Holy Award-Winning Comic-Themed Campaigns, Batman!
Foxnoggin, a design firm in central Phoenix, was recently thrown a few recognition bones for their comic-style work for eBay and Avnet. Neill Fox, the company's principal, explained the caveats inherent in such highly-specialized creative direction:
Foxnoggin's work for Avnet Technology Solutions was executed in a similar vein, but this time featuring superheroes battling the bad guys of the data storage and backup universe. The direct mail campaign highlighted the advantages of the T10k, a new tape storage device from Avnet's technology partner StorageTek. The mailer included a branded Viewmaster, on which the recipient would view on-message comic cells in a fun and hands-on format. You can see it for yourself if you snag Collins Design's 2009 edition of The Big Book of Self Promotion – it's in there.
The notion of portraying a product or people as heroic can serve a program's marketing objectives well. But it takes a unique client to embrace a comic-themed execution; not all corporate brands are suited for this type of progressive approach.The first campaign, a quarterly awareness program featuring a cadre of civic crusaders called The Preventers, was developed for eBay in a continuing effort to promote workplace safety and security. The program, which encompassed identity, messaging and illustration work, landed Foxnoggin a 2009 IABC Phoenix Copper Quill Award in the category of Employee/Member Communications.
