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Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 17 - Index

space is Toyota. Our latest work, which has to do with “If
looks could kill,” is an entire [series of] two-minute episodes
of mini-movies on the web. I think we did a total of eight
episodes and it’s just been tremendous. We’re really thriving
in that space, and that’s something that’s rather uncharted
for the African-American segement – to go beyond banners
and rich media. Segueing back to McDonald’s and Procter
& Gamble, I see us growing in that space with them as well.
Aafter all, that’s where you’re going to find the consumers
of tomorrow.
//www.burrell.com
Cramer-Krasselt/Chicago
Corona Beer/AirTran Airways
Clients of the agency for over a decade
SCREEN: How have the relationships with Corona and
AirTran developed over the years?
Marshall Ross/EVP and Chief Creative Officer: AirTran
Airways was having trouble filling its seats and turning a
profit 11 years ago. Sure, it could attract those first-time
flyers with a $29 fare sale but there was no money in that
business plan. The problem was that business flyers weren’t
getting on board. Those are the people who pay the
highest fares. But, they are also the people who don’t like
to travel in “cattle cars.” They don’t like to fight for a seat.
When they can they like to upgrade to business class. And,
they become addicted to frequent flyer programs. But,
most of all, business travelers feel overcharged and underappreciated.
We needed to change the conversation.
So, we convinced
AirTran to go against
every low-fare airline
paradigm and
assign seats and
create the first lowfare
business class
easily upgraded to
for just $35. We even
suggested a radically
different frequent
flyer program,
one that would fly
business travelers to
exotic places they
would want to go
but we didn’t fly to.
So with our program
you could redeem
your credits for any
flight, any airline,
anywhere in the
world, competitive
with any of the big,
legacy airlines. We
positioned AirTran
as a more civilized
way to save and
dedicated ourselves
to crusading on
behalf of the underappreciated
and
overcharged
business flyer.
It was a reinvented
airline
with a new look
and a new wemean-business
attitude.
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Twenty years
ago, yuppies
discovered
Corona and
drove its sales
to almost 20 million cases a year. Ten years later, the term
“yuppie” was a pejorative and the brand was down to 6
million cases. C-K was awarded the assignment of bringing
the Corona brand back to life. It was a tall order and money
wouldn’t be the answer. Our first-year media budget would
be only $4 million. For perspective, Budweiser alone at that
time spent nearly $100 million. We needed to find a smarter
way to fight.
We created “the Corona beach” – a world where people
are inspired to ignore their cell phones and turn a volleyball
net into a hammock. It’s a world that allowed the advertising
to behave differently than any in its category. No rock ‘n’
roll. No frat jokes. We changed the category conversation.
Corona became a “disrupter” and created a new world
that tapped directly into
our target. With C-K as
its agency of record for
10-plus years, Corona
became and remains the
number-one imported
beer brand, selling over
117 million cases last
year.
SCREEN: What are some
highlights or major
accomplishments that
have come from those
relationships?
MR: C-K’s lasting
partnership with AirTran
Airways has produced
a great deal of success, and some memorable firsts:
AirTran Airways and C-K developed the first online video
game starring Indy Car® Series driver Danica Patrick,
which launched in April 2007 on AirTranRaceway.com.
CKPR produced “The Color Purple” as the first in-flight
Broadway musical on AirTran Airways’ inaugural flight
from Chicago to New York in 2006. Other successful C-Kaided
promotions include the Elton John/XM Satellite Radio
launch, the Wendy’s-Coca Cola Roundtrip Refreshment
Offer, the launch of AirTran U - the low-cost, stand-by
program tailored specifically for college students - and the
marketing of AirTran Airways’ affordable Business Class.
Most recently, C-K created an immersive and interactive
web experience that would be precisely what you’d expect
for Corona online – but at the same time, much more than
that. Using one of the most advanced video immersion
techniques we’ve seen for the web, working with production