SEAN VIJ

This piece was created alongside the Apple Services team to convey a simple message: When you need something instantly, Apple Pay.

CW: Sean Vij

AD: Luke Acret

CDs: Alison Joseph, Julia Markiewicz

Unlike other streaming platforms, Paramount+ offers audiences a mountain of entertainment properties including blockbuster movies, hit series and original content. Which lead us to the question: If our alogrithm came to life, what would it look like?

This film was created alongside the team at Droga5, to introduce Paramount Plus to an international audience. By embodying the algorithm as a cynical goat with a heart of gold, we were able to work across language barriers and markets.

CW: Sean Vij

AD: Chris Maine de Biran

CDS: Sean Buckhorn, Gonzalo Navarro

ECD: Dan Kelly

“Nobody wins alone.” This simple truth was whimsically brought to life by Ruben Ostlund in his first-ever commercial work on behalf of Team Saatchi and olympians everywhere.

CW: Sean Vij, Jordan Black

AD: Shawna Klein

CDS: Marc D’Avignon, Mike Costello

How do you demonstrate a new evolution in audio? Visually.

Spatial Audio takes stereo to another dimension literally, by bringing sound to the listen on the y-axis. In other words - sound moves around you, above you and behind you.

Since we couldn’t project the sound through our film, we made a film that illustrated the sound - bringing this idea to life literally in both motion and static media, with the help of Masego and some of the world’s most famous artists.

AD: Adam Ridgeway

CW: Sean Vij

CD: Siavosh Zabeti

ECD: Chris Trumbull

The Mississippi Delta has given birth to some of the most iconic music traditions in the world. Unfortunately, when COVID hit, it left musicians everywhere without a source of income. Forcing many to abandon their instruments - some for good.

Given the role music has played in all our lives, we realized we had an outstanding debt to pay. And so did everyone else. So we decided to build our relief efforts around a simple line:

“If you’ve ever been saved by music, here’s your chance to return the favor.”

With the help of a volunteer team of 70 people, we were able to put together a film that brought the resilience of New Orleans and the Delta to the public, and ask them to help repay an longstanding debt.

The program was launched before what would have been Mardi Gras, and caught the attention of media around the country. Including The Today Show, going on to raise tens of thousands of dollars for musicians across New Orleans and beyond.

CD/AD: Bryan Carroll

CD/CW: Sean Vij

When we set out to launch Saint Archer’s new light beer on America’s most famous stage, we knew we couldn’t out-shout or outspend the competition. So we took a different approach entirely, and wrote the spot around a simple idea: Sometimes the best way to be loud is to be quiet.

The result was a Super Bowl spot that stayed true the brewery’s San Diego roots and featured Paul Rodriguez, world-class skateboarder - skating through his hometown while delivering a simple, relatable truth: When you want what you want, nothing else will do.

CD/AD: Marcus Brown

CD/CW: Sean Vij

ECD: Rob Baird

Nobody’s great at everything. But when it comes to connectivity, Optimum technicians are experts.

As the carrier of choice in small towns across America, Optimum is responsible for keeping homes, businesses, and local governments running at top speed. It’s a responsibility they take seriously.

So while they’re useless at solving murders, they will keep your local police department connected.

CW: Sean Vij, Zach Schweikert

AD: Bryan Carroll, Jill Applebaum

ECD: Mark D’Avignon

For die-hard surfers, life is simple. You’re either surfing, or you’re not. So when Quiksilver dropped a line of boardshorts designed for life on dry land, we needed to make that as clear as possible for our audience.

To do this, we assembled some of the world’s best surfers and snowboarders to test the shorts in some of the world’s least stressful circumstances.

Fortunately, our demonstrations proved successful and the shorts sold out within a few days of their release.

ECD/AD: Mark Sloan

ECD/CW: Sean Vij

How do you throw your arms around 50 years of art, fashion and culture for a brand as revered as Vans?

For this project, I was brought into help lead the Vans 50th anniversary project - which not only celebrated their legacy - but also became their first global campaign in years.

Our challenge was to create a 360-degree campaign, including full go-to-market kits with the budget of a :30 second film.

With the help of Pet Gorilla and French artists Mrzyk and Moriceau, we created an entire world around the brand's iconic black-and-white checkerboard pattern and DIY heritage. Shedding everything but its bare essentials to get back to the core of its DNA.

This included not only a series of animated films highlighting the brand's history, but an entire assets packet that translated to print, in-store, and collateral. For the entire globe.

Each film was created entirely in-camera, and voiced by a “friend of the brand.” It was the assets from these films that were then used in all subsequent work by Van’s own team of hyper-talented art directors and designers.

