Author Archive

The Official Beer of You

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

SaatchiNY recently launched a new program for Miller High Life called “The Official Beer of You.” In keeping with the brand’s common-sense positioning, the program calls out the ridiculousness of pro sports sponsorships and allows regular folks to be sponsored just for living the High Life.

The campaign launched with the above :30 spot that introduces the program and urges High Life drinkers to sign up to be sponsored at www.millerhighlife.com.

Once they sign their contract, participants are compensated with their choice of a $1 coupon for Miller High Life or a check for $1 with the option of donating their check directly to IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America). Participants also receive a downloadable sponsorship kit including their personalized “Official Beer of [YOUR NAME]” logo and the opportunity to purchase their very own personalized Miller High Life T-shirts, mugs, and beer koozies. Lastly, participants also have the chance to be featured in future High Life advertisements.

The program is off to a great start and has already attracted media attention from CNN.

Please share this with your friends and keep living the High Life. (Please note, due to legal constraints, S&S employees are not eligible to participate in the program.)

Category: Clients, Creative

King St. Q&A w/ Nick Miaritis

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Nick approves his daily dose of the news

Nick Miaritis is an Account Supervisor on the Miller & IAVA account at SaatchiNY. You may have seen him mentioned in some of our past posts on the great work the Miller team has done with the IAVA in the past year.  If you’re looking for a laugh or interesting story to perk up your day, be sure to also check out his blog, Unintentional Greatness.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
At the tender age of 7, I was made to dress up as a Native American and walk around my family’s restaurant handing out toys to the children on Thanksgiving. I made over $125 in tips and spent nearly every penny buying cookies from the school cafeteria for the entire 3rd grade.

WHAT LED YOU ON THE PATH YOU’RE ON TODAY?
Mostly my feet.

IF YOU WEREN’T IN ADVERTISING, WHAT CAREER WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO TRY?
Musician.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE YOUTUBE VIDEO?
Hmmmm….  Tough to pick just one.  Right now, I’m really into an old clip from Saved By The Bell where Mario Lopez is dancing at The Max. It’s about as good as it gets.

TELL US SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT YOURSELF:
At the age of 8, I ate breakfast with the Dalai Lama. At the time, I had no idea who he was and I was definitely not on my best behavior. I’m still doing good deeds to dig myself out of that Karmic black hole.

WHAT ARE YOUR LOVEMARKS?
Robert August surfboards, Fender guitars, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Pearl Jam, Chipotle, Cocoa Puffs, Steven Seagal movies

FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TELEVISION PROGRAM?
Tie between Alf and Duck Tales.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CREATIVE PURSUIT?
Writing music.

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN?
Surf, snowboard, music, cook, read, write, work out, compute

WHAT BLOGS/MAGAZINES/BOOKS/PAPERS/WEBSITES CAN YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?
Magazines: Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Affairs

Websites:  Surfline.com, CNN.com, commondreams.org

Blogs:  Richard Branson’s blog, Mark Cuban’s blog

BOOK THAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY READING?
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey

A GUILTY PLEASURE FOR ME IS:
Dark Chocolate.  Pretty sure I’m an addict.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE GREATEST INVENTION IS IN YOUR LIFETIME AND WHY?
Hands down, the KFC Double Down.  Because buns are so played out.

WHAT’S THE LAST GREAT TRIP YOU WENT ON?
Night snowboarding at Jiminy Peak last weekend.  We rode from 9am – 10pm.  It only costs $4 extra for night snowboarding and there are no lift lines.  Think I may stop riding during the day all together.

WHEN’S THE LAST TIME YOU GAVE A STANDING OVATION?
The IAVA’s Heroes Gala.

A Refreshing Idea

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

The Pepsi Refresh Project is a perfect example of how brands should interact with consumers. Pepsi is a Lovemark for a lot of people around the world, and Refresh embraces emotional advertising and the participation economy in an amazing way.

For those of you who haven’t seen the ads or visited the site, Pepsi created the Refresh Project as a crowd-sourced voting platform for handing out grants to people and/or non-profits with good ideas for “refreshing” the world. Based on voting on their website, Pepsi hands out grants that range anywhere from $5,000-$250,000.  

What’s notable to SaatchiNY is that our friends at the IAVA (Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America) have been selected as one of the finalists for the Project in the 25k category. It’s a great organization, and you probably remember reading about their partnership with Miller High Life for the Caps for Troops campaign last month.

If their idea wins, it will help 250,000 new veterans pursue college on the new GI Bill. It’s an easy good deed for the day. Go to the IAVA project page and cast your vote.  It only takes about 5 seconds.   

Nick Miartis is an Account Supervisor at SaatchiNY