The Kidvertisers (also known as Ks) have worked along with brands gimungous and small, opening up markets, launching entertainment, catapulting IP, strategizing technology, designing packages, designing toys and games, selling candy, producing videos with a wide range of budgets, creating billboards (on social media and in real life) and, whenever possible, helping the world!
Awards: PROMAX, CTAM, Golden Marbles, KidScreen, National Parenting Product Award.
Just contact Deyna Detroit Vesey, Creative Director!
Each year Breyer introduces a collectable “Horse of the Year”. But this year, marketing guru, Gina Beebe, spearheaded creation of a most beautiful horse with a mission: funds from each purchase help Covenant House provide help and hope to youth facing homelessness.
Enthusiastic team from Kidvertisers together with amazing team at Breyer built a “spoken word” sizzle with emphasis on the power of Hope for everyone.
A sell-out success, this video does more than support sales. It also helps Breyer stretch its legs and expand its mission with the entertainment industry. The Breyer brand races ahead!
REIMAGINE, REDESIGN, & RELAUNCH TOY COLLECTION
3 cheers to the PlayMonsters who gave us our first chance at toy design and inventing.
It all started in 2018 when PlayMonster challenged the K’s to rethink and reskin the Mirari toy toddler line. The mission: to transform “the Wonder of Play” from a tagline to an experience. Kidvertisers’ team including Hilke Kaupert, Mitch Koffler and Michaela Zanzani collaborated with PlayMonster teams to redesign and rethink the strategy, the toys, the packages, a styleguide and videos.
Mirari anthem composed by Andrea Perry. Recording, casting and mixing for toys and videos produced at Plush, NYC. Live action video directed by Amy Coons, shot by Natalie Hinkley Productions and edited by Oren Sarch at Structure Productions. Animation: our fave Muriel Tiberghien. Stills for packages and social media shot by Chris Hynes.
Mirari myStorymaker, a Kidvertisers invention, is the 2019 Winner of the National Parenting Product Award!
IP LICENSE PROMOTION
Kidvertisers’ creative catapulted SpongeBob licensing blitz, pairing SpongeBob with Paramount, Burger King, Hasbro and more.
SpongeBob licensing support for USA and International markets was created and produced in-house at Kidvertisers. Little comic images of SpongeBob below ran here and there throughout licensing publications.
Within a year of launch, SpongeBob became the top licensed character for adult and children’s apparel, with a cavalcade of branded merch that continues to thrive for Nickelodeon and the world!
PACKAGE & DISPLAY DESIGN
Our fantastic client, Little Kids’ big idea is a teeny, single use bubble pouch that can fit in a pocket, travel on an airplane and go just about anywhere. These Fubbles, Bubbles on the Go are super innovative and can prevent all sorts of meltdowns.
Take a look at the knock-out packaging design, retail display pieces and IP character from Kidvertiser, Michaela Zanzani.
Introduced to retailers 2019 and at Toyfair, 2020, Little Kids took home Parents Magazine “Best New Outdoor Toy of the Year”. Look out for top licenses in 2022!
MULTI-PLATFORM PRESCHOOL TUNE-IN & LAUNCH
Dora the Explorer was Nick Jr. & Kidvertisers first multi-cultural launch. Dora, a Latina hero, broke barriers and ratings records in English and Spanish. The design and production work was created in-house at Kidvertisers using art from Nickelodeon.
Dora topped Kidvertisers’ earlier launch of mega-hit Blue’s Clues with the highest ratings of any preschool show ever. Licensing followed! A $1 billion licensing franchise still going strong.
DVD SERIES COVER DESIGNS
Our design project, for the fantastic entertainment team at Scholastic meant working with a plethora of licensors to keep the integrity of over 100 well-loved book covers, while bringing them together into a beautiful collection for little ones. Hilke Kaupert, Kidvertisers rocket pilot designer, was in the cockpit. In a crowded market, these are best sellers!
RE-NAME & RE-FRAME CORPORATE BRAND
Kidvertisers helped the Patch Products team get ready for growth with a new brand name and a big, playful culture. After brainstorming and research, PlayMonster was born!
The Kidvertisers strength is our talent.
Mitch Koffler came up with the name, and check out Muriel Tibergien’s design chops with internal signage, GIFS and animation videos. We also recruited a top news video crew in Midwest, near PlayMonster corporate headquarters, to help us create a big video announcement for internal and external use.
PlayMonster is one of the most relevant, fastest growing companies in the toy industry!
MULTI-PLATFORM PRODUCT LAUNCH
Hearts for Hearts Girls launched quickly (an 8 month time frame from concept to test-market) with a small, tight team of designers, writers, Kidvertisers, and marketing guru at Playmates Toys, Gina Beebe at the helm.
