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Hub Announces A Hat Trick Of New Assignments

Over the past few months, HUb has won three new accounts – Ecowater, Netradyne and Jackpocket.

HUb Releases Bleepign Radio For Bleeping Flyhomes

HUb recently launched a radio campaign in Seattle and San Francisco for Flyhomes, a national start up focused on the real estate space.

Rumble #3 - It All Starts With Creative?

In his latest RUMBLE, HUb’s President Mike Reese dissects the tried and true advertising phrase, “It all starts with the Creative Idea.” He brings us back to earth by arguing that while there is immense value in the ‘Creative Idea’, a quality brief is really the bedrock for any successful campaign. Here at HUb we love the quote “Give me the liberty of a tightly constrained brief.” Read more and contribute to the conversation by clicking on the link below.

Paul Gilmore and HUb launch a new division

Paul Gilmore Joins HUb to Head Up New Division, HUb Sport

Rumble #2 - Have Your Cake And Eat It Too: Expecting More From Brand Advertising

For our President Mike Reese’s second RUMBLE ( (Reflexions and Unforeseen Musings on Branding and Marketing), he argues that Brand Marketing doesn’t only need to build long term equity and brand recognition but can also, if done creatively, meet the immediate demands of selling products. So apparently you can (and should) have your cake and eat it, too.

Read more and contribute to the conversation by clicking on the link below.

Rumble #1- Remember the Welding Goggles

Inspired by his Grandfather’s weekly email of updates and observations to family and friends, HUb’s President Mike Reese has started “RUMBLE (Reflexions and Unforeseen Musings on Branding and Marketing),” on LinkedIn. Every month or so, Reese posts an article where he reflects about a certain topic in the marketing and advertising landscape, in hopes of creating interesting and entertaining conversation.

In his first ‘RUMBLE’, Reese asks the question: Why does B-B marketing have to be so boring? His answer, and HUb’s as well, is that it shouldn’t be. Read more and contribute to the conversation by clicking on the link below.

Mike Reese talks with Little Black Book

In this LBB 5 Minutes With... Mike Reese talks with LBB about the importance of senior experience within agencies, and why agencies should remember their core purpose

HUb works with Cisco Meraki on new Reddit ads

Meraki asked us to help them with testing ads on Reddit, a new channel for them.

How Brands Use Humor To Connect

MEDIAPOST - Another great article from Creative Director and Partner, Hilary Wolfe. At HUb, we take humor seriously.

Gigamon Launches New Deep Observability Campaign

Gigamon asked HUb to develop a thought-provoking campaign that would break through the data security noise.

Morgan Reece on the Art of Account Management

LITTLE BLACK BOOK – HUb San Francisco's associate brand director on the responsibility of managing and ensuring the execution of multiple projects.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: An Interview With Our Own Hilary Wolfe

MEDIUM – Confidence, a positive perspective, and a sense of humor are just three of the things CD and partner Hilary Wolfe say play a large role in her success over the years. She has a lot more good stuff to say in this article in Medium about women in advertising. Check it out.

Stanford Medicine Children's Health Captures the Chaos of Having Kids in Latest Campaign

LITTLE BLACK BOOK - HUb Strategy & Communication launches new 'Access to Excellence' campaign featuring digital video, display, streaming audio, print and OOH.

It's a Pantsless Friday in Gigamon's New Campaign

ADWEEK – Gigamon is hitting a metaphor right on the nose with a campaign by HUb San Francisco, after the creative agency was hired by the IT security company. The spots feature a serious, overly dramatic spokesperson walking around a busy office, speaking to the camera as the workers around him go about their business—without pants. The concept is that the threats to the office’s security just might catch people with their pants down. Get it? Yeah, you do.

Eden Health Taps HUb As AOR And Kicks Off NYC Campaign

MEDIA POST – Eden Health, an employee healthcare company, is on a roll. First, it named HUb San Francisco as its first agency of record after a competitive review.

Now, HUb is developing a multi-city out-of-home campaign for Eden, which kicked off at New York’s Penn Station for a four-week flight.

Help COGRID-19 go viral for a good cause

PRINT - Grids are great—especially when they’re grids for good.

