Web Video is the Future
CRAFT partner Brian Donahue recently did an interview with ClickZ on Republican investment in web video and CRAFT’s work for the RNC:
People there have said there’s a really good story that needs to be told, and, “Can you guys produce this in a Web video?”
If you look at some of the pieces that they put out during important [moments in the news cycle]…they used to use press releases or story pitches to media outlets for those in the past.
Now it seems that you can release a very creative video piece that that would get covered by traditional media, but in the worst case scenario, you use your blog networks and your online networks to get it out.
CMAG names CRAFT spot ad of the week
The Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG) named “Political Insidersaurus” its ad of the week on September 7, 2010:
Dinosaurs may have gone extinct 65 million years ago, but according to this week’s Ad of the Week, Washington is teeming with the reptile’s close relative, the “insidersaurus.”
Sponsored by Republican candidate Eric Wargotz, who is hoping to challenge Senator Barbara Mikulski for Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat, this ad features cutouts of prominent Democrats’ heads (such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) on top of animated dinosaur bodies. As these insidersauruses roam outside the Capitol building, a Steve Irwin-sounding announcer explains this creature’s habit of spending and raising taxes. The ad ends with images of a safari-ready Wargotz (complete with a brimmed hat and binoculars) wandering around Capitol Hill with the gripping “mission” to “make political insidersauruses extinct.”
Maryland’s primary election is just one week away and Wargotz is one of 11 candidates vying for the Republican nod. While Wargotz is the frontrunner in his party, he faces a tough battle against Mikulski. Ads like this, however, are sure to keep his name in the news. Stay tuned!
FOX News features CRAFT’s new RNC ad
“Two Of A Kind”, CRAFT’s new TV spot for the Republican National Committee, was featured this morning on FOX News’ Happening Now with Jon Scott and Jane Skinner.
The full spot can be viewed here:
Media’s New Kids on the Block
Justin Germany was interviewed with three other next-generation media consultants for Campaigns & Elections magazine:
C&E: How much of a struggle is it within the campaign structures that you guys work with in trying to get the resources that you guys want for online?
JG: My firm is kind of interesting in that we have a lot of these silos all together. So we have some clients where we’re doing the mail, or doing the TV, or we’re doing mail, TV, and the online component. So it becomes a lot easier internally to realize what’s working, wherever we need to allocate budget. But you still have to go back and make those arguments to the campaign about, “Hey, you really do need the money to go toward your online advertising effort.”
Brian Donahue on FOX News – 7/4/2010
Brian Donahue discusses the current political environment on FOX News.
Brian on Fox from CRAFT on Vimeo.
CRAFT on Fox News
CRAFT partner, Brian Donahue, talks to Fox News’ John Scott and gives his reaction to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll showing Americans in an anti-incumbent mood leading up to the 2010 midterm elections.
Brian Donahue on Fox News from CRAFT on Vimeo.
CNN Newsroom profiles “Pelosi is Wrong”
CNN Newsroom profiles “Pelosi is Wrong” on March 10, 2010:
The full “Pelosi is Wrong” spot can be viewed here:
ClickZ: Partners in New D.C. Firm Cut Teeth on GOP Controversy
This morning CRAFT was featured in ClickZ’s Politics and Advocacy section focusing on our new business model.
Partners in New D.C. Firm Cut Teeth on GOP Controversy
By Kate Kaye
The man behind a controversial video portraying Barack Obama as the messiah, and a recent video attacking the U.S. Attorney General, is just one of several partners of a just-launched Washington, D.C. political consultancy. Another partner was hired in ’06 to help buffer Senator George Allen’s image among bloggers following his infamous “macaca moment.”
The group of right-leaning heavy-hitters from the online and offline campaign worlds has come together to form Craft, a consultancy aiming to remove barriers between digital campaign efforts and traditional disciplines such as direct mail and television.
“What we’re able to do is blend all these disciplines together…to create a more harmonious and stronger message,” said Web video producer Justin Germany, co-founder and partner of Craft.
Advertising agencies serving commercial clients have long sought to remove so-called silos from their internal structures which often separate digital teams from those handling television or other traditional media. What Craft may have going for it is the fact that it has originated with this goal in mind, rather than attempting to change a structure staffers have grown accustomed to.
When it comes to Germany’s medium of choice – Web video – that means shooting for Web and television simultaneously. “When we shoot something for a client it’s all multipurpose,” he said. The lines between the two “start blurring, start disappearing.” Germany has served as the McCain ’08 campaign’s director of online media and Bush-Cheney ’04′s online campaign videographer and editor. He’ll be working closely with co-founder and managing partner Brian Donahue, the firm’s resident TV expert. Donahue also worked on Bush-Cheney ’04, and has done work with the Republican National Committee.
Partner Jon Henke gained notoriety in part through his outreach to bloggers on behalf of George Allen following his infamous “macaca” comment, which contributed to the Virginia Senator’s 2006 re-election campaign loss. Henke later worked as new media advisor to the Senate Republicans, and consulted for Fred Thompson’s ’08 presidential campaign.
To read the full article click here.
