I'm an award-winning, digital-native CD with 12 years in the industry. Welcome to my portfolio.

McDonald’s / Avatar Hidden Object Game

Done: January 2010 | Filed under: Application, Favorite, Game, McDonald's, Microsite

I may have been clutching the hidden object hammer at the time I concepted this (see the Friskies game), but I’ll be damned if the McD / Avatar digital experience wasn’t a perfect nail.

We needed to bring Cameron’s game-changing film to life in a way that promoted Big Mac and stayed true to McDonald’s mantra of Simple, Easy Enjoyment. My idea: A best-in-class game with levels that are unlocked by codes on Big Mac boxes.

We sold it right through to McDonalds USA and went on to sell and execute it for the global McD system.

The results were almost as impressive as Cameron’s box office stats:

  • 19% lift in Big Mac sales
  • over a million site visitors
  • 11 minutes average time spent on site

Kidding.

Note: I was only involved in concepting this project.

Here’s a screenshot of the site.

pugh_avatar-screen-600


Special K Victory Chain

Done: December 2009 | Filed under: Application, Special K, Video, Website

The Special K Victory Chain connects people’s Twitter-length fitness and diet “victories” into an unbroken chain of support.

Inspired by President Obama’s campaign site which literally connected donors to one another and got them talking, I co-concepted the Victory Chain with a Leo Burnett art director.

The Chain lives on both Facebook and SpecialK.com.

Here’s a screenshot of the app on Facebook.

pugh_spk-victory-chain-facebook-600


Friskies Hidden Object Game for iPhone

Done: November 2009 | Filed under: Friskies, Game, Mobile, Video

What creative worth his salt in 2009 wouldn’t push to bring his hit branded game to iPhone?


Friskies Wins 2009 Pro Awards

Done: October 2009 | Filed under: Awards, Friskies

pugh_pro_awards

We just won at PROMO Magazine’s PRO Awards! And we were up against some steep competition.

Best Loyalty Program or Shopper Rewards Program

WINNER: Feed the Senses
Agency— Arc Worldwide
Client— Nestle Purina

2nd Place: 
Miller High Life Extras
Agency— Upshot
Client— MillerCoors

3rd Place:
 The Dark Knight $10K Giveaway
Agency— Momentum Worldwide
Client— Domino’s Pizza

Honorable Mention:
 My Coke Rewards
Agency— The Marketing Store
Client— Coca-Cola

It was an honor to be up against such amazing campaigns. And great fun to attend the gala at Museum of Science and Industry.

Now in its 19th year, the PRO Awards are the gold standard of recognition for those who measure themselves against the industry’s best and brightest promotion marketers in the world.


Friskies Hidden Object Game

Done: August 2009 | Filed under: Application, Favorite, Friskies, Game, Video

My role: Concepter, Salesman

The Friskies Hidden Object Game lets you dive deep into the magical worlds of Friskies in search of hidden brand icons.

This was Yahoo’s most successful branded game launch ever. Yahoo guaranteed the brand 500,000 plays within six months; the game reached over 700,000 people within three weeks.

My team concepted the game based on the insight that hidden object games skew highly with Friskies’ target consumers; 59% of hidden object gamers are women between ages of 25-54 (source: Media Metrics).

Here’s a walkthrough.


Friskies Awards

Done: July 2009 | Filed under: Awards, Friskies

Mobius Award – 2008
Arc was awarded a first place statuette for overall effectiveness and creativity on Friskies.com.

WebAward – 2008
Friskies.com received the WebAward for Outstanding Achievement in Website Development.

Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Award – 2009
Friskies.com received two awards for Best Online Community Website and Outstanding Website: Food.

Caples Award – 2009
Friskies.com was a finalist in the Consumer Website category.

Fab Award – 2009
Friskies.com was a finalist in the Food and Beverage Awards

District Addy Award Competition – 2009
Friskies.com was awarded a silver in the Elements of Advertising: Animation, Internet category and is moving on to the National Competition


Copyblogger Article: How to Laugh Your Way to More Creative Copy

Done: April 2009 | Filed under: Article, Favorite

pugh-story-alligator

Let’s say a researcher gives you a candle, a box of tacks, and a book of matches. Your mission: affix the candle to a corkboard in such a way so that, when lit, wax doesn’t drip onto the floor.

Nothing funny about that, right?

But a funny joke might just help you solve this creative challenge. And laughter in general may help you write better copy.

Not convinced? Read on.

Read my article on Copyblogger.


Friskies Dry Ads

Done: February 2009 | Filed under: Banners, Favorite, Friskies

My Role: Conceptor, Creative Director


In this #1 scoring ad for all Purina brands in 2009, we hooked people with a video cat and a glimpse of the trippy world of Friskies.

Interaction rate: 10.75%
Time in banner: 11 seconds

pugh_friskies_ad


Friskies Blog

Done: February 2009 | Filed under: Application, Favorite, Friskies

My role: Concepter, Salesman, Creative Director, Writer

All things cat, all week long. Updated five times a week by multiple authors, the Friskies Blog accounts for 40% of traffic to Friskies.com. It’s been a great acquisition tool for Friskies, as thousands of readers have registered with the site in order to comment.

This ongoing project positions Arc as content creator and community moderator – brave new territory for the company.


Fancy Feast Confessions Banner

Done: October 2008 | Filed under: Banners, Fancy Feast, Favorite

fancy_feast_confessions_banner_600

This online ad accompanied our Confessions site launch, enabling people to browse Confessions and add their own, all within banner.