Campbell Mithun

Work done by Campbell Mithun for Nature Valley...love how the pencil really looks like a Nature Valley bar...kind of unappetizing though.

This is award winning work that was part of the "Where's Yours" campaign created for the well-known Nature Valley granola brand. The insight of the campaign was that everyone who loves nature has a place they love to go to, which is their own personal nature valley. This campaign sought to not only encourage people to find their own nature valley, but it was also created with the goal of positioning Nature Valley as the "original" energy bar, the bar "nature intended you to eat." The campaign used both traditional and non-traditional elements; the traditional media being: print, TV, outdoor, and interactive, and the non-traditional being: sponsorships, outdoor events, and philanthropy. Campbell Mithun is the first agency I have encountered that considers philanthropy to be a creative element of a campaign. However, the activities they consider philanthropy are more like incentive-based contests, in which the prize ends up being some sort of donation; so they don't use philanthropy as generously as the word conventionally suggests. The philanthropic activity chosen for this campaign was integrated with the interactive media as a website that allowed people to nominate hiking trails they wanted to see preserved, at the end of which, ten finalists were chosen to receive $5000 for improvements and repairs. It's okay, not the most original or creative idea but still does some good for the world. I wish they had come up with something not as one-dimensional as associating hiking with Nature Valley; it just seems so literal, and there are all kinds of people who like Nature Valley. In fact, the people I have seen buying Nature Valley at the grocery store include kids, men in business attire, and milfs...none of which looked like they went hiking. Even so, Campbell Mithun partnered with adventurous and outdoorsy vehicles, including National Geographic and with adventurous entities such as the US Ski Team, the PGA Tour, and the US Snowboarding Team. These choices are more varied than the hiking but it's still the same idea. Overall, this campaign is an example of a solid, all encompassing plan that includes a variety of traditional and non-traditional elements. It illustrates what results when all of the elements in a campaign are formulated strategically and with the main idea or goal of the campaign in mind: the end product is not only logical but fully integrated to reach an audience in every facet of life. I won't say it is exceptionally creative, but it would effectively reach a wide audience through multiple avenues of media interaction.