Marshall Ross, Cramer-Krasselt
Chicago New Media Summit : Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 : 4:00 pm : Branding Power
The Talk: Lessons from Coronaville: The Branding Power of Worlds
When you think of iconic advertising campaigns, a few brands are bound to come to mind: Corona, Target, Apple, Marlboro, Nike. Why? Because these brands have managed their communications so precisely and consistently over the years they've formed a fictional brand world every bit as convincing and recognizable as any we might find in a richly textured novel, video game or Hollywood movie. In these brand worlds, just like in the real world, life follows a natural and predictable order, governed by certain laws of nature and physics. While it takes a clear brand vision, long-term focus and steady discipline to establish brands of this caliber, these worlds provide an essential foundation for successfully migrating brand communications to the new media world.
Chief Creative Officer of C-K and “chief brand steward” of Corona for 10+ years, Marshall Ross will take the audience on a guided tour of these iconic brand worlds and explore their new media evolutions.
BIO: Marshall joined C-K in 1995 and was part of the agency team that steered C-K to being the third largest independent in the country, garnering everything from multiple Effies to the Cannes Lion. As C-K's chief creative officer, he's responsible for creative across the four-office network and has crafted award-winning campaigns for clients including Corona Beer, Rozerem and AirTran. He was also behind one of the most successful viral campaign in history, CareerBuilder.com's Monk-e-Mail, which was awarded the AdWeek Buzz Award as campaign of the year. Before joining C-K, Marshall was a copywriter and creative supervisor at Foote, Cone & Belding. At the age of 27 he started a creative boutique, Mitchiner, Ross & Kahn, which was acquired in 1992 by Campbell Mithun Esty.
On CNMS: “My hope for the CNMS is that the potential in the phrase, ‘The Third Coast’, becomes real. Talent seeks the coasts in this country. I want talent seeking Chicago. We’ll be as good as the people who stay here and the people we can bring here.”
On Marshall: “Marshall's passion and intensity for our brand has no limits. He's both creative leader and Porsche enthusiast. A powerful combination for a brand that demands intimate knowledge and razor thin nuance be expressed in every element of the work. His vision and tenacity are matched by his willingness to listen, understand and take sometimes rough-hewn constructive feedback and polish it into the next Porsche-worthy campaign. A true partner, his ambitions for the work and for the Porsche brand is never overshadowed by his desire to help do what's right for the business.”
Scott Baker – Manager, Marketing Communications, Porsche Cars North America