Our team felt invincible following our first pitch. The performance we put on surprised our mentors but not each other. We all knew how hard we worked to make that first pitch what it was. We felt as if we knew what it took to succeed; what we didn't know was how complex our next assignment would be...

After a few days of studying our next client assignment we became playmakers.

Elodie: Media Strategist

Upon first glance, I thought that this brief would be a little more challenging, but at the same time would allow more possibilities to be creative and utilize paid media. The On the Run brief is different than the Build-a-Bear brief because there is a lot less structure. This is nice because we are allowed to be more creative and essentially define the campaign, rather than being confined to something that was already set up within the brand. While Build-a-Bear gave us more direction and stricter guidelines to follow allowing for an easier process, this brief is really testing our abilities to think outside of the box and provide the client with creative solutions on a broader spectrum. Visiting the On the Run store allowed our team to truly visualize what the displays and advertising in store looked like. It also sparked a lot of creativity and gave us wonderful ideas for our pitch. TIn order to surpass our last effort with Build a Bear, our team needs to take into account the challenges of this brief and make sure that we are providing a solution for everything in a concise and well-rounded way.

Bo: Account Manger

When we first got the brief I felt really good about it. I thought it was decently straightforward, it gave us a lot more freedom compared to the Build-A-Bear campaign, but it seemed straightforward. However when we really got into trying to work the brief out and understand the direction we were going with it, we realized this was more complicated than originally thought. This campaign is different because there is a lot more freedom to it. The Build-A-Bear project was very laid out and they knew exactly what they wanted. The On The Run project has less direction to it. This has been a little more difficult but it has been really cool because I think it allows us to really show off our individual talents and bring some cool concepts to life. Actually going to On The Run was a little disappointing from a creative perspective. We walked into On The Run thinking that some sort of inspiration would hit us but really we walked away from it feeling less than inspired. However, I think that was a good thing because it got us to think differently about the challenge we were trying to tackle.

Even with the setbacks, the key to this is understanding what our client wants and delivering that to them. We did well with Build-A-Bear because we were able to deliver what they wanted and we thought outside the box. As long as we can continue to do that and learn from mistakes and setbacks in Build-A-Bear we will be able to deliver something really cool.

Haley: Account Strategist

Upon first glance I felt excited looking at the brief; all of the ambiguity left up to our team was an exhilarating concept and I couldn't wait to see how we responded to this challenge. I liked the idea of creating our own campaign and felt ready to hit the ground running. That being said, this campaign is different than the last because with more ambiguity, there's more opportunities for creativity for our team, but also the new challenge of considering more elements than before. So brainstorming for this campaign has looked a lot different, as will the finished product, but it's cool to get to create a campaign that completely reflects the research we conducted and the tactics we believe will be effective for the audience.

In order to understand our audience and the store better, I think going to On The Run helped put our assignment into perspective. When we discussed what we thought this campaign looked like inside of On The Run before we actually went to one, we realized we were somewhat off base seeing as how the interior wasn't what we had imagined. After going, we were able to draw inspiration from the layout and opportunities for advertising both inside and outside the store. These insights that we gained from this trip to On The Run will help us to surpass our presentation with Build-A-Bear. To do that, we will present more outside the box thinking like we did with Build-A-Bear. To show growth since our previous presentation, we will have to show more research we conducted and also suggest new concepts that provide key insights on the target audience and how to appeal more to their needs.

Julia: Art Director

Because of my previous internship with a sporting team, I was excited about the partnership with the Blues, but was slightly intimidated. I wasn’t sure how I would be able to be creative with On The Run. This campaign was different regarding the creative direction by a landslide. The general direction I am going to take on this one is so much more uniform than our previous campaign. Honestly, it was very helpful yet slightly discouraging. There isn’t much inspiration going on in On The Run. BUT it was super helpful as far as strategic direction, and seeing where / what we could start working with!

Josh: Content Manager

I was excited upon initially viewing our second brief. I’m very familiar with the Blues and thought it would be interesting to incorporate sports into our next campaign. I am also a frequent visitor of On The Run so I was lucky enough to be familiar with the Brands involved in this campaign. The difference in the On the Run campaign from the Build-a-Bear campaign as far as content goes is pretty substantial. One campaign relies heavily on the use of social media; the other relies heavily on physical promotion and activating one's impulse. Our team took a visit to On the Run pretty early in our process of formulating a campaign. Some of us were more familiar with On The Run than others so I think the trip was pretty useful. We visited On The Run before we had an idea of where we wanted to go with the campaign causing us to look around the facility more than to strategize. In order to surpass our last effort with Build-a-Bear, our team will have to rely more on research. Build-a-Bear was a project that thrived on creativity. On the Run will be creatively centered as well, but with their specific audience and with the unique type of company they are, every decision made will be from a statistical standpoint based on data.

Nick: Copywriter

I was excited to be working with two iconic local brands. I was nervous about the lack of ideas coming to me immediately. I was confused by the disconnect of hockey with our target of millennial women. It's a far more open ended assignment than what we had with Build-A-Bear, which makes it both more exciting and more difficult. As a creative, I am thrilled we were given the task of creating our own "Big Idea" for this campaign; however, it took us nearly four days to come up with one we all believed in. The added layer of connecting the Blues, food and millennial women makes this a complicated problem in need of a brilliantly creative solution. I think our visit was a bit premature. We went prior to having a solid direction for our campaign and became more frustrated when the store didn't give us the inspiration we were looking for. Ultimately, it made us come back and push harder creatively to get where we needed to be.This brand has a much more complicated problem than what we faced with Build-A-Bear. Thus, we need to find a much more creative solution. Right now we're on the right track, and if we keep pushing I believe we can get On The Run where they need to be.