Last week, Ad Age named McGarryBowen the Agency of the Year, noting that in 2009, the shop had found the “perfect blend of old world and new world in the rapidly changing agency landscape.” Well done, McGarryBowen.

In the accompanying story, the magazine also makes special mention of the agency’s work with Crayola, and we couldn’t help but pause there for a moment—Luca Zordan shot a big Crayola campaign for McGarryBowen last year:

“It wasn’t just the account-centric approach that delivered — so did the work. For Chase, McGarryBowen repositioned the brand in the middle of a financial crisis to give consumers web tools to better control debt; for Disney it used promotions like free birthday admission to turnaround a tourism slump and boost attendance at parks by 10%; its work for Crayola delivered a 20% retail boost during the holidays.“

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So in honor of all of the creative parties involved, and as thanks for a bit of sunny economic news, here’s a look back at Luca’s colorful campaign:

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All photos by Luca Zordan.

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At his Facebook page, Kwaku Alston has posted a bunch of photos he took at the SMart Book 2010 party/exhibition last Thursday, including these:

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From left: Tamika Harold and Emily Leonardo of Stockland Martel with Meghan McNeer, Liz Von Hoene's studio manager. Photo by Kwaku Alston.

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Photo editor Lisa Elin (who has worked with Kwaku, David Drebin, and, most recently, Michael Muller for the Dana White story in the February issue of Esquire) and photographer Luca Zordan. Photo by Kwaku Alston.

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Simon Horobin of Stockland Martel (left) with photographer Nino Munoz. Photo by Kwaku Alston.

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A scene from the unofficial afterparty: Kwaku with Liz Von Hoene.

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These next photos, meanwhile, are from the SMart party pics posted at the Society of Visual Creatives:

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Branding and creative consultant Allegra Wilde.

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Photographer and What's the Jackanory? blogger Andew Hetherington.

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Photographer Robert Ripps and APA/NY regional director Kaia Hemming.

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Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make this such a great night!

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]]> http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2010/01/26/more-smart-book-2010-party-pics/feed/ 0 kristina@stocklandmartel.com 22269_303036241538_44309141538_5026461_5630666_n 22269_303036256538_44309141538_5026463_2048059_n 22269_303036326538_44309141538_5026471_141658_n 22269_303036501538_44309141538_5026494_5987276_n allegra hetherington kaia http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2009/12/16/22-motion-advertising-and-editorial-highlights/ http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2009/12/16/22-motion-advertising-and-editorial-highlights/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:53:14 +0000 Kristina Feliciano http://stocklandmartelblog.com/?p=2574 ]]> …

You know how magazine covers always tout the number of good things contained inside? “85 Uses for Your Gardening Hose.” “Rock-Hard Abs in Only 3,427 Steps.” “0 Reasons to Like Sen. Joe Lieberman.”

Well, we’ve taken a similar (but more serious) approach with our 2009 Winter E-Newsletter. If you’re on our mailing list, you received it yesterday and already know that it features 22 motion, advertising, and editorial highlights that run the gamut from Gardasil to the Jacksons, Samsung, Ford, Playboy, Kate Spade, and Beef magazine. Yes, there’s a magazine dedicated to beef!

Not on the mailing list? Not to worry. I’ve re-created the newsletter here. Click on any one of these images to reach the complete, fully interactive version, or just click here.

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I’ve interviewed about Luca Zordan about his upcoming book Children of South Africa, which he is producing in collaboration with Alethea Gold, and Luca has described with great emotion the children and stories he’s photographed. But now there’s a video that makes it come to life better than my words ever could:

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Photograph by Lauren Greenfield available at Stockland Martel Archives.

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We’re thrilled to announce that Stockland Martel Archives, a boutique stock site that we’ve been developing, is now live. As you know, we’re fortunate to represent some of the best-known commercial, advertising, documentary, and fine-art photographers in the world, and with Stockland Martel Archives, we’ll be able to offer you carefully curated selections that exemplify their signature styles.

We should note that we’re considering this a soft launch; as time goes on, we’ll continue to add images to the site. But overall, our approach with SMA is quality rather quantity. Our hope is that this will translate into a fruitful search process for you; rather than being overwhelmed with a deluge of similar-looking images, you’ll find a concise presentation of distinctly different photographs. That said, we understand that every project has different needs, so if you don’t see what you’re looking for, please feel welcome to get in touch. You can reach us by email at talentinfo [at] stocklandmartel.com or by phone at 212.727.1400.

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Some of the other Stockland Martel photographers you’ll find at SMA:

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]]> http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2009/07/27/stockland-martel-launches-boutique-stock-site/feed/ 2 kristina@stocklandmartel.com Ms. Senior America Pageant SMA1 SMA2 SMA3 SMA4 SMA10 Picture 7 SMA7 SMA9 http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2009/07/06/whats-the-best-way-to-promote-a-photographer/ http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2009/07/06/whats-the-best-way-to-promote-a-photographer/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:33:32 +0000 Kristina Feliciano http://stocklandmartelblog.com/?p=805 ]]> In June, I wrote about a presentation Stockland Martel arranged at McCann Erickson in which some of our photographers screened their video work and talked about their approach to working with moving images. That meeting is an example of the different promotional methods we’ve been experimenting with this year. Others include our Facebook page (which we started last week), Twitter (@stocklandmartel), and, of course, this blog. Technology has created these wonderful new networking opportunities, and along with it the sense that a business must utilize all or many of these tools in order to thrive. Each business has to make its own choice about whether to engage at this level, but we at Stockland Martel certainly believe in the need to adapt and grow.

