Michael Kirby

Broadcast

Norman Lear formed the advocacy organization Declare Yourself to energize the traditionally apathetic 18-29 year old vote. David LaChapelle was hired to shoot some incredible images for the "You Can Only Silence Yourself" print campaign and I was given the assignment to extend that direction to TV. Working with Lear was a great experience. Partnering with LaChapelle for these spots was a revelation. Two legendary geniuses on one project; doesn’t get much better than that.

I don’t share the view some hold in this profession that retail is a lower life form. When there’s a distinct POV, retail it can be effective, fun and rewarding. Mattress Land SleepFit has a bunch of stores up and down the West Coast. They are committed to helping people sleep better. They also don’t have huge production budgets. For this campaign, I served as producer, writer, creative director and even casting agent. The series main guy, Chris, was chosen from over 150 submissions after shooting a video audition while in location in Hawaii. The real-life customers I found through Craigslist ads. We shot with a small crew, made things up as we went, and have been selling lot of mattresses.

Once in a while the opportunity to bring an altruistic message forward comes from unexpected circumstance. Southern California Gas Company was worried about the threat of future competition from natural gas deregulation. Until then, as a monopoly utility, their messaging was fairly easy: just remind people how they were “Glad to be of service.” I proposed a simple strategy: raise the likeability and trust of So Cal Gas by focusing on people in California who, like them, do their jobs without looking for the spotlight. I found about 20 likely subjects and narrowed them down to the three you see here. From strategy to concept to convincing a very conservative company on its validity, and from to shoot to final, it was one of the hardest projects I’d experienced. But very much worth it.

With only 30 seconds I knew convincing someone locked into the death spiral of unhealthy choices to consider the Weimar Institute’s NewStart Lifestyle Program was impossible. Research, however, told me family members have the greatest potential influence and that they typically felt their loved one was committing a slow form of suicide. I was very lucky with both casting and with a production company who understood my Cohen Brothers references.

With only 30 seconds, I knew that convincing someone locked into the death spiral of unhealthy choices to consider the Weimar Institute’s NewStart Lifestyle Program was impossible. Research, however, told me that family members have the greatest potential influence and they typically felt their loved one was committing a slow form of suicide. I was very lucky with both casting and with a production company who understood my Cohen Brothers references.

Coldwell Banker wanted to be elevated above the bottom-feeders of real estate agents. So my account guy, art director and I flew around the country holding focus groups and listened to consumers tell us how they ranked the credibility of real estate agents among lawyers and advertising people. Taking some comfort that we were held in higher regard than politicians and animal exterminators, the next step was to communicate that Coldwell Banker viewed themselves, and their customers, differently.

Maybe it’s a character flaw, but I like it when a client says “we want to do new spots but don’t have much money…” “Great,” I said, "let’s see if I have this right: no sets, no actors, no special effects, no craft service, no PAs…" After that, all it took was just scribbling down some ideas.

We had just left Maglite after presenting a whole slew of commercials that were rejected. I sat in the back of the creative director’s Audi Quattro and thought about how Maglite’s inventor, Tony Maglica, kept talking in his Croatian accent about how the body of the flashlight was milled from high-grade aircraft aluminum. I wrote down “it’s a work of art, that works.” And by the time we got back to the agency, the concept was basically done. There was one downside: Tony loved the spot so much he ran it for 10 years, depriving the agency of future production income.

making whole grain Roman Meal bread in Tacoma, Washington in 1927. As a healthier alternative to other national brands such as Wonder Bread, it was perceived as the bread for older people who cared more about nutrition than taste. And yet, in blind taste tests, people really liked Roman Meal. Before Gordon Ramsey made a mantra out of “simple, fresh, delicious,” these :15 spots began bringing back younger families by associating Roman Meal with the basic joys of comfort food.

