By the time I drew Chuck E. Cheese’s out of the hat in Advertising class, I was feeling seriously and uncharacteristically depressed about the whole thing. All my usual motivators were missing.

I hadn’t grasped any intellectual depth to the discipline of advertising. Although I suspected there were treasure troves of interesting psychological principles that we could tap into and innovate from, these were not presented in class. Neither did I really find them in the textbook (although in trying to read the whole thing in one sitting, I might have missed something.)

Visually, there wasn’t much to attract me either. The Blockbuster or Chuck E. Cheese’s visual language doesn’t exactly connect with my soul… so I felt doomed to creating pieces I wouldn’t even want to look at.

Finally, I was failing to see a redemptive purpose into trying to make people want to watch more movies or let their offspring play more arcade games. I did enjoy writing the creative briefs. In them, I could adjust the company, paint a brighter picture, express what they could be. That’s sort of when it hit me: As Jesus leads and restores every sphere of society, what qualities will he nurture in these types of companies? How will they look under His leadership? If I can create advertising that expresses Jesus’ heart for the company, then I am being prophetic instead of deceptive. So, I set out to ‘call forth things that are not as though they are’ (Rom 4:17).

I won’t say that this intention necessarily made it through into the all the pieces I designed, but it at least gave me the strength to move forward on the project!

Why does our client need to advertise?

Chuck E. Cheese’s is doing moderately well as a franchise, but with outstanding advertising it could become the predominant child entertainment option in parents’ minds. Parents tend to dislike the intensity of the atmosphere and feel ripped-off by the end of the experience. Because of this, they are usually only willing to frequent the restaurant for birthdays and other special occasions. At those celebratory times, they feel obligated to spend lots of time and money, which reinforces the negative perception.

What is the advertising going to accomplish?

It will almost downplay the epic-ness of Chuck E. Cheese’s to parents so that it feels like a more everyday possibility to them, and less of a birthday party blowout location. Parents will consider Chuck E. Cheese’s as a low pressure entertainment option, even use it as frequent positive reinforcement tactic with their children. The Chuck E. Cheese experience will seem like a small but recurring thread in the tapestry of a happy childhood.

Here is an example of a reward chart that would be found in the display at the top of this post. Like how I took the logo and turned it into a title? I’m not sure that would be allowed, but the typographic challenge was interesting! I also had fun creating the vector tokens.

Here’s a more printable version that someone could download from their website.

“Parents, use this chart to motivate your child as he or she learns to use good manners. When all squares have been filled in, bring it in to Chuck E. Cheese’s for 10 tokens worth of rewarding fun!” Can’t you just see moms and kids stopping in for a few quick games after school?

(Forget the next part when the kids beg incessantly for more tokens.)

This loyalty card is designed for the child to use, and the coupons further encourage multiple visits.

Who are we going to connect with?

Parents of preschool and school-age children.

What are the most insightful things we know about them?

They want to raise happy, successful children, but may sometimes feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.

A couple of magazine ads show parents how inexpensive the Chuck E. Cheese’s benefits to their children can be.

What is the single, most effective message?

Chuck E. Cheese’s is here to help you parent well, not only on birthdays but everyday.

Why does our client need to advertise?

A success in the 1990s, Blockbuster Video has been losing business to competitors such as Netflix and Redbox in recent years. They are now facing bankruptcy and need to reposition themselves to consumers.

Advertising Design class works in the following way. Person A draws a existing company name out of a hat, researches them to determine what isn’t working, and writes a creative brief  outlining the direction the new campaign should take and why. Person A then designs 3 pieces of this campaign, presents, and receives a grade.

In Phase 2, A’s company is passed to Person B. Person B conducts her own research, rewrites the creative brief if necessary, refines A’s 3 pieces and designs 3 more for a total of six.

The assignments snowball in this way, until people are presenting 10-12 pieces of work. It’s a cool way to structure the class, reminiscent of real-world dynamics.

I had the responsibility of inaugurating the Blockbuster campaign. What you read in italics is my creative brief for the campaign.

What is the advertising going to accomplish?

It will lessen the negative image of Blockbuster as an outdated, high-priced store with poor service. It will project Blockbuster as a physical/virtual one-stop shop for all video consumption, and play up its privileged connection with film studios.

The first piece you see above is the front of a direct mail piece. The address, etc. is on the back. The piece is folded in such a way that the doors open to reveal this:

Information about the updated services and a removable coupon.

Who are we going to connect with?

Men and women ages 18-35 who seek flexibility with their video watching options.

What are the most insightful things we know about them?

They seek and value experience, but with their fast-paced lives, they want to get bite-sized experiences (movies) in the most convenient way possible. The options are ever expanding, and it usually takes time to investigate and provide a working context for each one. What they need is a simple system to access any movie delivered in any format, giving them maximum flexibility.

Magazine ad

What is the single, most effective message?

Choose your destination, choose how you’ll get there. One movie rental purchase at Blockbuster can translate into theater tickets, store/kiosk/mail DVD rental, download with expiration, or streaming video.

What else do we need to know that supports this idea?

The name Blockbuster currently conjures up images of driving to a store to rent a VHS / DVD. Various competing services offer different mediums of video consumption, and Blockbuster has desperately tried to play catchup, initiating a kiosk network and DVD by mail program. It could continue building those services at a equal rate, while simultaneously closing stores, since those may no longer be necessary.

(end of quarter addendum)

The next people that had Blockbuster made significant changes, which were justifiable. The main issue with my three pieces is that they were not all unified in the message or “feel.” By the time someone presented 10 pieces, the only element of mine that remained was the  thick to thin line that you see on this billboard. The funny thing is, it was the least thought-out and most random of my design decisions. You never know what someone will latch on to!