CD/AD: Steve Zeitzoff

CD/CW: Sean Vij

ECD: Jamie Reilly

The pressure of social media on young women in particular can be toxic. So we developed a symposium to help release it.

On Mental Health Awareness Day, Instagram launched an IG live stream on their own account, centered around one key message: It’s ok to not.

To not turn up. To not show out. To not flex, flash, or even show up.

For National Mental Health Awareness Day, we worked with Mother New York and Instagram to launch a day-long conversation centered around setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care.

Through a six-hour long IG LIVE event, 21 influential creators came together to encourage others to “not.” To not always feel the need to “be on.” To not judge yourself by other people’s standards. To not be someone you aren’t, while embracing the person you are.

CD/AD: Brad Warsh

CD/CW: Sean Vij, Mikio Bradley

Research shows that if people find bowling while channel surfing, they tend to stay and watch. The problem is, nobody ever knows when bowling's on. Our assignment was to let them know.

AD: Xanthe Hohalek

CW: Sean Vij

CD: Court Crandall

How do you speak to board riders in their own language?

By listening.

"We felt like rats in a cage - and the ocean was our salvation." - Danny Kwok.

With this sentiment in mind, "Get Free" was born. This tagline was part of a global brand relaunch to encourage both surfers and non-surfers alike to pursue whatever it is that gets them off.

This manifesto film was the launch of the new tagline to the surfing community via paid and earned media.

(The term "ghetto dog" is a reference to one of their most iconic designs, inspired by Keith Haring and early 80's NYC graffiti.)

ADs: Matt Deaks, Greg Hunt

ECD/AD: Mark Sloan

ECD/CW: Sean Vij

ESPN College GameDay is the top college football pre-game show in the country. This campaign was designed to show just how far our hosts will go to get the inside scoop.

In addition to our scripted campaign, we held a nationwide contest open to students across the country to see which college football team had the best fans.

The winning school got a College GameDay spot made specifically in its honor. The race was close, but in the end, Texas A&M and its "12th man" emerged victorious. 

AD: Ben Salas

CD/CW: Sean Vij

It’s not often you get to write a video game hero’s origin story. Even rarer when you get to do it four times. Launching Butter Royale gave us a rare opportunity to bring a diverse group of heroes to life, while bringing the world a battle-royale style video game designed to be a more inclusive alternative to other first person shooter games.

Framed as the “world’s wildest food fight”, Butter Royale replaces blood and guts with foods and sauces, while featuring a cast of over 60 unique characters.

To celebrate this amazing roster of heroes, we created custom animation for a few of our favorite characters - paying homage to different styles of animation. From 1920’s Fleischer Studios to 60’s anime, to show gamers of all ages, races and genders “there’s a hero for everyone.”

AD: Luke Acret

CW: Sean Vij

CDs: Kevin Tenglin, Luke Harris

ECD: Chris Trumbull

While much of the sports world was realizing the importance of female athletes, Roxy was standing on a 25 year history. And we wanted to celebrate that.

As the world's first female-only athletic brand, Roxy’s 25th anniversary was an important moment for all female athletes. We chose pay homage to three of the brand's most iconic stars by creating candid portraits of each one.

To accomplish honest, unscripted profiles, we interviewed each athlete individually - asking each surfer what they loved about the other two. We then took those responses and created films around the brand's three core pillars - Courage, Style, and Inspiration.

AD: Chris Vestal

ECD/CW: Sean Vij

Sometimes the best way to leave a footprint is with dynamite.

To launch the Levi's "Go Forth" campaign in Europe, we partnered with renowned Portuguese street artist Vhils, to create permanent homages to four of Berlin's new pioneers. The pieces were created around the city, leading up to the world's foremost denim expo - The Berlin Bread and Butter. 

AD: Mat Jerrett

CW: Sean Vij

CD: Alvaro Sotamayor

ECDS: Eric Quennoy, Mark Bernath

You might see kids sitting on the floor smashing toys together. But that’s not what they see.

This work was created to announce the Jurassic Park collection, exclusively at Target.

AD: Jon Willard

CW: Sean Vij

GCD: Jorge Calleja

Roxy’s always been popular among young teens… and their moms.

Our goal was to appeal to the 18-35 years old market that considered Roxy as “too bubble gum” to reflect who they were as young women.

So we decided to remind them who we were at our core: The world’s first female-only sports brand, with a history of throwing the first punch and championing female empowerment everywhere - both on and off the board.

