Theme: “Life Lessons”

The Concept: TLC was looking to reach a younger audience with its programming.

The life lessons campaign was designed to use humor to communicate universal truths that the audience can relate to.

An example would be teaching a woman wearing shoulder pads that “not everything comes back in style,” or a disappointed husband who thought his wife’s request for a massage would lead to something more that “sometimes a back rub is just a back rub.”

The Plan: The ad incorporated print ads and television spots, as well as some more unusual techniques.

Life lesson ads appeared on everything from pizza boxes and Chinese food cartons to customized figurines capturing the characters portrayed in the advertisements.

The agency’s creativity has paid off: The campaign has won several honors including the coveted silver national “Addy” award.

Creative Team: Amy Winter, Derek Koenig, Doug Sebert and Neile Hartman (TLC); Katherine Wintsch, Chris Mumford, Sean Riley and Sarah Trickey (The Martin Agency)

Background: The Martin Agency is a full-service ad agency based in Richmond with specialty in non-traditional marketing. Most recently, the caveman campaign the agency developed for the Geico insurance company has been tapped for possible spinoff into a comedy series.

Working on Next: The agency was just given an account with retail giant Wal-Mart and is working on the company’s “Back to School” campaign.

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