AT&T Ad Campaign

AT&T AD Campaign Connecting changes every(little)thing. AT&T has been a pioneer in telecommunications. However, in today’s times, they have lagged behind the industry’s lead competitors, T-Mobile and Verizon. So, for the 2025 National Student Advertising Competition, the AAF asked 92 teams to help make Gen Z crave AT&T as a brand and service provider, and celebrate its commitment to supporting businesses, first responders, and local communities. For JWU ADTEAM, the answer was simple: create a campaign strategy highlighting Gen Z‘s love for empathy and authenticity. We focused on more humorous and informative advertising across digital and out-of-home media, bridging the digital divide between traditional and mainstream marketing. The Journey We took their slogan — “Connecting changes everything” — and elevated it to highlight the small, everyday moments. Connecting doesn’t just change everything. It changes every(little)thing, which became the heart of our campaign. From a conversation with your grandmother that changes gears to a bus shelter that tells you when your next bus arrives, we spared no expense in heralding the average person living the day-to-day. The Protagonist As a member of the creative team, I was tasked with bringing the team’s research and strategy to life. We asked ourselves: “How does connecting change everything?” From there, we took AT&T’s slogan and made it a fill-in-the-blank. “Connecting Changes…” became a pedestal for big ideas about small changes. After hundreds of possible scenarios and solutions, we came up with six ad spots, three OOH activations, and one anthem spot that best applied and represented our team’s campaign. I was responsible for three of the ad spots — “Gears,” “Moves,” and “The Game” — which sought to explain what people love about small moments. This was also a way to connect AT&T to its digital footprint and how telecommunications factors into their slogan. However, our team’s work would not have the same staying power if not for my help in delivering our campaign’s plans book cover, anthem spot, and client presentation. From the start, I knew the anthem had to encapsulate everything the team had been working on since the fall semester. From there, I wanted to tell a story. Life’s smaller moments are often what lift us at our lowest points, and our campaign could deliver that message through a lens of compassion and empathy. I approached the spot with this in mind, and stitched together something that not only tells our team’s story, but teaches us what the small moments are all about. With my eye for storytelling, I soon became a candidate to present our campaign to judges. It was not an easy task, as performative skills often rely on one’s confidence in the material, but I knew the message our team wanted to send to the judges and AT&T. So, alongside three other presenters, I got to work on drafting, revising, and rehearsing our presentation. Our performance aligned with our campaign—simple, authentic, and engaging. The Lesson Our campaign’s plans book, advertisements, and presentation impressed competition judges from across the industry. A win at districts led to a third in semifinals and a fifth at nationals, with every member of the team learning from and reflecting on a job well done. A little team from Providence, Rhode Island, went on to accomplish something big. It empowered us, challenged us, and helped us define our strengths as strategists, media planners, copywriters, presenters, and creatives. For me, working on JWU’s ADTEAM as a designer was one of the most fulfilling experiences I have had as a creative. It demonstrated how far I can take an idea and how well I can understand it. Connecting with the team and the NSAC didn’t just change everything. It’s made me more confident in who I am and what I can do in the future. https://youtu.be/eWyQPmwC6RIhttps://youtu.be/zDnNteBH3hUhttps://youtu.be/Iju5v7tkWiwhttps://youtu.be/g0CnVPukRUI Previous

Starlight Toys

Starlight Toys A Different Kind of Learning Experience I was tasked with creating deliverables for a fellow classmate’s brand. Starlight Toys develops hands-on learning toys and games and requested an e-commerce website for their brand and an infographic detailing their latest memory toy, Echo. The deliverables also had to be distinguishable from the brand’s products and speak to the company’s target audience. Goals and Process I considered the client’s target audience, as well as their background, provided brand guidelines, and industry competitors. I meticulously worked through sketches of the infographic and website before bringing them to the computer for further refinement. One element of these iterations was the memory toy itself, which uses the company’s mascot to best represent the brand’s approachability to parents and children. The Results The resulting infographic and website showcase my client’s and my thought process surrounding the brand’s execution. The infographic is sleek and incredibly legible, making it applicable at multiple scales and an attention-grabber when put in a storefront window. My favorite element was the memory toy’s digital mockup, with my knowledge of Illustrator creating a toy that feels interactive the moment people lay eyes on it. The website is effective and purposeful, providing users everything they need to make a valued and educated purchase. After much communication between myself and the client, we felt the end deliverables fulfilled their desired attributes and features and provided consumers with a poignant and stress-free experience that made them look forward to shopping with Starlight Toys for their new toys and games. PreviousNext

Toonly

Toonly A Service Built To Preserve and Validate Animation First conceptualized from a ten-logo design challenge, Toonly is an animation network dedicated to connecting new and returning viewers to stories new and old and help them rediscover their childhood nostalgia—a community made by and for lovers of the medium. To expand upon the brand, I was tasked to create a supplemental brand standards booklet, documenting its style, guidelines, and applications for future brand and client use. Goals and Process Everything, from the logo to the brand guidelines and its executions, were all done first on paper. Each element of the brand and its logo had purpose and spoke to the brand’s mission and the content it provides. Its inception from a ten-logo design challenge helped form constant iterations to the logo’s typography and color palette before being applied to its brand booklet. The brand executions don’t shine away from using animation’s advantage as a medium for all ages. They hint at its younger demographic, with the content populating the service hinting at the inverse. The logo illustrates animation’s often playfulness and accessibility as an artform. The brand booklet is sleek, simple, and concise, with all other executions illustrating Toonly’s approach to being a streaming service and the experience it offers. The Results Everything, from the logo to the brand guidelines and its executions, was all done first on paper. Each element of the brand and its logo had a purpose and spoke of the brand’s mission and the content it provides. Its inception from a ten-logo design challenge helped form constant iterations to the logo’s typography and color palette before being applied to its brand booklet. The brand executions don’t shy away from using animation’s advantage as a medium for all ages. They hint at its younger demographic, with the content populating the service hinting at the inverse. The logo illustrates animation’s often playfulness and accessibility as an art form. The brand booklet is sleek, simple, and concise, with all other executions illustrating Toonly’s approach to being a streaming service and its offerings. https://benruehl.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Toonly-Animation.mp4 PreviousNext