SS+K Goes Mobile With Paul Notzold

The agency SS+K has been working with new company Credo Mobile . Credo aims to make the best out of cell phone service by taking 1% of your charges and putting them towards “progressive” causes such as Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. Finally! A cell phone service for liberals.

No seriously… Okay, so while we just poked some fun, we’re also going to give SS+K a big thumbs up for using interactive artist Paul Notzold to create a dynamic street campaign. Paul agreed to the project because he believes in the mission of Working Assets, which Credo is a subsidiary of.

And we’re going to give AdWeek, who covered the campaign, a big thumbs down for not mentioning him. Advertising journals often fail to mention the artist (unless they’re a big name) who provides the actual creative force. Hey AdAge? The agencies won’t look bad if you reference whom they tapped. Notzold’s made quite a name for himself lately and is a respected member of the street artist community. We all know that brands are especially worried these days about whether or not agencies have a clue about what’s going both online and off. SS+K look like they’ve got their ear to the street on this one. Nice.

SS+K employed Paul’s genius technology that provides passersby to interact with the campaign using their cell phones. Projected cartoons, drawn by political satirist Tom Tomorrow, (featuring images of people such as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney) were shown next to blank dialogue boxes leaving onlookers to fill in the blanks. The application of Paul’s technology is so great because it allows contextualizing of text messaging to tell a story in public space. 

Alice Ann Wilson, design director, SS+K, said “This is voice that contributes to larger issues. The text projection creates a sense of community where everyone can use their phone to actively engage in the brand.”

Right on.