Masterminds

  • Swipe

    That's M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I, right?

    Rebranding

    Client | MS Gulf Coast Tourism

    There are some folks who prefer their vacations confined to the sterilized walls of their hotel, sipping drinks with tiny umbrellas and eating what some executive “chef” is trying to pass off as “local” cuisine? You know, kinda tame.

    The Mississippi Gulf Coast is the perfect spot for those who seek more, who wanna get untamed. For those who want to ditch the guidebook and discover. It's the perfect spot to hunt for hidden places, meet interesting people and come back with story after story after story. It's a place full of raw beauty and tons of adventure. In fact, we once read that the Mississippi Gulf Coast offers more adventure per capita than any other state in the union. True story.

  • Meet the heroes behind the heroes.

    Rebranding

    Client | The Battleship New Jersey

    Every Batman has his Robin. The lesser-known guy behind the scenes. It was this type of unsung hero that the Battleship New Jersey, now a floating museum on the Camden Waterfront, was set to spotlight with the new "City at Sea" tour.

    The tour took visitors into the rarely seen areas of the Battleship - the doctor's office, dentist's office, laundry room, TV studio, barbershop and post office - where the "heroes behind the heroes" thrived. The campaign pulled off some heroics of its own, but fortunately none of us were forced to wear spandex. Though some may have voluntarily.

  • Blood, sweat and more blood.

    Print Campaign

    Client | Jersey Shore Rugby

    Legend has it that at a local bar, a Masterminds employee accidentally spilled a whiskey sour onto a member of the Jersey Shore Rugby Club. The employee quickly agreed that our agency would do an ad campaign in exchange for not getting his ass kicked. After some brutal creative scrums, we nailed our winning campaign.

    Loaded up with the type of blood, guts, testosterone and grit that make up a good rugby player, these ads scored big with league members and fans alike. In fact, we had so much fun making them that we eventually formed a rugby team of our own. On XBOX.

  • I am Fallen Oak.

    Branding

    Client | Fallen Oak Golf Course

    Most of us at Masterminds are pretty handy with a 7 iron. So when MGM MIRAGE asked us to take our best shot at launching their new Tom Fazio-designed golf course, Fallen Oak, we were game.

    The research was tough, and included many, many, exhausting hours on those perfectly manicured greens. We ultimately discovered that the course had a personality all its own, and to highlight this to our audience of elite golfers from around the country, we gave it its own voice. One that spoke directly to the psyche of avid golfers, who we knew wanted nothing more than to put their game to the test against the best. A voice that called, "I am Fallen Oak, 7,487 yards of possibility and impossible beauty."

    The golfers answered and came in droves. Unfortunately for us, we eventually had to leave.

  • Discover something unique.

    Winter Campaign

    Client | The Philadelphia Zoo

    Hippos. Illusive giant elephant shrews. Ring-tailed lemurs. We love everything about the Philadelphia Zoo. So when they approached us to help boost their attendance during the winter months, we were all over it.

    The challenge was not only to create awareness that the zoo was open year round, but to also prove that it was worth going to, even in the brutal cold. To solve this, we settled into our natural habitat - messy office desks filled with the warming glow of laptops. Eventually, in true survival of the fittest fashion, we landed on the insight that smaller crowds gave visitors the chance to linger a bit longer and discover something unique that they may have missed during more crowded visits.

  • Adult swim.

    Non-Traditional Media

    Client | Beau Rivage Resort & Casino

    Located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, MGM MIRAGE's Beau Rivage is a resort casino that draws plenty of out-of-state visitors. So when it came time to think of a new way to make this segment take notice of The Beau, we decided to take our creative talents to the first place this audience sees when they hit up the Gulf Coast - The Gulfport-Biloxi Airport.

    Figuring they were already stressed out from flying, our intent was to give travelers a sense of R&R, asap. Our big idea was to transform the bag belt into a refreshing pool, complete with real water and real bikini models. And when the airport said, "no," we created the illusion of a refreshing pool with some really cool imagery. It grabbed travelers' attention - and we grabbed plenty of awards. Splish splash.

  • Adventure overload.

    Branding

    Client | Upstate Pa

    Stop us if you've heard this one before. Five convention and visitors bureaus come together for the first time to market themselves under one umbrella. They have a nearly non-existent budget. They turn to you for help.

    Who knows why the hell we said yes to this challenge, but we're glad we did. We focused our efforts by going after a group who also likes a good challenge– "The Roof Rack Crowd." And we did it by calling them out. We appealed to their inner adventurer to "Mount Up" and do a little extreme multitasking - biking, hiking, tubing - hell, even some spelunking if they were game.

    We didn't break any bones making these ads (that we remember) but one guy endured a paper cut that will never be forgotten.