Multi-cultural dolls were designed not only to be beautiful, but to inspire girls to build bridges and find solutions.
TV Spot and video shot by Steve Dunning at CRM. Amy Coons directed. Lyrics by Deyna Detroit Vesey. Music directed by Nancy Rosenberg and finished at Penny Lane Studios, NYC. Edit at Red Car. Color grading at Nice Shoes. Print design by Hilke Kaupert, Kidvertisers.
Kidvertisers’ videos included pro-social message as toy attribute: a portion of purchase helps children in need around the world. Videos propelled the most successful test in Target history, with every doll sold out. Since then, Hearts for Hearts Girls has donated over $400 thousand to help children in distress.
ROLE-PLAY GAME CREATION
United Nations Net Aid came to the Kidvertisers to help Jr. High kids, living in America, understand the extreme inequities of growing up all over the world. They were at first skeptical that a group steeped in advertising could invent a game. But the truth is, a game is a powerful way to convey a message; and messaging is what we do! Starting with the communication goals, the Ks collaborated with the NetAid team to find real stories we could work with, and the thinking and designing took off!
With the help of lots of kids and teachers, through research and trial, we made certain gameplay would be exciting and illuminating. The World Class Game, played in classrooms and after-school groups around the country and online, helped US kids, playing the part of a real kid in India, experience circumstances in Tamil Nadu, where about half the kids their age must work in brick or match factories.
In this 45 minute experience, players come to understand the critical importance and personal relevance of staying in school.
NETWORK SEGMENT RESEARCH, REBRAND & RELAUNCH
One of our first missions with our heros at Nickelodeon was the relaunch of their preschool segment, Nick Jr. An incredible ratings story resulted, with Nick Jr. outperforming both Disney and Sesame Street.
We started by teaming up with marketing and research teams at Nickelodeon. Results showed Nick Jr. content and messaging needed to feel both separate and safe to Mom’s of preschoolers. This pointed the way to a new edition of shows and marketing that communicated nurturing, garnered attention and invited action.
Kidvertisers created parenting magazine inserts that looked like advent calendars and were actually an introduction to Nick Jr. TV programs. It was easy for parents to tear these out of magazines and give to their kids to play with. The TV spot you see here was written by Mitch Koffler at Kidvertisers, and produced in-house at Nickelodeon. Honest, goal oriented collaboration with outside creative teams is one of our best skills. Lots of mission oriented “tune in” print, and a “minifesto” followed. Mitch’s tagline, “At Nick Jr., We Play to Learn” launched the branding and continues to inform and inspire all Nick Jr. business.
TV BRANDING ANTHEM
Our fantastic clients at Little Kids believe there is nothing like a demo, and we agree. The “No-Spill demo” works along with original anthem song by Deyna & Mitch and performed by Danny Weinkauf. Ace video producer, Franklin Feinberg, joined with Ks with shooter/editor, Brent Deal. The amazing Amy Coons worked with us to cast and direct kids.
Mission Accomplished: We keep No-Spill Bubbles the top-of-mind category leader!
MULTI-PLATFORM BRANDING/TUNE IN CAMPAIGN
The Kidvertisers branded “Nickelodeon Nation”; it was picked by marketers as “Best TV Campaign” and included newspaper, web, magazine, on and off channel TV, trade and ad-sales and billboards in Times Square, Hollywood and everywhere else.
Mitch Koffler thunk up the branding line. Kidvertisers creative team included exec producer, Jennifer Carter with a huge group of directors and production companies. including Skip Roessel and Amy Coons. Fantastic sound was mixed with Bobby Sorrentino at Pennylane Studios, NYC. Anthem, written by Bonnie Harris, Mitch Koffler and Tom McShea, arranged and recorded by the amazing Denis Hannigan of Hooligan Music. Nick Nation Houseparty track directed by the preeminent Paul Shaffer. Animation by the late, great David Vesey. Brilliant graphic support from Ms. Jessamine Sison with Kidvertisers Hilke Kaupert and Michaela Zanzani.
Marketing Chief at Nickelodeon, Ruth Sarlin, believed in strong media, so we got lots of eyeballs. Production was no holds barred, and boosted ratings 25%. Hey, Now!
PARENT DIRECTED TV ADVERTISING
Nickelodeon Magazine research helped take a really good idea over the top by uncovering how the use of the magic word “Please” would move the needle with parents… so much so that readership subscription orders soared!
Our not-so-secret secret: when we’re talking to parents, whenever possible, we get the kids onboard. This “mission driven” commercial ran A LOT on Nickelodeon because it overachieved on the Kidvertisers’ mission for both parents and their kids:
Build subscriber base.