Not only have websites, social networking, and email changed the way and frequency with which businesses present themselves, it’s also influenced how people consume information. We’re basically all talking to and at each other 24 hours a day, nonstop. With so much talking and less and less listening, you’d better have something good to say and say it well. Art buyers and photo editors, for example, are deluged with emails, so they have to make some pretty mercenary decisions about which messages to even bother to open, let alone “read.”

Which is why we’ve recently retooled our e-blasts. We’d been accustomed to sending them out with a simple subject line consisting of the photographer’s name and the phrase “Portfolio Update.” When recipients opened the email, they’d see an interactive grid of images that they could click through to get to the photographer’s work on our website. There was no copy in the body of the email, only the URL for Stockland Martel and for the photographer’s own website.

As we’ve been reevaluating our marketing efforts, we started to wonder whether these e-blasts could be a bit more grabby. So we decided to add text. For each blast, I write a subject line and some short copy to accompany the images. The objective of the subject line is to stand out from all the other messages in the recipients’ inboxes, while the body copy plays off of the images. Sometimes it’s expressionistic, and sometimes it’s straightforward. It depends on the photographer. Because each e-blast is a reinforcement of both our and the photographer’s brand, each message is tailor-made.

Here are a few examples:

Subject line: Real-people portraits by celebrity photographer Kwaku Alston

Body text: Simple and honest. Kwaku Alston’s portraits of everyday people are a tribute to individuality in all its forms. Who says only celebrities have star quality?

Subject line: Rolph Gobits: For Mature Audiences Only

Body text: His elegant, understated portraits and interiors have earned him the respect of the world’s most discerning clients, from the Ritz-Carlton to Sotheby’s. Instant gratification has its charms, but if it’s gravitas you want, Rolph Gobits is your man.

Subject line: Roxanne Lowit: Hot Nights and High Times

Body text: Roxanne Lowit’s photographs remind you of something. That feeling you get when you’re having a night out. Your best night out. When it seems no one and nothing has ever been more beautiful or fabulous. The sense that you will remember this forever.

In the past two weeks, we’ve also done e-blasts for Craig Cutler and Luca Zordan.

We’ve also begun adding text to our newsletters, which, like our e-blasts, had previously been exclusively photo-driven. We just sent out our summer newsletter.

Recently, there have been some really interesting posts about photo-related promos at various other blogs. At Fresh Produce, art producer/art buyer Cecilia Marshall talks about what drew her to a promo she received from photographer Dana Neibert. At pdnonline.com, PDN photo editor Amber Terranova highlights eight recent promos that she considers standouts “because of an obvious style and aesthetic in the imagery, bold and sleek design, personal touches—like a handwritten note—and something quirky or unique in content.”

Toronto freelance art buyer Heather Morton, meanwhile, went so far as to solicit promos from photographers via her blog, HeatherMortonArt buyer, which she then posted and judged with fellow HMAb blogger Myles McCutcheon, who is a photo editor. The two are candid and constructive in their criticism. It’s exactly the kind of feedback that photographers—and agencies, for that matter—wish they could get on a regular basis. If you haven’t already seen it, the post is well worth your time.

In the meantime, the momentum for The Children of China is still strong. Luca just returned from Hong Kong, where selections from the book were being exhibited in a show co-organized by the Australian Consulate, with the Swire Group as the chief sponsor. Proceeds from that exhibition will benefit the Chi Heng Foundation, which helps children in Henan and Anui in central China who are from AIDS-affected families. In September, Gallery Number 1 in Shanghai will also mount an exhibition of Zordan’s portraits. For more on The Children of China, please visit http://www.thechildrenofchina.org/. To lend your support to The Children of Africa project, please contact Luca directly at luca [at] lucazordan.com.

The kids are often interviewed while they're having their portraits taken, and their commentary ranges from touching to hilarious. "I pretend I’m the devil and chase the mosquitoes away,” said the little girl pictured here.

Hang Wong, 6 years old, visiting the Beijing Zoo. “When I grow up, I want to be a policeman. I dream of owning a toy. My favorite hero is my classmate Wong Tao.”

A student at the Shanghai Dance Academy, a full-time ballet school.

Wang Wei Tang, age 4, ice-skating after school on a cold, cold day (it was 30 below zero) in Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China. “I dream of going to see how the strawberries grow,” she said.

“I wish I could wear my pink top every single day to school,” said 5-year-old Kuan Yae, in Gansu Province, western China.

For an interactive version of this newsletter, which will take you directly to the photographers’ online portfolios, please click here.

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Luca Zordan “Guess”
John Offenbach “HSBC”
Michael Muller “Wolverine”
Scott and Zoe “Target”
David Drebin “Royalton Hotels”
Matthew Rolston “Milk”
Kwaku Alston “Coke”
Martin Sigal “Footjoy”
Liz Von Hoene “L’Oreal”
Doug Menuez “Uncommon Schools”
Timothy White “Essence”
Matthias Clamer “Playboy”
Nadav Kander “New York Times Magazine”
Hans Gissinger “Gastronomica”
Walter Iooss “Sports Illustrated”
Craig Cutler “Martha Stewart”
Lauren Greenfield “New York Times Magazine”
Michael Wirth “Femmes”.

In case you didn’t receive it you can check it out and sign up for it here.