SalomonSmithBarney - Juan Roberts

This is one of the projects I was called in for, by new GlobalHue client, SalomonSmithBarney. The assignment was to develop one ad for high net worth African Americans.

We met almost weekly in the New York offices with a very intense client group of 5 -- all sharp, assertive and ambitious. These ladies and one gentleman guides the meetings and as we crafted the ad, it became a campaign of three ads that focused on the target but segmented them. This particular marketing audience was new to SSB (CitiGroup) and we spent considerable expanding the reach of the campaign into the newly recognized affluence of Black in America.

Each ad featured a single theme and subsequently a message that spoke their respective audience -- women, men, couples. I envisioned regal images of Black folks that exuded liquidity, power and solidarity with ones self. The colors were to be over saturated and soft focus to emphasis the elegance of Americans of African descent.

I booked the brilliant, California based, Susan Goines to shoot the campaign. She immediately formed her POV about what the quintessential images should look like and, with the client's approval, we set the course for achieving exactly that. After a few more weekly session in New York from Detroit, (5:30 am flights) my team was set to shoot.

Susan pulled it all together. We began casting top talent, searching for the top backdrop, exquisite wardrobe, fabu glam squad, camera lenses, etc. We shot all three ads in a classic New York city loft -- wide space, massive windows revealing amazing skyline vistas, exposed brick, exotic cuisine and Euro-mellow-smooth music to set the mood for the 10 hour day.

The ads were finished in Detroit and the client was very pleased. In fact, we were asked to develop three additional campaigns, including a general market (which was snatched from their primary agency - smile).

I love this stuff.