Welcome to Paul Sears' blog! I'm a Senior Client Services Manager with Rocket XL, leading the Client Services practice in the Los Angeles office. I oversee a team of 8 Social Media specialists, and work closely with our in-house creative/teach team.
Thanks for visiting, please stay a while and check out some case studies from cool campaigns I've worked on.
About me
My resume
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Case Study: Singularity
Activision's Singularity, due to launch in November 2009, is the first new IP from the publisher in more than 5 years. And in an economy this tough, the stakes have never been higher.
How do you generate awareness, immerse hard-core gamers in a storyline they know nothing about, and build equity in a completely new brand - all on a shoestring production budget and with no paid media? Send gamers deep down the rabbit-hole with an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) involving murder, conspiracy, and highly classified weapons research on a remote Soviet island.
Our team created a complex and engaging storyline involving a beautiful assassin, an evil Russian scientist, and a rich cast of supporting characters introduced over the ARG's 2-month life span. We started by seeding a viral video, which pointed gamers to clues all over the web: a conspiracy blog, a news station website, a Russian government website, 2 Facebook profiles, 2 Flickr pages, Google Maps, multiple Twitter accounts, 4 webisodes, email addresses and 1-800 numbers. We even leveraged New York Comic-Con, posting flyers urging gamers to help unravel decades of Russian lies.
By directly participating in the storyline, gamers actively helped reveal and shape the narrative. For example, when secret Russian documents were "leaked," we relied on the community to translate them. And based on conversations in blogs and forums, we tweaked ARG elements to deepen the mystery.
Gamers responded en masse, diving head-first into the content. The viral video received more than a million views on YouTube and dozens of blogs. Numerous copycat-postings were made, as well as exposés, reactions, and even a montage of our main character's Flickr photos. Hundreds of thousands of gamers visited the conspiracy blog, yielding an Average Time Spent of almost 3 minutes, and hundreds of comments from 1000+ registered users. The ARG was featured in The New York Times and editorial all over the web, generating pages of forum content and even a wiki.
When it came time to fully reveal the game, anticipation among gamers had built to such a fever pitch that our online advertising received click-through rates 7x the industry average. Proof positive that even with tight budgets and challenging market conditions, great ideas can still produce amazing results.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Case Study - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Advertising Brief:
Raise awareness of the game and give gamers a reason to believe that Call of Duty's move from a WWII game to the arena of Modern Warfare was going to make the game even better. Research shows that gamers always consult a trusted source before buying a game.
Solution:
Who better to endorse Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare than the experts - war hungry world leaders? Viral video reviews of the game were created featuring Kim Jong-Il, Putin, Qadaffi, Castro and Ahmadinejad. The viral videos were supported with a fully integrated campaign including TV, Print, Online Banners, and a microsite.
Results:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the #1 selling game of 2007 with more than 10 million units sold worldwide. More than 2 million consumers viewed the 5 viral videos on the microsite, YouTube, and gaming sites. The viral campaign even won the coveted Sweepstakes Bowl at the 2008 Belding Awards and was recently featured in Communication Arts. The campaign also recently won an Effie award in the Influencers category.
Case Study - Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
Gamers have a sick sense of humor. That’s why the idea of selling human goo as a dietary supplement was such a hit. To create buzz around the XBOX 360 and PlayStation3 versions of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, our team came up with a campaign that markets Stroyent as if it were an actual packaged goods product.
Some background: For the alien race known as the Strogg, Stroyent serves as both food and ammo. As an added bonus, Stroyent is made from 100% human meat.
Using a cutting-edge technique known as machinima (from the words machine and anime), we created five viral videos, “acted” and animated within the virtual world of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The videos were supported with a deeply integrated campaign including a website, a Facebook page, a widget, online banners, search, and viral seeding. We even sold Stroyent T-Shirts online.
Nearly a million viewers were able to soak in the game footage organically at www.stroyent.com, as well as YouTube and dozens of gaming blogs. Gamers blew up message boards and forums, and loved the commercials enough to call our 1-800 number, where operators were standing by, 9am-5pm Standard Strogg Time.
The campaign was also recently awarded Best In Show for New Media in the 2008 Mobius Awards.