Keep Nickelodeon Magazine’s fantastic content top of mind.
Decrease/eliminate expensive 800 phone calls when kids themselves called to order subscriptions.
The spot ran for 7 years; enough time for it to become embedded in the brains of the 90s kids we still love! Some of their efforts to recreate the commercial now searchable on youtube.
Want to find out how much of the Nick Mag spot you remember? Take the Buzzfeed test please! (with thanks to Christopher Hudspeth)
BRAND LAUNCH VIDEO
Kidvertisers along with ace producer Franklin Feinberg and amazing kid director Amy Coons, create branding tour de force for Little Kids and Moji Mi.
Videographer is Ray O’Connor. Music composed by Barb Morrison; graphics and edit by our hero from Motown, Richard Brooker.
Video and totally rad products live on Moji-Mi.com and on Amazon!
SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO
PlayMonster needed a compelling way to communicate to parents what early learning experts already know: Lauri toys deliver the best unstructured play and years of learning fun to little ones.
With a limited budget, Mitch and Deyna wrote anthem lyrics to a public domaine, classic song. Local kids and teacher were cast — with kid director, Amy Coons and our videographer ace, Alexandra Grablewski. Recording and mixing done at Penny Lane Sound.
Here’s an example of how we got a big bang for Lauri toys’ buck. Outtakes from shoot were employed for packaging and social media.
TV TUNE-IN LAUNCH/LICENSING SUPPORT
Kidvertisers on and off-air commercials for Blue’s Clues resulted in the best ratings ever for a Pre-School TV show, and carried the Nick Jr. segment with it. A month before release, we designed an insert for parenting magazines (that was actually a kids’ book). Insert introduced kids and parents to the Blue’s Clues culture. Once launched, we developed creative to ensure long term success of brand. This included special outreach posters and curriculum guides to Head Start and Pre-School educators everywhere.
Every aspect of our work was tested with audiences.
Licensing TV was recreated each year, generating over $1 billion in income. Blue’ s Clues has been described as “the first TV show for preschoolers both educational and profitable.”
SIZZLE VIDEO
How did PlayMonster Zombie Chase travel from mock-up to market?
Stock footage and music gets us pretty far, and our BRAAAAINS help too.
Kidvertisers’ team Mitch, Michaela and Deyna, along with Alexandra Grablewski and David Shechter shooters, Oren Sarch, editor, Syd Coons, hand model, Dominick Sena, voice talent and special client/collaborator “Reporter has friend for dinner” JT Nejedlo got real-live retailers to bite!
BRAAAAIN GIF used for social medial.
EXPLAINER VIDEO
Dictitious explainer video for Social Media and Amazon helps (adult) players understand ribald possibilities. Kidvertiser’s favorite animator, Muriel Tiberghien, David St. Louis’s amazing voice, PLUSH NYC audio and Kidvertisers’ Mitch Koffler take it over the top!
Our first advertising campaign put Playskool on the map. In a crowded market of parent directed advertising, the red background and unique logo treatment allowed Playskool to take credit for a giant line of products, from pacifiers to baby and preschool toys, Playskool classics like PlayDoh, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoy and Mr. Potato Head and included a number of Playskool licensed products.
This powerful red (PMS 185) became the inspiration for all Playskool marketing, licensing and packaging. Kidvertisers’ creative use of fantastic photography by David Vesey and Amy Coons, wow-centered headlines, inclusive casting and creative use of a series of big and small space ads positioned Playskool as the category leader. In testing with parents, the red print campaign scored consistently as best liked and most memorable across every category of kid products. The print campaign ran over 10 years.
Another big breakthrough was the 1-2-3 Bike commercial, which Kidvertisers championed by first embracing a sketch from R&D, following up with a sizzle video that ultimately became our first TV spot for for the brand. Playskool 1-2-3 Bike was a mega hit; it opened up a whole new line of business for Playskool, where little kids could play like big kids.
Remembering here with love and respect, Mr. Stephen Hassenfeld who believed in Kidvertisers, gave us our start, and continues to be an inspiration. “Who’s the most important person in the world?” asked Stephen. “The person you’re with.”
TV AD BRAND EXPLAINING
Customers thirsty for Cartoon Network licensed all-star beverages could not wait to collect them all! Vitamin C mention enables moms to purchase!!!! Kidvertiser Luke Doolan made his bones on this one!
RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN
Kidvertisers bus and outdoor poster designs (with great headlines from Mitch Koffler) helped bring 750,000 people (including Kidvertisers Hilke Kaupert and Deyna Vesey) to Washington, DC on Mothers’ Day — with 200,000 more holding satellite events in more than 70 cities across the country.
Thanking Donna Dees Thomases for opportunity to stand with this mission.
