JAKE IN NBA2K

State Farm needed to connect with Millennial and Gen Z consumers who saw them as their parents' insurance. Gaming was the way in — specifically NBA 2K, one of the most popular franchises with exactly that audience.

We made Jake from State Farm the first branded, non-playable character in NBA 2K history. Inside The City, Jake guided players through their stories and ran the NGBR GOODS store — where players could cop his signature khakis and custom streetwear for their characters. We launched with a Battle of the Khakis livestream on Twitch featuring five of the biggest names in the NBA 2K community.

The integration has become an annual franchise. Every year, new exclusive Jake fits are designed and dropped into the State Farm store for players to buy — keeping the character alive and relevant inside the game long after launch.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE FROM LOUISIANA TO LOVE POPEYES. 

I was responsible for the overall creative platform and positioning of the Popeyes Hispanic Market campaign launch. Through research it was found that while Hispanics had every reason to like Popeyes flavor profile, they didn’t understand or cared much about its Cajun heritage and they also felt like the general market campaign was not speaking to them at all. The way to the consumer’s heart and mind, was the simple insight that “you don’t have to be from Louisiana to love Popeyes”.

Director: Ben/Dave

WORLD CUP / COPA AMERICA SPONSORSHIP

Marriott tasked us with activating their official sponsorship of the Mexican National Team across two tournaments (Copa América and World Cup). My partner and I developed the creative platform and led the work from concept through production — brand positioning, director selection, talent alignment. Having previously directed soccer legend Luis "El Matador" Hernández, I stayed close to production to make sure the brand vision held. The result was a two-spot campaign that connected elite performance to fan-level passion, anchoring City Express as the Home of Champions.

TIKTOK

Jake from State Farm made his debut in a Super Bowl spot with Drake. The challenge wasn't introducing him — it was figuring out who he was beyond that moment and building a social presence that could sustain and deepen the character between broadcast campaigns. The client was hesitant about TikTok. We pushed for it, built the strategy from scratch, and launched the account with zero followers.

We started by figuring out what Jake's voice actually sounded like on social — what made him funny, what made him feel like a real person rather than a brand mascot, and what kinds of content his audience actually wanted to share. We developed a content mix that gave Jake a real personality outside the TV spots — recurring formats like "Jake Rates," reactive brand banter, and original content that made him worth following. Two years later: 1.1 million followers, One Show, AdAge Creativity Awards, and Shorty Awards.

And somewhere along the way — fueled by the social presence, the broadcast campaign, and the cultural momentum the character had built across every touchpoint — Jake became famous enough to get parodied on Saturday Night Live by Michael B. Jordan. That's not something you can plan for. It's something you earn.

DO IT TOGETHER.

RadioShack had spent years losing relevance. The famous Super Bowl spot with the 80s characters — GSD&M's campaign kickoff — cracked the door open. My job was to keep the momentum going. I wrote spots continuing the "Do It Together" campaign, pushing the new brand voice forward beyond the launch. This one was a select-market Super Bowl run and a lot of fun to write.

THE WORLD’S LARGEST TEQUILA TOAST.

I co-led the pitch for El Jimador Tequila and won the account. Shortly after being awarded the business, we got tasked with the first and most important campaign of the year: Day of The Dead. The World’s Largest Day of the Dead Toast campaign featured a variety of content including video, social, email, a Facebook Live activation and a landing page. The campaign assets were leveraged in other markets around the globe where El Jimador Tequila has a strong presence, mainly UK, South Africa, Australia, and practically all of Latin America.

FINGER LICKING GOOD 

I led this effort in collaboration with Wieden + Kennedy to make some fun-to-watch, hard hitting, special offer price point spots that could work seamlessly for Hispanic or General Market audiences. We took the Colonels’ retro aesthetic to dictate every detail in some of these spots by creating vintage “commercial making machines” operated by the Colonel. These machines were inspired in vintage stereo consoles. Needless to say, I ate an ungodly amount of fried chicken while working in this account and got to try new flavor profiles before they hit the market. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.

