“How to present Heineken as a global Amsterdam brand?” is probably what the briefing asked. And then Tribal DDB conceived this very sympathetic idea; two ‘regular guys’ have to meet 194 nationalities, in 14 days, in 1 city. Makes the brand more personal, without losing its global aspirations. As we speak, Barnaby Slater and Mick Johan (from the UK and the Netherlands) only have about 3 days left, and still 94 nationalities to go. So you’d guess they are not going to make it. But that doesn’t matter because as the Facebook page shows, it is all about the experience of meeting so many different people with so many different backgrounds. The only thing that bothered us is that the UX design of the Facebook page is not ideal (partly due to Facebook’s restrictions) – e.g. a wider page with more clickable thumbnails, directly visible, would have worked better. But that’s a detail, we love the idea. Created by Tribal DDB and directed by Sam de Jong from production company 100% Halal.
The 1% club is a club of people that donates 1% of their income, time, and knowledge to developing countries. The club asked The very small office of Johan Kramer to promote its cause and the agency came up with a commercial that only uses 1% of your screen. We’ve already seen the world’s shortest commercial, created by KesselsKramer for TNT Post, and now there’s the world smallest commercial. Kramer wrote 7 short scripts with 1% Club members explaining in their own words what the club does. Produced by 100% Halal, sound by Sizzer.
As a true film junkie Johan Kramer’s press release that he is joining production agency 100% Halal – after having been represented by 328 Stories – comes in the form of a short film with a man counting down from 328 till 100. The film is dipped in Kramer’s signature style; an awkward, foreigen scene, with dated look. Half a year ago Kramer talked with the three partners at 100% Halal and felt the same kind of enthusiasm he did when he once founded KesselsKramer. Kramer: “I want to surround myself with people that have the urge to make innovative work. Apart from that I want to spend more time with photography and 100% Halal can help me with that.” Roel Oude Nijhuis, partner at 100% Halal, commenting on Kramer’s film on Facebook: “I’m very excited and proud to welcome legendary director Johan Kramer to the 100% Halal family.”
As we all know the mobile market is as busy and versatile as a colony of ants. That’s why providers come up with new jargon and contracts regularly – to be able to say ‘new and improved.’ Take mobile provider KPN; in this online film it talks about ‘leasing, charging, and letting go’ your phone/plan. Leasing means less costs and more service and ‘charging/letting go’ means more flexibility. O.k., so that was the client talking. What we found more interesting – especially for a brand like KPN – is the form. Since this film is only distributed online it was given a lot more freedom than what KPN shows on TV. It seems as if the colour green was the only corporate given. Other than that it was able to rid itself as much as possible from all the distractible bull. But it’s not just the film. On the webpage you can very easily and intuitively follow the three steps to lease your phone. We like it. Created by TAXI Amsterdam – website in-house. Film directed by Crabsalad and produced by 100% Halal.
There’s a new agency in town. And by the looks of its promotional ‘flyer’ we already dare to call it one of the most creative agencies in town. Not just because it was founded by multi-talent Johan Kramer – co-founder of KesselsKramer – but more so because this flyer (or actually oversized newspaper) is the richest and most creative agency content we’ve come across for a while. It introduces the very small office of Johan Kramer, which is very small because it lives in a shoebox. The reason is that Kramer only wants to do a few projects a year and because growth inside the head is more important than a big office. In other words, there should be plenty of room for “long holidays, to disconnect.” What’s more, Johan loves his work, but his “private life is even more important”. That sounds refreshing already. And though tiny, Johan’s office is very open and loves to collaborate. The leaflet is the message; it shows pictures of all the people from around the world with whom Kramer has worked and the places that are important to him – all posing with his shoebox office. The actual creation of the office and the leaflet is also a collaboration. With Damian Poulain who designed the office. With Studio theGirls™ that gets to show off its kaleidoscopic feel for art direction and lust for life. And also with Andreas Pasvantis – often working with Kramer and also represented by 328 Stories – who directed a new ‘Hello my name is NOT Johan Kramer’ film in which Dzelme from Riga explains why the website for Johan Kramer (personally) will not be built anymore – it follows up the Uncle Bob’s film created in 2010. When you see these films, you understand why Kramer has kept his agency website so simple; the site shows the shoebox with a link to Kramer’s Vimeo channel and an email address. And that’s all you need, really, in today’s world. We wish Kramer all the best – though we’re sure he won’t need our wishes to do great.
This is Andreas Pasvantis’ self-made welcome gift for joining production company 100% Halal. We interviewed Pasvantis in April 2011, because we loved ‘December,’ a film he made at the time for 328 Stories – where he worked with Johan Kramer, who also recently joined 100% Halal. Pasvantis is described by 100% Halal as “an intelligent commercial and documentary director with a strong sense of esthetic storytelling. He loves the common, with a twist of humor.” This short can be explained through Andreas Pasvantis’ background; he’s from a Greek father (and Dutch mother). He was born in Amsterdam though, and studied Media & Culture at the University of Amsterdam. Instead of analyzing movies he decided he wanted to become a director himself, and attended New York Film Academy. Learn more about Pasvantis in his ’10 Questions’ interview or check out his portfolio here.