Community Medical Centers was facing stiff competition from a Catholic hospital that was perceived as having the endorsement of a higher power. I worked on every aspect of the campaign, from developing the brand evaluation through to each creative element. For TV we wanted to connect the name “Community” with the faces of the actual care providers. The shoot was outline scripted, shot with a minimal crew and hopes that some wonderful moments would get captured on film. Prayers, as they say, were answered.

Print/Web

For this Sony ES product line website I tapped into a love for things technical, and a passion for faithful reproduction of sound and images. The only thing that could've made it better would've been if they let me keep some of the stuff I wrote about. No dice.

Trade generates incredible wealth, and links the lives of everyone on the planet. Still, millions of people in poor countries are stuck in poverty because the laws controlling trade heavily favor the rich nations that set the rules. Having Michael Stipe, Thom Yorke, Alanis Morissette, and Antonio Banderas agree to the shoot helped to make fun work out of serious subject.

Cliff Bar wanted to reinforce their cult position against the corporate giants who were intent on grabbing share in the energy bar category. I thought, okay, why not begin with the premise of "you are what you eat" and see how far that takes us?

A freshness advantage came to light when focus groups told me they could smell the difference between walking into a Raley's versus their competition. With a combination of outdoor and radio, Raley's started beating their rivals by more than a nose.

United Way needed to increase donations from employees working for companies around Los Angeles. To me, that was a perfect opportunity to directly address lame excuses for not giving that ran counter to the altruistic ideal that people in LA profess to hold.

Rio Las Vegas was mighty proud of winning an award from Travel & Leisure Magazine. When I discovered that the honors came from the readers, not the editorial staff, it made for a campaign I am mighty proud of, too.

The Weimar Institute has a very effective program for completely changing the way people approach their health. While doing research, I kept coming back to how obesity scares the daylights out of family members who see it as a form of suicide. These ads ran on opposite corners of facing pages in magazines and were back by TV and radio. All done on a rather, ahem, slim budget.

Remember the oxymoronically named Patriot Act? That extremely controversial legislation was the focus of these ads which ran in special publications given out at the Democratic and Republican Presidential Conventions. I thought the best way to reach delegates with plenty on their minds was to give them even more to think about. Nice to think that now, ten years later, unconstitutional intrusion into the lives of citizens by the government is no longer a concern. Right?

Truth be told, I've never been a big fan of puns. But sometimes, when you have to make people pay attention to a low-interest topic like the phone book while commuting, puns can be effective. This was part of an overall "It's the one that gets used" campaign that targeted both businesses and consumers. And work it did, just like (insert your own pun here).

Southern California Gas Company was facing deregulation of the natural gas industry. And their soon-to-be competitors were running disinformation campaigns with the goal of saddling the utility with restrictions they would be free to ignore. This campaign was created to run in publications read by legislators in Sacramento who would vote on legislation harmful to So Cal Gas. Although I can’t claim these ads helped influence regulations in my client’s favor, it did open many eyes and ruffled quite a number of feathers.

Kendall Jackson was concerned about younger audiences who were beginning to turn more to cocktails than wine. We could've gone with a campaign that mirrored back the target with lifestyle shots of 25 year old One Percenters flashing toothy smiles in exaggerated party situations. Instead, we took the exaggeration of aspiration in a whole different direction.

This website for Altametrics, maker of web-based enterprise solutions for the restaurant industry, began with a positioning line I wrote: "Do What Others Dream." From there, it evolved into creating landing pages for each product that used the mother-site as a launch pad. Didn't get a lot of sleep during the site build, but it was still a dream project.

You've only seen a sample of the work I'm proud to have worked on. What's next? Adding yours.

About

I'm Michael Kirby.
I can write copy for any media, including editorial.
Or create concepts as part of a team.
I can take a strategy, put together a team, develop an entire creative platform, present to decision makers, and Sherpa everything through production.
Or, if there is no strategy, I have a proprietary 2-day process where I facilitate a complete brand analysis with stakeholders and produce strategic directions that can be put into play (see sentence above).
I can pitch new business or save existing.
I can also cook a mean beef bourguignon.

