Ian Schwey • Creative Director/AD/CW

Along with the great team at Ogilvy, I worked on developing this new platform to re-launch H&R Block, focussing on all things in life that are certain. An instant tax return is one of them…

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN

This was an award-winning multi-media campaign involving TV spots, online videos, extremely short newspaper boxes to distribute programs, and a print ad that let people know this was the festival for people with short attention spans.

Results

Besides the most important result of a sold-out box-office, these campaigns also received awards including a Cannes Silver Lion, a One Show Silver Pencil, Silver at LIAA, Gold at ADCC, a Gold Bessie, Communication Arts, and the Clios.

Anyone Can Upload, Few Can Direct (creative director)

As a follow-up to the Short Attention Span campaign, and in a time with an endless supply of free online content, it was becoming increasingly difficult to convince people to pay to attend the festival when they can stay home and watch videos for free. Quick research into the types of videos circulating online, we came to the conclusion that anyone can upload but few can direct. To demonstrate this we took the world’s most popular viral video "Charlie Bit My Finger" and asked three short film directors to re-imagine it in three strategic genres, a zombie horror, a musical and dark comedy. The result of the campaign made it clear consumers agreed that ANYONE CAN UPLOAD. FEW CAN DIRECT.

Results

This campaign doubled their box office sales, and drove a 60% increase in website traffic and a 945% spike in YouTube channel views. It also was awarded at The One Show Interactive, One Show Entertainment, as well as winning Gold at the Digital Marketing Awards, a Gold Atomic Award, and being featured in Applied Arts Advertising & Interactive Awards Annual. 

It's an okay feeling to market gum or detergent, but nothing compares to helping immigrants' credentials become recognized in Canada.

How excited are you to reconnect with Connecting Rooms? Show us your “YAY” face!
In the spring of 2021, when vaccinations were at an all-time high and Covid numbers were on a steady decline, Hilton wanted a summer social activation to celebrate their ‘To New Memories’ campaign. The goal was to celebrate family and friends finally reuniting after over a year apart by highlighting Hilton's Confirmed Connecting Rooms feature. So we created a campaign that featured the excitement people feel when they finally see those loved ones again for the first time. Loop videos featured a diverse cast of influencers and models, illustrating how to enter the contest. We invited our audience to tap into the shared excitement for epic summer reunions by posting a “yay” selfie showing their reaction when they see their best friend for the first time in forever, tagging their friend and using the contest hashtag. For two weeks, we selected two winners a day (30 total) to receive a pair of free nights to use for connecting rooms with their bestie anywhere in the world. The results of the #HiltonTogetherAgainContest were unprecedented!

The activation which launched on Twitter and Instagram exceeded performance expectations for both engagement and reach with over 1,700 submissions. On Instagram, our 4 influencers took the lead and generated over 14M impressions and over 15K engagements for their Hilton brand content, outpacing our expected reach on Instagram by 68%.

On Twitter, the Hilton account took the lead with a series of loop videos supported by a boosted engagement campaign that garnered an exceptional engagement rate of 49.45%, nearly 3x Twitter’s internal benchmarks, and outpacing expected engagement by 100%! On both platforms, we announced a winner each day with a stitched-together portrait.

The campaign was a massive success and Hilton could not be more pleased with the results.

https://twitter.com/Hilton/status/1424795350586568709

This most recent effort, a national TV commercial for ‘All Natural’ has been running for over three years, has been tested as Clover Leaf’s most successful spot of all time, and most importantly, with combined media/marketing efforts, Clover Leaf has achieved a lift in sales of +16% for the year.

Philips wanted to convert razor users to electric by letting them know how much time they could save shaving with the Philips Electric Shaver 9000. We created a 15 second video to demonstrate just how fast a shave could be.

I lead the creative on a variety of social calendars including Hilton US, Philips Electric, MR.SUB, Clover Leaf Seafoods, Country Style, Ryobi Power Tools, TICO and First Choice Haircutters. Here is a small sampling of the many posts.

*Shout-out to the great creatives who worked on some of these posts, including Scott Rodgerson, Caitlin Culp, Paj Kazemi, Trucie Nguyen, Victoria Pastorfide, Katie Nugent Bowman, Mardi Morrison, Anna Ralph, Sean Jordan and Geoff Owens.

We were tasked with creating a print campaign targeting a younger demographic, capturing the authentic roots of Canada Goose. We shot with Daniel Ehrenworth on location in Montreal and New York City.

These simple but powerful animated spots demonstrated that with mobile alerts sent via Alert Ready, your smartphone now has the power to save a life.

Results:
69% increase in sound recall with the public vs. pre campaign – a 71% increase in unaided awareness.
Overall, the campaign generated 165 million impressions, and over 100,000 clicks to the website.
The videos were viewed digitally 10.2 million times, of which, 6.6 million views were played until completion (the best metric of interest)

The Insight & Strategy: Nurses are the best value in the health care system. Yet they're underpaid, over-worked, and there is a nurse's shortage. So we created a campaign to let the world know that this is a serious issue. The insight was based on the fact that nurses work harder than almost anyone, and make a difference in people's lives every day... so why should they not get the same respect and recognition of highly paid professionals such as athletes and celebrities? After all, if you were deserted on an island, would you rather be stuck with a nurse or a guy who could skate backwards really fast?

