When the US Open is in town, the whole city is your court. Well, if you’re Naomi Osaka. So we took over a little city block on a summer day and made it happen with Henry DaCosta behind the lens.
Since its launch, Instant Eraser had swiftly achieved icon status with its groundbreaking packaging design and formula, a first-to-market concealer that did way more than conceal.
And due to its award-winning performance with users of all skin types, even imitators couldn’t compare over the years. But fifteen years later, Maybelline found its share of the market threatened by the proliferation of dupes with similar packaging and formulas which were rapidly eating away at the share the brand had held for years.
So what did we do? We reminded the world of the icon that Instant Eraser is, with a trio of iconic users of the product.
For the films, we did not use digital filters to create its texture. Instead, we took an analog and digital approach, utilizing 35mm and 16mm film, broadcast cameras and even an iPhone 8 to create a visually rich, modern-vintage texture inspired by found footage.
“I see her backstage all the time.” - Naomi Campbell / “She always covers for me.” - Gigi Hadid
For our script, we used all of Instant Eraser’s product attributes to walk a tight line of double meaning, with a script that told a full product story (coverage, shade range, staying power) disguised as hints and chatter about “the icon” from our cast.
We rolled this campaign out globally in three phases.
Since Maybelline is also synonymous with the supermodels like Christy Turlington and Adriana Lima, we first dropped three short teasers with one simple question: “Who is she?” Who is more of an icon than Gigi, RuPaul and Naomi? And as expected, the internet went crazy with their speculation.
Then, on the night of The Emmys (9/15/2024), we dropped the :30 on primetime television and the full long-form trailer on Instagram and TikTok. That same week, we debuted a coordinated global launch of OOH to take advantage of the throngs of influencers traveling for the Fashion Week season.
So far, the results are pointing to one of the biggest revivals in brand history, outperforming all media and sales benchmarks with Maybelline's share regained in the US and EU.
Maybelline’s platform dedicated to mental health linked u with champion tennis player, mom and mental health advocate Naomi Osaka to tell a story of how “ok” isn’t always just “ok.”
Directed + Photographed by Micaiah Carter
Intuit Turbo Tax came to R/GA with one goal: to get real. After 10+ years with Widen & Kennedy, TurboTax was in a rut. The work wasn't connecting with their primary audience, there were a host of cool, new tools and services no one knew anything about and there was a concern that none of their efforts were truly connecting. So after a few months and few hundred pizzas, R/GA won the TurboTax business under one principle—human truth + culture. Today's taxpayer is hustling to make every one of their moves count for their hard-earned refund. So we led with stories that come from their audience, sprinkled with a touch of magical realism to bring their hustle and culture to life. It was a hard fought win, the second largest for IPG that and my last move at R/GA.
Ultra conservatives hated that we led with a interracial gay couple, and a nonbinary talent, which for me is always a good thing :)
Agency: R/GA US
Director: Rodrigo Valdes
We may all know Quest from their boxes that are seemingly in every doctor’s office, from their distinguished green logo splashed onto a white box. For over 60 years, Quest Diagnostics has risen as a health industry leader - most known for their scientifically backed diagnostic testing. With the recent convergence of the pandemic and at home tests, Quest saw an opportunity to set the foot forward as a DTC marketplace.
They approached R/GA with a little ask in mind: how to bring aboard loyal customers and position Quest to be relevant over a long course of time with their direct to consumer offerings?
We said: “Put Your _____ To The Test”
Ad Age / Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards / Gold, Integrated Campaign of the Year / 2023
In 2023 we crafted Nike's first-ever global Pride campaign, with the intent to create a stand-alone brand impact moment for Nike’s commitment to trans and queer athletes. Not connected to product, a moment, an athlete—just Nike’s wholehearted support of the community.
Rather than throw the brand into the sea of rainbows in June, we waited until the end of the month to launch a global social and OOH experience with one simple truth: No Pride, No Sport. LGBTQIA+ Athletes have been here since the dawn of sport, and it was time that the world's strongest brand in sport say it.
Plenty of people hated it, plenty more people showed up with love.
