June 25th, 2011
Permanent Link to Milliman Video 1
Milliman Video 1
MILLIMAN VIDEO 1

http://schoolofthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/MILLIMAN-MORTGAGE-CRISIS-FIN_w_open.flv

BEFORE THE CRISIS, A PREDICTION.

The Story
Our agency began when we landed the account of Milliman, a $700+ million dollar actuarial consulting firm which few people have heard of. (Hence, the need for us). Banks, however, number among their clients, and as far back as 2003, the Milliman consultants began to see signs of trouble in the housing market.


A dangerous, statistically unlikely event—the tail on the curve, in actuarial speak—posed grave dangers, which the Milliman team relayed.

About two years ago, we filmed the consultants who were ahead of the curve, and put together this still-topical story.

June 25th, 2011
Permanent Link to Milliman Video 2
Milliman Video 2
MILLIMAN VIDEO 2

http://schoolofthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/PredictiveAnalytics_2_h264.flv

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS. TRY SAYING THAT THREE TIMES, QUICKLY

The Story
When you have meetings with Milliman you can always be sure of one thing: you’re not the smartest person in the room. The challenge becomes explaining their highly complex work in a way that the rest of the world can understand.


For one division of the company, we produced this animated video as a way to distill the material down, and it’s proven to be very effective.

June 25th, 2011
Permanent Link to Milliman Video 3
Milliman Video 3
AVON

http://schoolofthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/GASB_Avon_FIN_h264.flv

SAVING A TOWN IN CONNECTICUT

The Story
Virtually every municipality in the U.S. is struggling with pension issues these days. Last year, we traveled east to Avon, Connecticut, to document how the town was weathering its own budgetary crisis.


Filming real people can be a challenge, but when it comes together, the results can be both genuine and engaging.

June 25th, 2011
Permanent Link to Milliman Software
Milliman Software
MILLIMAN SOFTWARE

Milliman MG ALFA print ad

EVERYONE, COULD WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE?

The Story
We talked about our desire to use real shots—photojournalism, in effect—for the Milliman campaign. For Milliman’s financial modeling software, we found this remarkable shot: the employees from the London office of Lehman all gathering to hear that the company is closing.


To be effective, advertising has to be arresting and distinctive. This ad was rated by readers as the most effective ad in the category, and among the best two or three of the year.

June 25th, 2011
Permanent Link to Milliman Mortgage
Milliman Mortgage
MILLIMAN MORTGAGE

Milliman retirement print ad

ADVERTISING THE BIG SHORT. WELL, SORT OF.

The Story
This is the print ad which went along with the mortgage video story, described above. For the campaign, we decided to use actual editorial photos, reflecting the topical, serious nature of


Milliman’s consulting work. This photo was taken about three years ago, although it might have been taken last week.

June 25th, 2011
Permanent Link to iShares Blog
iShares Blog
iShares Blog

iShares Blog Screen Shot

WE NEED A BLOG. NO, WAIT. WE NEED EVERYTHING.

The Story
iShares has a remarkable story to tell. They virtually invented the ETF, and they are the category leader. But when we started working with them, they certainly weren’t the leader in social media, in that they had none. No blog, no Facebook, no Twitter, nada.


In about sixty days (make that, sixty busy days), we changed all that. We designed and built their blog, Twitter and Facebook pages, and began both Twitter and Facebook campaigns. In two weeks, they went from zero to 13,000 followers. More recently, their blog was voted #1 in the category.

June 25th, 2011
Permanent Link to Visa Global Brand
Visa Global Brand
Visa Global Brand

Visa Screenshot

WEBSITES. YEP, WE’VE DONE EM.

The Story
Lots and lots of them. Joe spent more than a decade designing and building sites for all sorts of Fortune 500 companies. Tom spent a decade working on sites for all the others.


Okay, truth be told, he’s done many Fortune 500 sites, as well. The point is, we know our way around the web.

June 16th, 2011
Permanent Link to iShares Anthem Video
iShares Anthem Video
http://schoolofthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Anthem_640x360.flv

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE iSHARES BRAND, FOR 2011.

Here’s another project we recently wrapped up for iShares, that we thought might be of interest.

Pete Boland’s team needed a dramatic video to frame this year’s global iShares meeting, and they asked us to create a video, based on something that was done a few years back. Our team significantly re-edited the video, adding perhaps 40% new material as well as a entirely new soundtrack and voice over talent.

When we said it recently wrapped, we meant, recently—the West Coast meeting took place two days ago. And from what we understand, several of the senior iShares and BlackRock executive team members were very complimentary.

June 16th, 2011
Permanent Link to Letters
Letters

June 16th, 2011
Permanent Link to Nortel
Nortel
NORTEL
http://schoolofthought.com/for_amit/wp-content/themes/SchoolOfThought/images/Nortel_full.f4v

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, WITH HYPERCONNECTIVITY.

Nortel was in a rough spot when we started working with them. The company has lost its way to some degree, with the workforce distracted by numerous issues, the least of which was the fact that the stock was at its historic low.

In marketing, things were no less dire. The brand was no longer part of the networking conversation.

With this short film, featured prominently on the web as well as at trade shows, we attempted to get the brand back on the table, and re-establish their position as a tech leader. Obviously, the company’s issues were more than advertising could solve. But we certainly did our very best to get Nortel back into the consideration set.