Josh Mozingo | Jacob Stitzel | Darin Shelstad | Janda Barber

Creative Brief

What’s the job?

Develop a brand that best represents the Oregon Coast.

Who’s the audience?

Our target is the “decision-making” dad of the family. Todd is a character we created to describe our target audience.

Todd is a middle-aged working dad and family man who lives in the Willamette Valley. He works a nine-to-five job and likes to relax after work with a specialty microbrew while watching his favorite show Deadliest Catch.

Todd is outdoorsy. He likes fishing, hiking, and spending time with his family. His wife and two kids have different interests but also enjoy the outdoors.

What’s the goal?

Encourage Oregonian families to visit the coast for a memorable trip. Families should not be intimidated by the weather or its inconsistency because these unexpected details could lead to a greater and richer experience of the Oregon coast.

The single most important idea:

Families should embark on a journey along Oregon’s coastal highway because it is a place where unpredictable experiences fuel memories that will last a lifetime.

Why should they believe the message?

The Oregon coast is not known for its picture-perfect weather. Its unpredictable ruggedness and mild inconveniences are almost certain to produce unpredictable experiences that fuel lifetime memories.

Why should they care?

Although inconvenient, 30 mile-an-hour winds appearing out of nowhere during the family barbeque is what creates lasting memories. Todd doesn’t shy away from that. The unexpectedness draws him in because he knows that in the end it will only make his family closer.

Archetype

Somebody who represents the Oregon coast should be down to earth, friendly, tough, optimistic, and sometimes unpredictable. Mike Rowe embodies these characteristics. Mike is a charismatic blue-collar man who is never afraid to get his hands dirty. He has been featured on television shows such as Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch, and on commercials for Ford pickup trucks.

Although Mike sometimes gets in over his head with his jobs (literally), he does not complain. He is positive about the situation and deals with it. Often times Mike’s new job on Dirty Jobs ends up being harder or more trying than he imagined going into it. This is the reinforcing metaphor for the theme of the coast; Mike’s jobs are unpredictable. The Oregon coast is unpredictable. Regardless of the situation for Mike or families visiting the coast, both come out of the experience with their heads held high and have a story to tell.

Colors

• The color scheme we chose that best represents the coast features deep blues, rich greens, hazy greys, fiery oranges, and golden browns.
• The deep blues represent the color you will see by looking to the ocean while travelling down Highway 101. Especially since you are almost always high above the ocean, the view really emphasizes how blue it is.

• The rich greens are present in the forests and vegetation, while the golden browns exist on the shores and in the dunes.
• Stick around until late afternoon and you can witness a fiery sky. A unique shade of blazing orange paints the sky and reflects on the ocean’s surface as the sun’s final moments of the day come to an end.
• The last color represented in our mood board are the hazy greys. Given the nature of the weather of the coast, one can expect to see a lot of grey. Less than sunny days bring a gloom about the atmosphere and chilly rain is never too far behind.

Mood Board

Our mood board for the Oregon coast encompasses the many varied activities and attractions available. We also strived to highlight the beauty that can be found on the coast from lush forests to rugged and rocky terrain. In sticking with the theme of portraying the coast as one would perceive it in real life, we chose to have one side of the mood board feature land and the opposite side water. This maintains the feel of driving along the scenic Highway 101 since at all times you will be surrounded by land or water on either side.

Because our target audience deals with fathers looking to get the family out on a memorable vacation, we felt it appropriate to include an RV travelling alongside the ocean. While the rest of the mood board gives a sense of assorted adventures, the section including the RV ties it all together. It portrays the start of the family’s voyage and, if read from bottom to top, the rest of the mood board can be seen as the journey to come.

Our mood board is essentially a sneak peek into what the coast has to offer, while concurrently tying in the family road trip aspect.

Video

Sources

[1] http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/– Mike Rowe