With COGRID-19, curator Jason Rothman of HUb Strategy & Communication brings together 19 designers from a city to create a shared grid representing their experiences in quarantine. The project launched with two sets of creatives from Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area (where HUb’s offices are located), who produced collective Risograph prints that benefit the Philadelphia Black Giving Circle, and the Tipping Point Community in the Bay Area, respectively.

Local artists create a poster to benefit the Philadelphia Black Giving Circle. Here's how to buy one.

THE PHILADELPHIA CITIZEN - When Covid hit, local creative director Jason Rothman turned to what he knows best to help: wrangling artists to design a poster for charity.

Teresa Herd and HUb team up to build Inside/Out for the next generation of in-house agencies

CAMPAIGN LIVE - Teresa Herd, former VP Global Creative Director and head of Intel’s award-winning in-house creative team Agency Inside, is teaming up with San Francisco agency HUb on a new practice called HUb Inside/Out, which helps brands form new in-house creative agencies and make existing internal creative teams run better.

Times are tough, but don’t miss the silver linings

We all know the struggles our industry is facing are devastating, but for some brands, access to new talent might just set them up to overcome one of the biggest creative challenges they have faced in the past.

The Bay Area Actor Podcast interviews HUb founder and CEO DJ O'Neil

THE BAY AREA ACTOR – DJ O'Neil is a champion of creating your own opportunities. At HUb, DJ oversees the brand and creative development efforts for all clients as well as directing much of the television work.

“Consumer health” is coming of age — and it’s growing up fast

MEDIUM - The first wave of consumer healthcare companies started with a simple yet powerful premise: imagine if healthcare could feel as convenient and transparent as other industries already disrupted by technology. Imagine if getting care could be as easy as shopping online or streaming a movie.

Are you smarter than a jellyfish? Then you should care about our oceans, an aquarium says.

WASHINGTON POST – The fish are not all right. The Monterey Bay Aquarium wants to remind San Francisco commuters of that, and it wants people know there are things they can do about it.

Life-size whale made of recycled plastic to 'educate people about ocean pollution'

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS - Ocean pollution and the amount of plastic in the sea is an ever-growing talking point, and Monterey Bay Aquarium in San Francisco, California (USA) has found an inspiring and creative way to further highlight the issue.

HUb documentary short being screened this week at Mountain Film Festival

MOUNTAIN FILM - The Monterey Bay Aquarium is not only an aquarium but also a world leader in ocean conservation. They work at local, state, national and international levels to advance policies that protect key species like sea otters, sharks and tuna — and addresses global threats to fisheries and human coastal communities, including overfishing, plastic pollution and climate change.

Monterey Bay Aquarium is making ocean pollution impossible to ignore

FORMAT - Meet the life-sized blue whale replica at the intersection of art and environmental efforts.

How they made: Life size blue whale from recycled plastic

MAKE ZINE - The biggest beast that ever lived, the blue whale dwarfs even the dinosaurs: 150 tons, if you could weigh one. Sadly, 150 tons is also how much plastic trash washes into the world’s oceans every 9 minutes.

VIPKid Taps HSC For Rebranding Project

MEDIA POST - HUb Strategy & Communication (HSC) was selected by VIPKid to rebrand the online English Second Language tutoring program in the U.S.

A’s former ad agency thanks team with highlight reel

SF GATE - This season, the A’s have moved their advertising in-house, and the TV spots are no more, but Hub is celebrating its long relationship with the club with a highlight reel that includes snippets from several of the 70-plus ads the company produced.

Stanford Health Care: Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford by HUb San Francisco

THE DRUM - A new branding campaign for Stanford Children's Health is focused on the opening of the new Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. The new building more than doubles the size of the children’s hospital campus, making it one of the world’s most technologically advanced, environmentally sustainable and family-friendly children’s hospitals.

Stanford Children's Health scales up with national campaign

MEDIA POST - With the opening of the new children’s hospital campus that nearly doubles its size, Stanford Children's Health (SCH) and agency HUb Strategy & Communication are going big with a new integrated advertising campaign.

HUb Hires Former Y&R SF Leader As Its First President

MEDIA POST - HUb Strategy & Communication has appointed Mike Reese president, a new role at the agency.

Stanford Children's Health Refreshes 'Access To Excellence' Campaign

MEDIA POST - Stanford Children's Health and its agency HUb Strategy & Communication are refreshing the brand campaign to emphasize the elevated level of wellness care provided by Stanford pediatricians at local practices.