Case Study - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Activision was looking to capitalize on growing passion for Guitar Hero with the next title in the series, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Guitar Hero III would release simultaneously on Xbox 360, Playstation 2 & 3, and Nintendo Wii, with an all-new song list and Gibson Les Paul style wireless guitar controllers. The brand was poised for explosive growth but needed to be elevated to more than just a video game with plastic toy guitars.
Our team looked to capture the emotional essence of “unleashing your inner rock star.” That meant the indescribable feeling of transforming into a real rocker. The “Slash” campaign, including TV, Interactive and Print, helped catapult the Guitar Hero franchise to an entirely new level of status in pop culture, ultimately becoming the first ever video game to exceed more than $1 Billion in sales. The title sold more than 14 million units worldwide. We even placed an ad in Entertainment Weekly, putting Hollywood on notice that Guitar Hero III, with $115 Million in week-one sales, had officially arrived.
Case Study: Call of Duty: World at War
After Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s tremendous success bringing the franchise into the present day, Activision’s next title in the series, Call of Duty: World at War, took what many hard-core gamers considered to be a step backward by going back to World War II. Our team’s challenge was to prove the skeptics wrong, and show that World at War was truly WWII like you’ve never felt before.
To do this, we created an integrated global campaign including 3 TV spots, 5 Interactive executions, 2 Print ads, and a Viral Video. We consistently “showed gamers the money” through high quality game-play video in Rich Media banners and on TV. In fact, our team was the first in the nation to run Full-Screen HD Video in a MySpace Homepage Takeover. We also created a custom Rich Media execution on IGN.com where the consumer was invited to pick up a Flamethrower from a banner ad and virtually burn through the page.
The result? The naysayers were silenced and the skeptics were converted – Call of Duty: World at War’s day-one sales beat Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare by more than 50%. And in just a few months since launch, the title has sold nearly 8 million units worldwide – almost matching the numbers seen in a full year by Call of Duty 4.
Case Study: Clearwire High-Speed Internet
In early 2007, Clearwire, an internet service provider operating in 30 markets nationwide, was gearing up for rapid expansion. Clearwire was projected to double its customer base and service 60+ markets by the end of 2007. However, the brand needed a makeover – a cleaner look, straightforward messaging, and a new face for its 1,500+ retail stores.
Our team revamped Clearwire’s identity with a new logo & tagline, a new website, and an entirely new look at retail. Advertising announced the new face of the brand in Clearwire’s service markets on TV, Radio, Out of Home, Newspaper, Print and Direct Mail. We worked closely with Media and PR to help coordinate grand opening events in 4-5 new markets every month. And we developed monthly promotions for 1,500+ retail stores, revamping the brand as well as streamlining production and delivery of POP materials, allowing more time for analytics and campaign development.
It worked. Clearwire has more than doubled its customer base and increased penetration in all markets. Recently Clearwire merged with Sprint/NEXTEL to further enhance its offering and reach even more households. Our team is thrilled to have been part of this success.
Paul Sears' Resume
ACCOUNT SUPERVISOR
DDB, LOS ANGELES
2008-2009
Account Supervisor on the Activision/Blizzard Publishing account. Managed strategy, development and execution of integrated campaigns including TV, Interactive, Print and Out of Home. Collaborated with clients, internal teams and partners to support, guide, elevate and streamline at every step.
Primary agency contact for 16 clients at a variety of levels in several groups. Supervised and mentored a team including Sr. AE, AE, AAE and AC. Played a key leadership role on award-winning team, launching 7 titles:
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
- Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: World at War
- James Bond: Quantum of Solace
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
- Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Previously Senior Account Executive on the Activision/Blizzard Publishing account (2007-2008).
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
DDB, LOS ANGELES
2006-2007
Account Executive on Ameriquest Mortgage Company and Clearwire High Speed Internet accounts.
Ameriquest: managed development and production of monthly Direct Mail campaigns with 5-10MM units per month. Collaborated with analytics team to develop strategy and implement learnings. Primary day-to-day contact for 3 clients.
Clearwire: managed development and execution of monthly promotional campaigns including Retail/POP design for 1,500+ stores, TV, Radio, Print, Out of Home, and Direct Mail/Shared Mail. Supervised and mentored AE, AAE, and AC.
MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS PLANNER
SAATCHI & SAATCHI, LOS ANGELES
2005-2006
Lead National Cable TV planner on Toyota Motor Sales account. Planned/maintained Cable TV schedules in excess of $150MM for 10 Toyota brands on 33 networks, with 75+ sponsorships/integrations. Also Lead Broadcast Planner on Toyota's NASCAR Cup and Truck campaigns.
Led creation of a custom User-Generated Content program with Current TV for Yaris launch; the first of its kind in the Auto category.
Primary day-to-day agency contact for 4 clients. Supervised and mentored 2 Assistant Media Planners and a Budget Analyst.
MEDIA PLANNER
MCCLAIN FINLON ADVERTISING, DENVER
2003-2005
Lead planner on Xcel Energy, Denver Zoo, and Budget Truck Rental Accounts. Planned/executed/maintained 12 annual media campaigns in excess of $7MM, including Spot TV and Radio, Newspaper, B2B Print, Online, and Out of Home.
Primary day-to-day agency contact for 4 clients. Supervised and mentored 3 Assistant Media Planners, and managed recruitment and training for the agency’s Media Internship program.
REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
DDB, LOS ANGELES
2008-2009
Account Supervisor on the Activision/Blizzard Publishing account. Managed strategy, development and execution of integrated campaigns including TV, Interactive, Print and Out of Home. Collaborated with clients, internal teams and partners to support, guide, elevate and streamline at every step.
Primary agency contact for 16 clients at a variety of levels in several groups. Supervised and mentored a team including Sr. AE, AE, AAE and AC. Played a key leadership role on award-winning team, launching 7 titles:
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
- Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: World at War
- James Bond: Quantum of Solace
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
- Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Previously Senior Account Executive on the Activision/Blizzard Publishing account (2007-2008).
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
DDB, LOS ANGELES
2006-2007
Account Executive on Ameriquest Mortgage Company and Clearwire High Speed Internet accounts.
Ameriquest: managed development and production of monthly Direct Mail campaigns with 5-10MM units per month. Collaborated with analytics team to develop strategy and implement learnings. Primary day-to-day contact for 3 clients.
Clearwire: managed development and execution of monthly promotional campaigns including Retail/POP design for 1,500+ stores, TV, Radio, Print, Out of Home, and Direct Mail/Shared Mail. Supervised and mentored AE, AAE, and AC.
MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS PLANNER
SAATCHI & SAATCHI, LOS ANGELES
2005-2006
Lead National Cable TV planner on Toyota Motor Sales account. Planned/maintained Cable TV schedules in excess of $150MM for 10 Toyota brands on 33 networks, with 75+ sponsorships/integrations. Also Lead Broadcast Planner on Toyota's NASCAR Cup and Truck campaigns.
Led creation of a custom User-Generated Content program with Current TV for Yaris launch; the first of its kind in the Auto category.
Primary day-to-day agency contact for 4 clients. Supervised and mentored 2 Assistant Media Planners and a Budget Analyst.
MEDIA PLANNER
MCCLAIN FINLON ADVERTISING, DENVER
2003-2005
Lead planner on Xcel Energy, Denver Zoo, and Budget Truck Rental Accounts. Planned/executed/maintained 12 annual media campaigns in excess of $7MM, including Spot TV and Radio, Newspaper, B2B Print, Online, and Out of Home.
Primary day-to-day agency contact for 4 clients. Supervised and mentored 3 Assistant Media Planners, and managed recruitment and training for the agency’s Media Internship program.
REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Supporters
Well, I tend to think I'm pretty mavericky and all, but what do others think? Check out some thoughts from colleagues over the years:
Marcus Wesson: "From the creative perspective, Paul's dedication to the brand and ability to handle several spinning plates at once made it easier for us to create great work. His thoroughness is exceptional and often times he offered up ideas that even made the work better. Paul is truly a valuable member to the team."
Don Lupo: "Paul's greatest ability is making important work happen amidst the constant barrage of fire drills and client demands. He is able to keep a level head while ensuring the success of each and every project he touches. From clearly managing client expectations and account staff to keeping creative executions on strategy, Paul handles it all with humor and aplomb. He is a master at adroitly juggling chainsaws and herding cats with a smile on his face; it's a pleasure to work with him.”