At one time, I served as Creative Director, writer &/or producer for Lois/EJL, Grey/LA, Tracy-Locke/LA, Kresser, Craig/LA, The Richard’s Group and other agencies.
Today, I work for some pretty amazing agencies and directly with farsighted businesses.
If you're either of those, we need to talk.

From A to Z, I've had the pleasure of working on:
ACLU • Affordable Housing Development Corporation • Altametrics • American Wine Club • Amnesty International • ARCO • AT&T Wireless • Bennigan’s/Steak & Ale Restaurants • Beshoff Motor Cars • BioTouch • Black Oak Casino • Breakthrough Coaching • California Almond Board • California Walnut Commission • Carl’s Jr. restaurants • CCIM Education Foundation • Chukchansi Casino • City of Beverly Hills • Coldwell Banker Real Estate • Colliers Tingey Commercial Real Estate • Community Health Network of Connecticut • Communities of Color New Haven • Community Medical Centers Insurance • Comstock Business Magazine • Courtyard Financial • Christian Leadership Foundation • Crum & Forster Insurance • Declare Yourself • Delta College • Disneyland Hotel • Disney Resorts • Doritos • Edmonds Jewelers • Educational Employees Credit Union • El Torrito Restaurants • Entertainment Industry Foundation • First American Title Company Mortuary • Festival of Children • Florestone Products • Fogg Maxwell & Lanier Eye Care • Foster Farms • Free Press • Fresno Art Museum • Fresno County Workforce Investment Board • Fresno First Bank • Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital • Fukui Mortuary • Green Light Auto Parts • Gottschalks Department Stores • Gusmer Enterprises • Hong Kong Tourist Board • International Center for Water Technology • Institute of Technology • John’s Pizza • Johnsey Insurance • Kendall Jackson Wine • Kenwood Audio • K Hovnanian Homes • Kia Motor cars • Kitty Crystals Cat Litter • KVPT Public Television • Kwikset Locks • LA Weight Loss • Lender’s First Choice • Lenmar Batteries • Lennox Heating & Air Conditioning • LifeWest Chiropractic College • Maglite Flashlights • Mazzei Flying Services • MediaOne Cable Television • MedicAlert • Mennonite Insurance • Mercedes Benz of Fresno • Mercedes Benz of Sacramento • Merced County Office of Education • Money Magazine • Mono Wind Casino • Monterey Ag Resources • Monterey Peninsula College • Muse Airline • National Endowment for Consumer • National Kidney Foundation • One By One Leadership • Orange County Human Relations Council • Oshman’s Sporting Goods • Overhead Door Corp. • Oxfam • Palace Casino • Pat Tillman Foundation • People For The American Way • Pilgrim’s Pride Chicken • Polycomp • Port of Long Beach • Price Pfister Faucets • Quiring Medical • Raley’s Grocery Stores • Registry Hotels • Rio Resort/Las Vegas • Riverside Landscape • Roman Meal Bread • Sacramento Area Commerce & Trade Organization • Safeway Grocery Stores • Salvation Army • San Joaquin Delta College • Clara County Wellness • Shoe Pavilion • Sony ES • Southern California Edison • Southern California Gas Company • State Center Community College District • Surfer’s Endowment for the Arts Education • Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure • Table Mountain Casino • Taco Bell • Telebrand Acne Dots • Texas Utilities • The Bakersfield Californian • The Dallas Morning News • The Dallas Times Herald • Torosian & Walter CPAs • Travelodge • United Way of Southern California • University of California/Merced • USBX • USWest (Yellow Pages & Video-On-Demand • Valley Christian Center • Valley Yellow Pages • Warner Company Jewelers • Washington Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking • Wathen Castanos Home Builders • Weimar Institue • Wendy’s • West Coast Men’s Center • West Hills College • Whole Foods • Wilson Homes • Winston Tire • Wok Chinese Restaurants • Yahoo Personals • Zale Jewelry Stores

Contact

michael@kirbycreative.com

818-468-2448