Tiger moms eschew fun robots in Wonder Workshop spots

CAMPAIGN LIVE - HUb Strategy & Communication introduces a new learning toy in 30-second films.

For first time, A’s ad campaign is all about Oakland

SF GATE - A’s commercials are famous for being quirky and cute, clever and funny. None of that is changing this year — the ads are all that plus elephants — but the locale is entirely different.

If you want to succeed in business, be funny

FORTUNE - DJ O’Neil is the CEO of HUb Strategy & Communication, a San Francisco-based ad agency that works with (or has worked with) the Oakland Athletics, Slingbox, Eat24, Nike, Dropcam, and Jawbone.

Content ain’t king unless it’s funny

THE HUSTLE - Why do these well-known brands trust DJ and his team? Because HUb’s work is injected with a ton of humor and personality. And it works.

Wonder Workshop introduces 'Tiger Parent Interventionist'

MEDIA POST - Developed with agency HUb Strategy & Communication, the creative centers on the concept of the Tiger Mom, a parent who pushes her child to excel academically above all else.

Stanford Children's Health launches first campaign under HUb

MEDIA POST - Stanford Children's Health (SCH) is introducing its first campaign under its new agency of record HUb Strategy & Communication following a formal review.

HUb business cards

UNDER CONSIDERATION - The team at HUb figured out a good way to have tricked-out business cards without breaking the bank.

Advertising Annual; One Medical outdoor campaign

GRAPHIS - HUb Strategy & Communication's outdoor campaign for One Medical Group was selected for a Silver Honor in Graphis' Advertising Annual Competition.

New Oakland A’s 2016 commercials include two scripted by Sean Doolittle & Stephen Vogt

ATHLETICS NATION - The Oakland Athletics revealed their 2016 advertising campaign in a media session today, with two of the ads co-scripted by A's catcher Stephen Vogt and closer Sean Doolittle.

Is A's reliever Sean Doolittle the most interesting man in baseball?

ESPN - "The director said, 'Hey, let's get the three of us together and brainstorm,'' Vogt says. "We had a blast. We had a couple scheming sessions and came up with six or seven ideas for commercials with the pitcher-catcher relationship, and just had a lot of fun with it.''

Campaign portrays Texture as the app for binge readers

MEDIA POST - Texture and HUb are introducing the "Binge Reading" campaign to convey that Texture's content is so amazing, readers will have a hard time putting it down.

A's let players help pen new spots, while Mariners, Twins continue humorous ads

SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY - The A's stuck with their successful seven-year-old effort, Green Collar Baseball, with creative help from S.F.-based HUb Strategy & Communication.

Stephen Vogt, Sean Doolittle help create A’s new TV ads

SF GATE - The A's annual TV spots are consistent award winners for advertising agency HUb Strategy & Communication, taking top honors in first place in the National Sports Forum ADchievement awards each of the past three years.

Wednesday odds and ends

ADWEEK - San Francisco-based creative agency HUb Strategy & Communication appointed Kelly Burke as executive vice president, media.

A's 'shift' leadoff hitter in fast pitch to social media

BIZ JOURNALS - The Oakland A's first commercial of 2016, created by HUb Strategy & Communication, was released Wednesday on Facebook.

A look at classic Oakland A's commercials over the seasons

BIZ JOURNALS - The classic A's commercial from the early 1980s was one of a few we found on the Internet after the franchise on Wednesday released its first ad of the 2016 campaign. From "Billy Ball" to "Green Collar Baseball," the commercials have been known (and their releases even expected) for their quirkiness and creativity.

42 sure-fire signs that you have a brand awareness problem

INC - You're at a cocktail party speaking with someone you just met who happens to be your target customer; you tell them the company you work for and they stare at you uncomfortably and pretend to act like they've heard of it. - DJ O'Neil, CEO, HUb Strategy & Communication

BIZ DEV: HUb Strategy & Communication named AOR for Texture

MEDIA POST - HUb Strategy & Communication was named agency of record for Texture.

Stephen Vogt and Sean Doolittle are the A’s admen

SF GATE - The A’s commercial promoting Monday’s striped-socks backpack giveaway was the result of a brainstorming session between Vogt, Doolittle, Doolittle’s girlfriend, Eireann Dolan, and DJ O’Neil of HUb Strategy. The players and Dolan came up with material for about seven ads, including the one airing now that features Vogt and Kendall Graveman debating the merits of sock styles during a mound meeting.