ECD: Matt Jakob
R/GA
American Express backs small business owners so they can grow their businesses to their full potential — possibly beyond their wildest dreams.
So we partnered with MJZ, award-winning director Gary Freedman and photographer Michelle Watt to drive awareness that Amex is the best partner to back SBOs through it all… and to help drive growth for whatever growth means to them.
The result was an integrated B2B campaign that was anything but your typical B2B campaign, headlined by a series of comedic spots highlighting a myriad of small businesses and the moment they took off, whether it be a global beauty trend or a jacked up musical dance.
Agency: R/GA US
Director: Gary Freedman
Photographer: Michelle Watt
2022
Winner:
FCS Awards / B2B, Silver / 2022
IAC Awards / Best Financial Services Online Campaign / 2022
Holding companies own close to 97% of all advertising and marketing agencies in the world. In 2022, seven of the less than 10 working Black Executive Creative Directors within holding companies in the US sat down in New York City for a long overdue conversation. Which sparked…so many more conversations about our diversity, inclusion and what that all means in a post-pandemic world.
The summer of 2020 changed everything for everyone. And while plenty of people said many loud things. Many nice things. My R/GA NY team and I quietly got to work with our partners at the Ad Council for their iconic campaign Love Has No Labels.
Love Lives On is a celebration of the lives we commemorate and a testament to the power that everyday people have when they decide to take action, big and small, for their communities. This is love, and it is how love lives on.
This 360 campaign is anchored on our 7-minute short film, The Gentle Giant, made in partnership with The George Floyd Memorial Foundation and launched for the first time ever on Hulu.
Agency: R/GA New York
Directors: Andre Muir + Justin Polk
The Gentle Giant Awards:
Fast Company / Finalist / Innovation by Design Awards / Most Creative Marketing Campaign / 2023
American Advertising Federation / Mosaic Awards / Innovative Narratives / 2023
Cannes Lions / Bronze / Film: Culture & Context / 2023
Cannes Lions / Bronze / Entertainment/ 2023
Cannes Lions / Shortlist / Film Craft: Script, Direction / 2023
ADC / Silver / Film Craft - Direction / 2023
ADC / Bronze / Film Craft - Writing / 2023
Webby / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion / 2023
One Show / Bronze, Long Form Single Video / 2023
One Show / Merit: Direction, Casting, Writing / 2023
Clio / Silver / Branded Entertainment & Content, Film - Scripted / 2023
Clio / Bronze / Film, Five Minutes and Over
London International Awards, 2022
Branded Entertainment / Public Service+Social Responsibility / Bronze
Branded Entertainment / Zeitgeist / Bronze
Online Film / Public Service/Social Responsibility / Bronze
Online Film / Zeitgeist / Bronze
I pitched and won this business on the premise of making Uber a more human brand for a global pandemic recovery. And this, was certainly that.
Some people didn’t trust vaccines.
Some people didn’t like Uber.
In the end, we rallied for them to do the right thing, and then we made the things to get people vaccinated, with over 2 million rides in the first month, over 100K vaccinated, and over $2.4M in public donations. And for the first time in a long time, a huge uptick in positive sentiment for the brand.
Agency: R/GA New York
Director + Photographer: Tyler Mitchell
Featured Talent: Spike Lee
Winner:
Webby / Integrated Campaign / 2022
One Show / Merit, Influencer Marketing / 2022
Shortlist:
AICP Next / Integrated Campaign, Influencer, Social / 2022
ADC / Design for Good, Advertising Direct & Integrated, Social Media, Mobile Content Strategy / 2022
In celebration of Sephora’s commitment to the 15% Pledge, we sought to present a visual thesis on what ‘Black Beauty’ is, and how the world’s most influential, and inclusive beauty culture has been hidden in plain sight. Starting with the film, the campaign also extended to social, an editorial partnership with New York Magazine and a brilliant, thought-provoking SEO media buy.
