The ‘Calling CMOs’ campaign by Founders Agency adopts a highly personalized and bold approach to capture the attention of senior marketing executives from global brands. By literally placing their names in lights on massive ad boards in Times Square, the campaign breaks through traditional, often overlooked communication channels to deliver a direct and exclusive message to targeted Chief Marketing Officers. The brand proposition centers on demonstrating Founders’ capacity for innovative, unconventional thinking and their commitment to making clients feel uniquely valued and prioritized. This approach promises not just creative ideas but a partnership that disrupts norms and commands attention in a saturated advertising environment.
Strategically, the campaign leverages a deep insight into the challenges of engaging high-level clients who are often inundated with generic outreach. Recognizing that standard industry methods fail to distinguish meaningful propositions, the agency chose a highly public and personalized medium to communicate. By selecting Times Square—a location synonymous with high visibility and cultural significance—the campaign ensures maximum impact and memorability. The creative angle hinges on personalization and scale, turning the typically broad-reach outdoor advertising medium into a targeted, almost one-to-one communication, reinforcing the agency’s expertise in delivering bold, attention-grabbing work that speaks directly to decision-makers. This strategy both elevates Founders’ profile in the competitive agency market and exemplifies the kind of groundbreaking thinking it offers clients.
FORMAT#11 UNIQUE PERSONALITY PROPERTY — Highlights a unique feature, origin, or distinctive product identity.
This campaign fits FORMAT#11 because its creative device centers around the agency’s own audacious, standout approach as a unique “calling card” to potential clients. Rather than telling a story or explicitly solving a problem, the ad disrupts convention by directly addressing high-profile CMOs by name, live in Times Square. The dramatic and personalized billboard takeover uniquely demonstrates Founders Agency’s boldness, creativity, and confidence as their distinctive property, positioning these qualities as the ultimate differentiator in crowded agency outreach.
ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats
- Brand: Founders Agency
- Industry: Advertising / Marketing Communications
- Country: United States
1. Wieden+Kennedy – Positioned as a creatively fearless agency, Wieden+Kennedy is known for iconic, culturally impactful campaigns that blur traditional boundaries, often driving bold brand narratives for global clients with a strong focus on authenticity and storytelling.
2. BBDO – Renowned for its “The Work. The Work. The Work.” philosophy, BBDO emphasizes consistent creative excellence and effectiveness across all media, offering clients solutions grounded in insight-driven, emotionally engaging advertising.
3. Droga5 – Differentiates through its innovative, unorthodox approach to brand storytelling, combining creativity with cultural relevance and strategic rigor to deliver breakthrough campaigns that resonate deeply with modern consumers.
4. Ogilvy – Ogilvy blends traditional advertising strength with modern digital expertise, positioning itself as a full-spectrum agency focusing on transforming brands through integrated marketing efforts and data-driven creative strategies.
5. R/GA – Known for its digital-first mindset, R/GA stands out by merging technology, design, and marketing to build future-proof brand experiences that are innovative, engaging, and tailored to the connected consumer ecosystem.
Q: What is Calling CMOs about?
A: Calling CMOs is a 2022 outdoor advertising campaign created by Founders Agency, an independent creative agency in the United States. The campaign targeted chief marketing officers from global brands such as Heineken, Diesel, Volvo, and Forbes by displaying their names on prominent digital billboards in Times Square, New York. This bold, personalized approach was designed to break through conventional outreach methods and directly engage high-level marketing executives. By leveraging the high visibility and cultural cachet of Times Square, Founders Agency demonstrated its commitment to innovative thinking and its ability to command attention in a saturated advertising landscape.
Q: What creative device does Calling CMOs use?
A: Calling CMOs employs the FORMAT#11 UNIQUE PERSONALITY PROPERTY, as classified by Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy. This creative device centers on showcasing the agency’s own audacious and standout approach as a distinctive calling card to potential clients. Rather than telling a traditional brand story or solving a problem, the campaign disrupts industry norms by directly addressing high-profile CMOs by name in a live, public setting. The dramatic, personalized billboard takeover in Times Square uniquely demonstrates Founders Agency’s boldness, creativity, and confidence as its defining property, positioning these qualities as key differentiators in agency outreach.
Q: What is the campaign proposition for Calling CMOs?
A: The campaign proposition for Calling CMOs is to demonstrate Founders Agency’s capacity for innovative, unconventional thinking by directly engaging senior marketing executives in a highly visible and personal way. By placing the names of targeted CMOs in lights on Times Square billboards, the agency signals its commitment to making clients feel uniquely valued and prioritized. This approach is aimed at cutting through the noise of generic industry outreach, promising potential clients not just creative ideas but a partnership that disrupts norms and demands attention in the competitive advertising and marketing communications sector.
Q: How does Calling CMOs rank in Clapboard's archive?
A: Calling CMOs holds a Clapboard Campaign Score of 70/100 in Clapboard’s global ad archive. This score reflects the campaign’s creative ambition, the quality of its execution, and its relevance within the cultural and industry context. The rating is assigned by Clapboard’s curatorial authority based on a comprehensive evaluation of these criteria.
Q: Who are the competitors in Founders Agency's category?
A: In the advertising and marketing communications sector, Founders Agency competes with several globally recognized agencies. Wieden+Kennedy is known for its creatively fearless, culturally impactful campaigns that blur traditional boundaries. BBDO emphasizes consistent creative excellence and effectiveness, grounded in emotional and insight-driven advertising. Droga5 stands out for its innovative, unorthodox brand storytelling that resonates with modern consumers. Ogilvy combines traditional advertising strength with digital expertise to deliver integrated, data-driven brand transformations. R/GA differentiates itself with a digital-first mindset, merging technology, design, and marketing to create future-proof brand experiences.
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