Juniper Park likes to tell stories, and if the creative brief is the plot, then strong business results are the fairytale ending.
The Toronto-based agency spent the last year crafting attention-grabbing tales for a growing roster of clients in a number of mediums.
“We take a step back and say, name any great brand that you love… this is what it’s about,” says agency president Jill Nykoliation. “If you want to nail down your brand you need to fi rst determine what is that story you’re telling.”
And by embracing that philosophy, the story of Juniper Park got very interesting indeed.
Though it won’t reveal its revenue or profi ts, the agency has nearly doubled in size to 50 staff over the last year by landing clients like Capital One and Chicago Tribune in the U.S., and Canadian accounts Oakville Place and Stone Tile, but the real breakthrough came with the win of the Virgin Mobile business in March.
Since open ing its doors in 2007, Juniper, a BBDO agency within the Omnicom Group, had spent most of its time building brands in the U.S. for Frito- Lay. Aside from a handful of projects for clients like Canadian Red Cross and lingerie retailer Secrets From Your Sister, few in Canada knew much about the agency or had seen any of its work.
The win fi nally gave the agency an opportunity to develop a profi le in its home country and show the Canadian marketplace what it’s capable of, says Terry Drummond, one of the agency’s three creative directors.
Since taking over the mobile account, Juniper Park has “really helped us understand what the narrative of Virgin is in this country,” says Nathan Rosenberg, chief marketing offi cer for Virgin Mobile.
“ There is a lot of stuff that we have to offer consumers, and [Juniper Park] helped us pull out what the core product messages should be.”
Juniper cast the wireless carrier as a consumer champion in a multi-milliondollar back-to-school campaign urging consumers not to fear high data rates.
One in-bar execution in the “Fearless” campaign invited men and women to call a toll-free “hot text” number using their cellphones. A phone-sex like recording told them they’d be turned on by Virgin’s savings, and listed product offerings . The phone-in ad registered more than 34,000 calls in six weeks.
“Juniper uncovered that you can present the brand in a very sexy, fashionable manner and you can still get across a strong retail message,” says Rosenberg.
The agency also continued its strong work for Frito-Lay, repositioning the Lay’s potato chip brand by introducing the “Happiness is Simple” theme.
TV, print and an in-store extension celebrated Lay’s place in Americana and it’s role in bringing people together for life’s simple pleasures. The creative pointed to the fact the snack is made from three ingredients and grown by local farmers. It was a story most consumers were unaware of, says Juniper Park creative director Barry Quinn, but one that got them talking.
Gannon Jones, vice-president for portfolio marketing at Frito-Lay North America, says Juniper Park transformed the brand. He wouldn’t comment on sales fi gures but says Lays is having a record year.
“They get in at the ground fl oor, and really work to understand your business beyond just the traditional ‘give me the brief let me develop the creative,’ ” he says. “Many agencies will take the brief and go off and do it, and even if there’s a wealth of research they don’t immerse themselves in it, which Juniper Park does.”
Frito-Lay also overhauled its baked snack foods business to appeal more to women who were visiting the snack aisle for their family, but not themselves.
The solution: the “Only in a Women’s World” multi-media campaign including 14 content-based webisodes featuring four cartoon women who talk about men, exercise and food, while lightly injecting the brand. The “Shrinking Jeans” episode was the second most watched viral video online in August 2009, according to Ad Age Viral Video rankings.
“It’s not a heavy ad campaign, it’s a content-based campaign that really cast a light on the idiosyncrasies of women,” says Jones. The agency also produced a 45-second time-lapse TV commercial to announce the SunChips line will introduce compostable bags by Earth Day, 2010. The ad ran only once in the U.S. during an episode of American Idol in April. The spot caught the attention of Demi Moore who tweeted about it to her then-700,000-plus followers.
Nykoliation says the agency achieved everything it set out to this year, and then some, and hopes to continue the pace into 2010. But, says Quinn, adding more Canadian clients to its roster would be the perfect ending to this chapter.