Tariq Ali: “Paul is extremely dedicated and hard working individual who brings a lot to the table. I worked closely with Paul on both the Ameriquest and Clearwire business at DDB, where he worked diligently with multiple teams and partners to develop and execute strategies and tactics that drove bottom-line results. Paul is solid team players with a strong can-do attitude and is admired by many here at DDB.”
Janet Ferguson Keeley: "Paul is incredible to work with in that he takes his work -- but not himself -- seriously. He beautifully bridges the gap between creatives and clients with his superb communication skills and ability to listen and understand, then deliver what is expected... and more. It helps that he seems to be both left- and right-brained with business and strategic skills, as well as visual arts and language talents. Clients are always complimenting his work ethic, and creatives want to be on his team. You will enjoy working with Paul -- as a client, colleague, or manager."
Virginia Pooler: "I had the pleasure of working with Paul on a tough, fast moving project that he handled with ease of someone who knows his business. He has the arduous task of juggling multiple projects, clients, creatives and difficult deadlines, yet he effectively bridges the gaps, managing to give each the attention it deserves. He is always calm with a great sense of humor and his knowledge of the "gamer" world is set to expert."
Chris Ruszkowski: "Maturity. Dedication. Hard Working and all around Fun Guy. These words describe Paul Sears. We worked together in Denver and I hope to work with him again in the future."
Rick Bursky: "Paul is smart, determined and works hard. He has a deep appreciation for the creative product and brings sharp strategic thinking to the party. Even in the - at times - stressful advertising world Paul manages to keep projects running smoothly."
Lauren Dunn: "Being experienced in both Account Management and Media makes Paul an asset who will prove invaluable time and time again. His communication is timely and thorough, his personality genuine and he over-delivers consistently. Paul is not afraid of a challenge, has a natural curiosity to figure something out if he isn't in the know and has his team's back. Top-notch only begins to describe him."
Marcus Wesson: "From the creative perspective, Paul's dedication to the brand and ability to handle several spinning plates at once made it easier for us to create great work. His thoroughness is exceptional and often times he offered up ideas that even made the work better. Paul is truly a valuable member to the team."
Don Lupo: "Paul's greatest ability is making important work happen amidst the constant barrage of fire drills and client demands. He is able to keep a level head while ensuring the success of each and every project he touches. From clearly managing client expectations and account staff to keeping creative executions on strategy, Paul handles it all with humor and aplomb. He is a master at adroitly juggling chainsaws and herding cats with a smile on his face; it's a pleasure to work with him.”
Tariq Ali: “Paul is extremely dedicated and hard working individual who brings a lot to the table. I worked closely with Paul on both the Ameriquest and Clearwire business at DDB, where he worked diligently with multiple teams and partners to develop and execute strategies and tactics that drove bottom-line results. Paul is solid team players with a strong can-do attitude and is admired by many here at DDB.”
Janet Ferguson Keeley: "Paul is incredible to work with in that he takes his work -- but not himself -- seriously. He beautifully bridges the gap between creatives and clients with his superb communication skills and ability to listen and understand, then deliver what is expected... and more. It helps that he seems to be both left- and right-brained with business and strategic skills, as well as visual arts and language talents. Clients are always complimenting his work ethic, and creatives want to be on his team. You will enjoy working with Paul -- as a client, colleague, or manager."
Virginia Pooler: "I had the pleasure of working with Paul on a tough, fast moving project that he handled with ease of someone who knows his business. He has the arduous task of juggling multiple projects, clients, creatives and difficult deadlines, yet he effectively bridges the gaps, managing to give each the attention it deserves. He is always calm with a great sense of humor and his knowledge of the "gamer" world is set to expert."
Chris Ruszkowski: "Maturity. Dedication. Hard Working and all around Fun Guy. These words describe Paul Sears. We worked together in Denver and I hope to work with him again in the future."
Rick Bursky: "Paul is smart, determined and works hard. He has a deep appreciation for the creative product and brings sharp strategic thinking to the party. Even in the - at times - stressful advertising world Paul manages to keep projects running smoothly."
Lauren Dunn: "Being experienced in both Account Management and Media makes Paul an asset who will prove invaluable time and time again. His communication is timely and thorough, his personality genuine and he over-delivers consistently. Paul is not afraid of a challenge, has a natural curiosity to figure something out if he isn't in the know and has his team's back. Top-notch only begins to describe him."
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