace yourselves, Delaware), so expect a beachy theme. Until then, let’s get to a roundup… This week’s talking points brought to you by "Big Parm": I cannot believe, in my viral Olympics points, that I did not mention one of my favorites: the brilliant Italian gymnast, Giorgia Villa’s, sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano. What a campaign! And Suni Lee’s self-deprecating post about falling on the beam was all good fun. There haven’t been too many others that have cropped up since my last post, except the pole vaulter… which i cannot share here (ahem, these are PROFESSIONAL talking points!) In my renewed interest in surfing, I came across a really interesting tool called Surfline (Surfline\Wavetrak, Inc.) (via surfer Koa Smith) which brings together all the data you could possibly need to maximize your time in the waves (I almost said in the barrel, but felt like an imposter). Let me be clear, I do not surf, but I DO manage multiple properties that honor mobile apps & tools and this is a good one. Onto other things in our milieu… In branded collectibles news: McDonald's taps into Gen X nostalgia by coming back with collectible glasses featuring the McD’s gang. Plus State Farm just partnered with Funko to memorialize “Jake from State Farm” into Funko Pop form. In an AMAZING real-life marketing move, the minds behind Alien: Romulus has people walking around the streets of New York, wearing face-hugger masks (IYKYK) and feigning convulsions… It really has people’s attention. Love it (via MSN). This is about as close to politics as I want to get here, but in a divisive time, the The New York Times id’d one point of commonality between the opposing US VP candidates: Diet Mountain Dew (PepsiCo). I can’t wait to see how the Brand harnesses this moment.    I’ll see you guys again next week. Don’t forget that you have a little extra time to get those w3 entries in! And you small shops have even more time and also have a suite of mobile and social categories (should "Big Parm" or Surfline be reading). 

As specialists in kids entertainment, 7Ate9 Entertainment was the ideal production studio partner for Disney Junior’s disability pride month project, “Let's Go: Disneyland's Toon Town.” The amusement park section is designed to be totally accessible for the differently-abled. To show the difference these accessibility measures can make in a child’s life, 7Ate9 filmed young Beauden and his family as they visit the park for the first time. Take a walk in the park and follow along with them at the link below! https://bit.ly/3LY3CQI

Meet another incredible w3 Juror, Reymi Castellanos Fondeur. He is a User Experience \(UX\) and Interactive Design Consultant with a passion for integrating digital technology with marketing solutions. Currently, he serves as the Director and Consultant in User Experience Design at Grupo Interactivo. As a UX-expert, Reymi weighed in on his favorite digital tools and websites and shared them with us! Read the full feature at the link below! https://bit.ly/3A4t9Vn

We're thrilled to have Campara Rozina de Haan, Director of Social Media Marketing at QNY Creative, join the panel of judges for the Davey Awards! Known for her award-winning campaigns with clients like Tao Group Hospitality and major CPG brands, Campara brings a wealth of expertise to our panel. ㅤ Curious about the unconventional paths that have shaped her creative vision? Campara shares the three books that have deeply influenced her, and reminisces about a favorite ad that was banned for its vulgarity. Read more about her story and the inspirations behind her creativity in our featured article below! https://bit.ly/4dwepgE ㅤ Submit your entries by the extended deadline of September 13th to have your work evaluated by industry experts like Campara! Good luck to all entrants!