Category: Ken Schafer

Mike Halminen, VP, Co-Creative Director, “MacLaren McCann Direct & Interactive”:http://maclaren.com/, has spent the past nine years in the interactive industry, building brands of all scales from as large as GM Canada, to as small as the Sam Roberts Band.
With over a dozen international art direction awards under his belt, Mike has put his MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology to good use in both interactive and mass advertising.
In his past life, Mike wasn’t a rock star, but he’s met plenty. As Creative Director at Maple/Universal Music, he worked with award winning musical talent including the Tragically Hip, Sam Roberts, Bruce Cockburn and Cowboy Junkies.
As the interactive creative leader and new media expert at MMdi, Mike supervises a talented team of art directors, writers, designers and other specialists. He inspires both the account and creative teams to think beyond what’s expected to create online experiences that surprise and delight.
*One Degree: What’s the basic idea behind the “Johnny.ca”:http://www.johnny.ca/ campaign?*
Chevrolet would like to be on more young people’s radars. With that in mind, the “Johnny” campaign focused on Chevrolet vehicles that are most relevant to youth by showing them in a unique way, both in message and delivery.
In the campaign, traditional mass, online, and guerilla-style tactics delivered the rules of safe and responsible car ownership through an “after school special” theme, presented in an unconventional, quirky tone. Johnny, the young Chevrolet owner hero, is constantly confronted with driving situations that could compromise his own safety and the safety of others. Holding true to his values, he constantly makes the “right” choice.
*One Degree: How is the Internet being used in this campaign?*

The Internet is being used as a continuation of the story that was set up with the TV spots. It allows consumers to enjoy a more in-depth experience with the Chevrolet brand and vehicles by having the characters come alive online and be “spokespeople” to promote the features and benefits of the Chevrolet small cars. We also used other online properties, including MySpace, to see if we could generate some interest at a more grass roots level by creating MySpace pages for the main characters. Here’s “Johnny’s MySpace”:http://www.myspace.com/johnnysmyhomeboy page for example.