Agency: R/GA New York
Director: Garrett Bradley
Educational Inclusion: United Kingdom A-Levels (SAT equivalent) Study Curriculum for Media Studies
Winner:
Webby / Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign / 2022
Webby, People’s Voice / Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign / 2022
ADC / Gold / Fusion / 2022
Clio / Bronze / Digital + Mobile / 2022
Clio / Bronze / Fashion + Beauty / 2022
Clio / Bronze / PR / 2022
One Show / Merit / PR / 2022
Fast Company World Changing Ideas / Honorable Mention / 2022
Fast Company Innovation by Design / Winner / 2022
AICP / Winner / Social Media / 2022
AICP / Winner / Purpose Driven / 2022
Cannes Lions / Silver / PR / 2022
Cannes Lions / Shortlist / Sustainable Development Goals
London International / Silver / Beauty / 2022
Proud to have personally pitched and won this business in 2020. Since then, the Sephora X R/GA NY partnership has grown from a $500K, one-off project account to an $11M dollar, multi-campaign partner, with a relationship built on trust, instinct, and a love for modern, effective, and inclusive storytelling. OMM hates it, which to me—is a good thing.
Directors shown:
‘Gift More’ / Holiday 2021: Cole Webley
‘Yes to Something Good’ / Black-Owned Beauty: Matthew Dillon Cohen
‘Beauty For All’ / Holiday 2021 Promo: Christine Yuan
‘Forward’ / Clean Beauty: Bianca Poletti
‘It’s All Beautiful’ / Experience: Gia Coppola
’A Match Come True’ / Color IQ: Bianca Poletti
‘Good News For Great Hair’ / Matthew Dillon Cohen
Jordan. Pippen. Rodman.
The Chicago Bulls
The Last Dance.
VHS Tapes, Oakley shades, beepers and a lot of drama.
To promote the series with ESPN in 2020, we built a digital experience that took you ALL the way back to 1998 so you can relive the action the way we did, with ESPN archival content, vintage music videos, the hottest music playlists, interviews, game clips and more, in collaboration with The Undefeated.
Travel back in time here.
Agency: R/GA New York
One Show / Merit: Websites, Digital Design / 2021
The world’s biggest game was coming to the world’s biggest mobile gaming platform, time to celebrate the real community of gaming: supportive, inclusive, and a whole lotta fun.
One of our first COVID remote shoots, a study in truly being legendary together, around the clock.
Agency: R/GA New York
Director: Ehsan B aka Cooks
Group Creative Director: Fernando Hernandez
Creative Directors: Katie Edmondson + Katie Yoder
In a global pandemic, during a racial recknoning…it’s never just about basketball. Featuring the voices of Michael B. Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Agency: R/GA New York
When you're a budding entrepreneur, small business owner and creator/maker, a global pandemic can be a devastating setback or an unseen opportunity. Together with MailChimp, we chose opportunity with this campaign of support for their community.
Agency: R/GA NY
Production: Buck
Music: Kishi Bashi
What do you do when you’re challenged to create and lead a launch campaign for the return of an icon with one of the world’s most beloved brands? Grab some talented people and keep it simple, keep it beautiful. And in the end, we created the unexpected.
Launch campaign creative for the forthcoming debut of The Oprah Conversation on Apple TV+.
Directed by The Ummah Chroma: Jenn Nkiru, Terrance Nash + Bradford Young
Editor: Sam Ostrove/Cabin Edit
Color: Moving Picture Company
Photographer: Ruven Afanador
Agency: Media Arts Lab
Campaign creative for the 2019 launch of the Apple Music Lyrics app feature.
Featuring The Beatles, Dolly Parton, Billie Eilish, Elvis Crespo and Lil Nas X (unreleased).
Agency: Media Arts Lab
H&R Block has always been an ‘everyday people first’ company, so after a few years of veering off course, they came to Deutsch LA, where we decided to completely revamp things with the introduction of ‘Block Has Your Back,’ a look into the everyday world of tax season absurdities and the creation of Lisa, their all-knowing, all-caring, tax-loving brand ambassador. Even Stephen Colbert and Jeff Goldblum got in on the fun, a great way to end an inaugural campaign season.
Agency: Deutsch LA
Director: Jonathan Krisel
For the launch of Chase’s new personal investment platform You Invest, we honed in on the emotional concerning investing and then things got weird—and fun.