Stab Magazine, arguably the most revered surf magazines in the world, said of the work:

“And while everyone talks of Hurley having the best team in surfing, let's be real: Roxy have that victory. Check out the new Roxy campaign (above): Heart Breakers, Wave Chasers. We're not sure whether it's because it's on the back of the Kelia wipeout to beer on the boat to liming by Mon Eleogram, but seriously, this is how a campaign shoot should look, and a brand should behave.”

ADs: Chris Vestal, Charles Adler, Michael Ghourdjian

ECD/CW: Sean Vij

“The Knob Creek Slow and Challenging No Shortcuts Guide to Hard Earned Flavor” was designed to bring Knob Creek’s philosophy of hard-earned flavor to life on social media.

This campaign was designed to lean in to the one thing bourbon and barbecue have in common - flavor achieved through time and effort.

Using footage from one of the country’s premier barbecue festivals, along with some carefully chosen stock video, we created short-form content that championed a long-form approach, speaking directly to the heart of bourbon fans everywhere.

CW: Matt Klugman

AD: Eddie Allen

CD/AD: Adrien Bindi

CD/CW: Sean Vij

Familiarity breeds contempt. Especially where football’s involved.

Nike's "Copa Barrio" campaign was a multimedia recruitment campaign designed to generate excitement among football-obsessed teens (FOTs) leading up to the Copa America.

Using web films, an ever-changing interactive map that reacted to user participation, and several online trash-talking forums, Copa Barrio ignited national passions and spiked visits to Nike Futbol's homepage in South America by 60%.

The full campaign is explained in the first video, with examples of the supporting work included below.

AD: Ignasi Tudela

CW: Sean Vij

CDs: Mikey Farr, Pierre Junneau

ECDs: Eric Quennoy, Mark Bernath

These single game titles were done to celebrate the more iconic game launches in the Apple Library. Each one became a little journey in and of itself, and lead to a lot of fun and nonsense.

Like the saying goes, it’s not whether you win or lose - it’s how you play the game.

FIFA Street is the flashy, loud, younger brother of EA's FIFA franchise. Whereas the original FIFA faithfully recreates professional football/soccer as accurately as possible, FIFA Street champions the street game, which is more about style than scoring. It was our job to illustrate this.

AD: Ignasi Tudela-Calafell

CW: Sean Vij

CDs: Mike Farr, Pierre Junneau

ECDs: Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy

Orange is the color of insanity. - Vincent Van Gogh

"Bloed Oranje" was a rally cry originally coined by Carlos Funari and Sezay Altinok. In Dutch, the word "oranje" is used to describe both the color orange, and the nation itself. So the line spoke to the national identity and inspired passion in a typically reserved fan base.  

Shortly after the campaign launched, Carlos left and I partnered with Sezay to create the following work leading up to the World Cup in South Africa. 

The campaign was grounded in Dutch football history and insight. It included television spots, tactical videos, and in-store murals made entirely of orange duct tape, displayed in the most renowned streetwear store in Amsterdam.

AD: Sezay Altinok

CW: Sean Vij, Carlos Funari

CDs: Eric Quennoy, Mark Bernath

ECD: Jeff Kling

This project was designed to be welcome visitors to The World of Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, Georgia. It revisits the world of The Happiness Factory, only now with new characters and a new mission: To share the secrets of happiness with everyone.

The story is built around five scientifically researched triggers for happiness, and delivered in a sing-song style by the narrator. I was charged with writing the story, dialogue and lyrics for the piece.

AD: Mat Jerrett

CW: Sean Vij

CD: Jorge Calleja

ECDs: Eric Quennoy, Mark Bernath

The year before the Boston Red Sox finally broke their World Series curse, we were asked to create a co-branded entertainment piece for ESPN and Miller Brewing. One that featured ESPN's fan base in a story built around Miller Lite's tagline - "Good call."

The result was The Squeeze - a four-part film about a family of diehard Sox fans facing an unexpected dilemma. The film ran over the course of eight weeks, in 90-second episodes, which at the time was highly uncommon.

I'm not saying this project helped Boston finally break its curse. But I'm not saying it didn't, either.

AD/CW: Sean Vij

CD/CW: Court Crandall

When KIA launched its first luxury SUV, the country was entering a deep recession, and the backlash against SUVs had begun to gain steam.

To separate ourselves from our natural competitors, and carve a niche for the Borrego, we decided to position it as a cost-efficient luxury SUV. In other words - everything you'd expect from a premium SUV, but priced significantly cheaper.

The response was great, leading to the most unique visitors ever to any KIA model up to that point. 

