Jay-Z: Start Something

It's always fun to work with celebs and one of the smoothest I've ever met up with was Jay-Z. (Some how I've become the hip hop diva, having worked on projects with Snoop, Kanye, Jay-Z and Fergie. I know, I know, it's like a freakin' obnoxious obstacle course over here trying to step over all the names I'm droppin'. Sorry peeps.) He was a very classy smart guy (I remember being impressed that he ran the DVD player in our first presentation with him, instead of snapping his fingers and having one of his entourage deal with it). Very tall. Very chill. Very cool. And kinda more handsome than you expect. Hey, Beyonce's no fool.

Jay's brand Rocawear was introducing a new men's fragrance called "99". For some inexplicable reason, they chose to write their logo as "9IX". Nearly impossible to read, right? To play up the cryptic nature of the brand logo, we began our campaign with a series of urban crop circles that mysteriously popped up all over town.

We wanted the campaign to feel more like a movement, with the tag line "Start Something" being a call to arms for our young dudes. The idea was to build as much buzz and momentum as possible before the scent even launched. We wanted to move guerilla style and pop up everywhere our target was: basketball courts, outside clubs while they were waiting in line, at sneaker stores, in the subway station.

Guerrilla projections featuring Jay-Z and tear away posters spotlighting cool graffiti-style graphic artwork to encourage people to rip 'em down and take them home.

 

Our first meeting with Jay was in New York, but our second was in Miami. Aw yeah, sexy town! Miami is a really pretty and vibrant place. Of course our meeting happened to be during spring break and whoooo mama,  I have never seen so many "ladies" in  teensy skirts and men in bedazzled jeans. I think this photo sums things up quite nicely.