TIKTOK SF BRAND BANTER

My team started Jake from State Farm’s TikTok account with zero followers. Two years later, Jake has reached 1.1 million followers (as of this writing). But it wasn’t easy. Efforts like these were what made this possible. We knew that brand banter was a catchy, cheap, and fast way to garner engagement and leverage other brand’s followers. Some opportunities don’t give you the luxury of waiting for rounds of approvals. You have to act fast, so that’s what we did.

SERVICE IS OUR BEST PART. 

Customer service is Advance Auto Parts’ greatest competitive advantage. So what better way to show the lengths (or heights) the company will go for its customers, than to throw an employee and a car from an airplane? (actually 3 cars in total got thrown out to get the shots needed).

Originally developed as the Hispanic market version, the client liked it better than the general market spot from another team — so it became the English-language version too, with a select-market Super Bowl run.

EL MATADOR AND HIS BROTHER.

El Jimador Tequila encouraged soccer fans around the world to celebrate the moment during the World Cup. We kicked off this international campaign with a moment from legendary Mexican National Team player Luis “El Matador” Hernandez. The animated video talked about the rivalry he had with his brother while encouraging fans to share their favorite soccer moments. We created a site for the campaign that documented submissions, shared recipes specifically created for soccer, and more.
Animation by Giant Ant (Vancouver)

THE ART OF PATRÓN. 

I worked with Razorfish to develop The Art of Patrón platform uniting the 5 pillars that celebrate Patrón's commitment to craftsmanship: 1) Culinary arts 2) Mixology & cocktails 3) Music & culture 4) The iconic Patrón bottle 5) Patrón tequilas. We celebrated artists' commitment to their craft – from tequila makers to bartenders to musicians and chefs. In addition to the Art of Patrón Bottle Art Competition, the initiative included the ArtofPatron.com digital hub, events, integration in bars and restaurants, and the "Art of Patrón VR Experience" leveraging Oculus technology to take people on a VR journey to the agave fields and Patrón distillery in Mexico. Creative developed at Razorfish. VR tour produced by Firstborn (Firstborn has since been acquired by Dentsu and the Firstborn brand no longer exists).

A BETTER WAY TO WAKE UP

I’m not a morning person at all, so this app was born from my hate/hate relationship with alarm clocks. It works on the premise that once your brain is awake, it’s impossible to go back to sleep. There’s no snooze button, and it wakes you up by persistently beckoning you to play one of its six 80’s-retro-inspired games. The alarm only turns off by winning the game (with varying difficulty levels). Once you’ve beat the game, your mind is alert and it’s very hard to go back to sleep; plus it’s a lot more fun than an annoying sound. Coding by Roberto Calvillo.

“CHEATING"

AT&T U-Verse was not getting noticed by prospective customers that live in zones where the service is available. Direct mail is the most efficient way to target these potential customers, but competing cable companies also flood their mailboxes. Creating a piece that would stand out, was not enough. We needed something that could not be ignored.

FEEDING TIME

Kids have been told a lot of things about tobacco use that mainly focuses on the health dangers associated with it. But research has shown that they have difficulty grasping the concept of real addiction and its dangers. With “Venomocity: Brought to you by addiction,” we brought that concept to life – in graphic, impossible-to-look-away clarity. Both spots aimed at 12-17 year olds, make the case that addiction lives within you and the more you feed it the more it grows. The spots lead you to a website that drives that message home. This spot made teens “79% less likely to try tobacco” according to a government evaluation report. (scroll to page 3 of the PDF under "Tobacco Cessation Update"
Produced by Curious Pictures (unfortunately, now defunct). Live action director: Rohitash Rao and animation by La Flama (NY and Mexico City respectively).

PRETTY FLY FOR A FLY SWATTER

Have you ever seen a fly swatter that was nice to look at? Fly swatters are one of those products where design never even comes up. One day I looked for a fly swatter that wasn’t hideous, and couldn’t find one. It seemed like a completely missed opportunity. Fly swatters surely don't HAVE to be hideous just because you're going to smack flies with it. After searching and seeing that nobody has thought this is important enough, I decided it was important enough for me. If you're going to whack insects with it, you might as well do it with some style. At least the flies will appreciate it as the last thing they see out of their 5 eyes.
These are prototypes that I’m currently seeking to produce.