AD: David Cuccinello, Todd Parker

CW: Sean Vij, Tim White 

For their summer music campaign, Coca-Cola asked us to find a natural intersection of Coke and music in a teenager's life.

For us, this was after school, when teenagers come home, lock themselves in their room and listen to music. This ritual is both intensely personal, but also completely universal. This project sought to capture that duality.

(For this particular project - I've included both the originally intended song, and then the version that aired with Coca-Cola's original track. I feel the first version best conveys the idea.)

AD: Mat Jerrett

CW: Sean Vij

ECDs: Eric Quennoy, Mark Bernath

At 72andSunny, we had the opportunity to re-brand the And1 Mixtape Tour going into summer 2008. The challenge was simple:

Help people see And1 as a serious basketball enterprise.

Up to that point, And1 existed as an underground tour featuring some of the flashiest street ballers in the country.

To position themselves as a low-cost alternative to the big sneaker brands, they needed credibility as a basketball franchise. So we helped elevate their image by positioning them as artists first. Then, we came up with a positioning that spoke to their heritage and price point: Of the people, for the people.

CW: Sean Vij

AD: Jeff Beberman

CDs: Glenn Cole/John Boiler

U:Nite was developed by ESPN as a late-night sports and pop culture show aimed at college students.

Its goal was to pull viewers away from traditional late-night programming, and compete with networks ranging from CBS and NBC to Comedy Central and Cartoon Network.

This launch campaign was designed give viewers bite-size tastes of what they might expect from U:Nite, while promoting the show as the only place “where sports and stuff collide.”

AD: Chris Berry

CW: Joe Beutel

CD: Sean Vij

CCO: Court Crandall

How do you convince hardened sports fans to embrace action sports? Convert them.

By the time X Games hit its 10th anniversary, it was already at market saturation with extreme sports fans. To grow the property, they needed to bring traditional sports fans into the fold. People that felt the X Games were nothing more than "burnouts doing skate tricks."

To tackle this head-on, we positioned X Games as a religious awakening, and modeled our campaign after Sunday morning televangelists shows. Complete with our own televangelist - Gene Barlow.

We also created a massive mural outside the X Games themselves, with three of their marquee athletes represented on "santos candles" - as patron saints of the event itself.

AD: Andre Fiorini

CW: Sean Vij

CCO: Court Crandall

The Microsoft Zune (RIP) was launched as a competitor to the iPod, with one distinctly unique feature - the wireless sharing of songs from one device to another. To celebrate this feature, and the idea of sharing, the Zune Arts program was created.

Zune Arts was a gallery of animated films, each one unique, and each one built on the idea that sharing makes the world a better place. These are three of the first films in this program.

AD/CW: Sean Vij

CCOs: Glen Cole, John Boiler

When AVIA came to us they were in a difficult position. They were on the verge of bankruptcy, and trying to transition from being a discount family shoe brand, to a contender in the budding CrossFit market.

The problem was, they had very little money or brand visibility to build upon.

They needed a brand voice that not only make them credible, but also set them apart from their high-gloss competitors - all of whom seemed to be following the same playbook.

Our solution was an illustrative approach that was not only conceptual, but also cost-efficient and practical in its execution.

This started with a simple insight: CrossFit athletes are masochists. They see themselves as warriors, rejecting the hype and polish common in more traditional sports. We wanted to champion that idea, and let them know AVIA understands their mindset.

So we embraced “black-and-white," both as a color palette and a philosophy. We used hyperbolized metaphors to represent their struggles – both internal and external – and spoke in an honest, motivational voice. Paying it all off with a simple mantra: “Push on.”

The result surpassed AVIA’s highest hopes for the project. Not only did they vault into brand consideration, they were able to sign contracts with over 500 cross-fit gyms across the country, and strike a chord with cross-fit athletes everywhere.

While this is one of the smaller scale projects I’ve worked on, it’s one of my proudest career accomplishments.

AD: Chris Berry

CD/CW: Sean Vij

CCO: Court Crandall

Long before Workaholics, there was Moochie. A branded entertainment project I wrote alongside Mike Van Linda, for the launch of the KIA Soul. Moochie tells the story of three complete slackers and their talking hamster Moochie.

AD/CW: Mike Van Linda

CW: Sean Vij

CD: Colin Jeffery

CCO: David Angelo

During my time at Ground Zero, we had the unique opportunity to rebrand the ESPYS - the biggest award show in sports. The tagline was born out of the countless stories we tell and re-tell each other about our favorite moments throughout the years: “The greatest stories of the year - all told in one night.”

This is a random collection of work that I've done. A few loose pieces I still have love for. Descriptions for each project below it.