Agency: Droga5
GCD (& Partner): Lauren Costa
Director: Max Weiland
To coincide with the launch with Chase’s new personal investing platform You Invest, I collaborated with photographer Heather Favell and art director Inna Kofman to create a human world for the brand. Bold in color, real in moments.
It’s bonkers to think about how many women are judged, or rather…shaded purely on the shade of lipstick they wear. So why don’t we throw some shade back with our favorite girl?
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Associate Creative Director: Neil MacLean
Best fucking AD/CW team ever: Hannah Park, Gemma Slack
An ode to active self-care and beauty featuring Massy Aria aka Superwoman aka Indi’s Mommy.
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Produced in partnership with Girls Who Code, featuring 3 New York City area teen coders who love a good algorithm as much as they do makeup.
Agency: Droga5
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Associate Creative Director: Neil MacLean
Director: Davis Silis
Editorial: Alvaro de Val @ Uppercut
Color + Finishing: The Mill
The first of it’s kind, MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora is an exclusive publication committed to establishing and representing a collective voice of women photographers of African descent. The inaugural issue of MFON features over 100 women photographers across the Diaspora with an introduction by Dr. Deborah Willis, MacArthur Fellow and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. It also features essays written by women scholars, journalists and artists. Subsequent issues of MFON will feature photographic essays of four or five photographers with in depth interviews and essays that will contextualize the works.
Being tasked to art direct the inaugural volume of the important body of work was a true honor. Even sweeter, I was able to bring on another young design talent—Carla Johnson.
Read what the New York Times, VOGUE and The Cut have to say about the work.
What happens when you take a 69 year old supermodel, classic French disco and tons of moves to an LA rooftop? Fire.
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Production Co: Prettybird
Editorial: Cartel
Merit / One Show / 2018
From The Drum: "The inspiration goes back to CoverGirl's 'I Am What I Make Up' platform which rests on largely on both inclusivity and a celebration individuality in beauty. It was less about 'let's get a woman with vitiligo' and more of 'what are beauty stories that aren't being told?'" said Washington.
Agency: Droga5
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Associate Creative Director: Neil MacLean
Producer: Isabella Lebovitz
Associate Producer: Jake Herman
Editorial: Miky Wolf @ Final Cut
Model: Amy Deanna
This is a story of a new brand, a new attitude and new future. This is the story of “I Am What I Make Up.” No explanations or apologies for loving makeup necessary.
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Editorial: Cartel
Model: Blaine Shackelford
Call Ayesha Curry a lot of things—mom, author, chef and businesswoman and lash lover extraordinaire and flambé maven. Anything but “basketball wife.” A product film for the launch of Peacock Flare Mascara.
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Editorial: Cartel
Merit / One Show / 2018
Maye Musk is living proof that age is truly just a number and “grandmother” is just a title. This product spot for the CG + Olay collection resonated with a number of ageless beauties, culminating in a 17.1% increase in sales shortly after launching. Who knew my new favorite supermodel would be 69 years young?
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lamber
Creative Director: Shannon Washington, Ray Smiling
Editorial: Cartel
Give a woman a dope new lip gloss and a hot track and you never know what will come out of her mouth. A beautiful mashup of script and improv with Issa Rae.
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Editorial: Ed Line/Cartel
Merit / One Show / 2018
What’s better than a film about one of the best selling mascaras of all time? A film about mascara shot on a speedway track, featuring one of the top women motorcycle racers in the country, Shelina Moreda. Combined with our print, this led to a 13.5% uptick in LashBlast sales. Motorcycles and mascara…a great combo.
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington, Ray Smiling
Editorial: Cartel
An anthem film celebrating the power of beauty and self-creation. The new CoverGirl celebrates every woman's power to create who she is - and who she wants to be. All in the mirror. This film also serves as an introduction of CoverGirl's new slogan, "I Am What I Make Up," new talent and a new brand identity.
Agency: Droga5
Director: Matt Lambert
Creative Director: Shannon Washington, Ray Smiling
Editorial: Cartel
Editor: Edward Line
Merit / One Show / 2018