The Execution: Before launching the campaign, consisting of radio and outdoor, we wanted to get the actual nurses excited about the initiative. And with 1000 nurses coming to a convention in Toronto just one week after developing the concept, we had to work fast. We wanted to give nurses the treatment they deserved... complete with a red carpet, paparazzi/autograph-seekers, and their very own personalized trading card. Following that were outdoor transit shelters and radio spots to spread the message.

The Results: The campaign not only excited the membership, but also generated incredible earned media in just three short weeks. In the words of the client, Peter Birt, "the campaign generated more earned media than our previous 10 years of advertising combined!"

Women spend roughly $10,000 yearly and up to 72 days of their lives on hair removal. We think this is a problem, and we needed to let women know that Philips has the solution.

We wanted to tell women that it’s time to shake up conventional grooming routines. We achieved this by creating online videos featuring Philips beauty products in an unexpected way: showcasing real women discussing grooming challenges, followed by their enlightenment upon trying Philips products that offer convenience and visible results.

CD / Art Director: Ian Schwey

Copywriter: Anna Ralph

Strategy: Mucho Burrito's objective was ambitiously three-fold: drive sales overnight, build a brand over time and attract new franchisees. We needed to cut through the cluttered Mexican QSR market and resonate with our key target, young urban adults who enjoy fresh and exciting new food experiences.

Idea: We had to creatively serve up 'authentic Mexican' in a bold and lighthearted way. Our outdoor advertising and in-store collateral featured the icons and rustic visuals of Mexico to deliver the authenticity of the brand, while zesty headlines and radio gave the brand the unique and memorable voice to stand out in the category.

Results: Mucho Burrito is now the fastest-growing Mexican chain in Canada: from 15 locations in 2009 to 82 in 2013. In my first year on the brand, creating a radio and outdoor campaign, same-store sales increased 18%. This was a big reason Extreme Brandz was awarded the food service industry's Pinnacle Award in 2011 for Company of the Year.

Outdoor: To launch their infamously hot Ghost Pepper Burrito, there was only one way to sell the blazing pepper’s fiery impact: with a true demonstration and after-effects.

Every year, people are reluctantly dragged to countless shows that they have no interest in. Some are so niche it’s hard to tell if they're even real. This campaign plays off that insight by leveraging double-page magazine spreads and introducing a series of utterly ridiculous, fictitious shows on the left, helping to highlight the only show that really matters - The Motorcycle Show, featured on the right.

The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council approached us to communicate a LOT of information to the public about regulations regarding buying new and used cars.

The truth was clear - people are extremely apprehensive and uncomfortable when it comes to making such a big purchase. So we needed to instil confidence in them. We needed to create a campaign that turned everybody into confident car buyers.

But with so much to communicate, we had to find an entertaining and engaging way to hold on to consumers’ attention while delivering a surplus of info. So we created The OMIVC Academy. Complete with a knowledgeable professor and eager students, this was a dream project for content creation. I wrote and directed these five short webisodes that each covered off a different subject in a unique and fun manner.

Hope you enjoy watching them as much as I loved creating them!

* Writing credit on Episode 2 goes to Sean Jordan

Creative Director

(creative director & director)

With Father’s Day, most brands focus on stereotypical messaging, so this year for Philips, we decided to shift the focus to a campaign that's emotional, humorous, and insightful.

To leverage the idea of Dad Jokes, something that's timeless and genuinely authentic, we first created the very first interactive meme generator built within an actual banner ad, which could then be shared directly from the ad unit onto user’s social media feed. This facilitated engagement and sharable content across social platforms, all while driving awareness of Philips grooming products. To support this, and to strike an emotional chord, we also created online videos, featuring kids and adults, all sharing their personal favourite dad jokes, while promoting the #PhilipsDadJokes hashtag.

Creative Director: Ian Schwey

Art Director: Leonardo Gonzalez

Sometimes the decisions people (or pets) make, are based on one thing, and one thing only.

O2 Fuel Fitness - Testimonials - Prepare to Transform

This was a passion project for me... creating a video for a product that means so much personally... something that has made a huge difference in my life. O2 Fuel is a fitness program unlike any other. Watch the video to find out why!

Then join today! O2fuelfitness.com

Some oldies but goodies.

Yes, there was a time when the standard aspect ratio was 4:3. And a few older spots are not quite at today's crisp 5K Ultra HD resolution. Please forgive.

Following October 7, 2023, antisemitism was surging at alarming rates. With aggressive protests dominating the news, a feeling of fear was hitting the Jewish population hard. I wanted to create something that united the community and let them know they’re not alone. To provide them with a feeling comfort, hope and a little bit of joy during an otherwise dark period of time. With no brand or organization behind the initiative, the Flash Hora was a personal passion project that came together thanks to some supportive friends and fantastic production partners. Thank you! 🙏