Build a quality brand by asking, 'What would Richard Branson do?'

INC - By separating what to say, how to say it, and where to say it, the daunting task of constructing a well-built brand becomes a lot easier.

Personal Capital names HUb AOR

MEDIA POST - The financial/technology company wants to raise its awareness and has named HUb Strategy & Communication as its new Agency of Record. PC previously worked with Duncan/Channon. The account switch was not part of a formal review.

Stephen Vogt brings his fun-loving personality to the ballpark every day

ABC 7 NEWS - Oakland catcher Stephen Vogt is a baseball fairy tale in a 6-foot, 215-pound package. So it's only fitting that all the grinding, fighting and striving he's done in his career have landed him in the middle of some improbable scenarios this season.

Oakland A’s 2015 look & feel

UNDER CONSIDERATION - Nathan Hinz’s contribution to the look and feel of all promotional materials for the Oakland A’s new season, in collaboration with San Francisco, CA-based HUb.

A's rely on humor, players' personalities in latest TV advertising campaign

SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY - The A's are among the growing crop of MLB teams using humorous themes and a light-hearted approach in their local advertising, as evidenced by the latest iteration of their "Green Collar Baseball" campaign. The effort from the team and its advertising agency, HUb Strategy & Communication, S.F., is now in its fifth season.

Data-Storage company launches effort with twitter 'personas' and Apple watch giveaways

AD AGE - Nimble Storage, a fast-growing data-storage company, is taking on larger competitors such as EMC, HP, and NetApp with a new campaign called "Adaptive Flash Challenge."

Nimble Storage had revenue of $125.7 million last year, up 134% over 2013, and is moving into the enterprise space to take on bigger rivals.

Super Bowl XLIX: Best 5 food ads include Snoop Dog’s ‘hanger’ cure and more

LA TIMES - Who better to cure "hanger" (presumably, hunger + anger) than Snoop Dogg? In Eat24's commercial, Snoop Dogg encounters a hangry Gilbert Gottfried, who needs egg rolls and contemplates eating his pet fish when he craves sushi.

In Eat24 Super Bowl 2015 commercial, Snoop cures hangry

WASHINGTON POST - Like french fries and gravy, Snoop and Gilbert are an unusual combination — one that totally works.

EAT24 releases Snoop-approved Super Bowl ad

AD WEEK

Snoop and Gilbert Gottfried star in Eat24’s Super Bowl ad

FAST COMPANY - The formula for a generic Super Bowl ad varies from brand to brand, but typically it involves a combination of celebrity + unexpected situation + jokes + product. It’s what a lot of people expect to see during the big game and many brands are happy to oblige. Food delivery service Eat24 is one such brand.

Snoop Dogg & Gilbert Gottfried diagnose 'hanger' for food delivery app

Integrated advertising, design and production company, HUb Strategy & Communication announced that they have directed and produced a Super Bowl spot for food delivery app, EAT24. The comedic spot features Snoop Dogg and Gilbert Gottfried and touches on the very serious medical condition known as “hanger”.

Is 2015 the year of the regional Super Bowl ad?

AD WEEK - With a 30-second national spot reportedly costing $4.5 million during Sunday's Super Bowl, it's no surprise that quite a few brands are embracing the cheaper option of a regional ad buy.

HUb awarded multiple merit winners in the Graphis Design Annual

GRAPHIS - HUb was named a merit winner in the Graphis Design Annual for various work for Viator, University of San Francisco, Sephora, Blue Shield of California and Project Open Hand.

HUb wins two merit awards in the Graphis Advertising Annual

GRAPHIS - HUb was named a merit winner in the Graphis Advertising Annual for their University of San Francisco campaign and their San Francisco 49ers campaign.

Snoop Dogg and Gilbert Gottfried will star in a Super Bowl ad for Eat24 delivery app

THE DAILY MEAL - Snoop Dogg and Gilbert Gottfried will promote the Eat24 delivery app on Super Bowl Sunday in the "Snooperbowl"

San Francisco 49ers launch promotion of swanky new Levi’s Stadium

Further solidifying what has been a long creative partnership with the San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco-based creative ad agency HUb Strategy & Communication teamed up with the five-time Super Bowl Champions to promote Levi’s® Stadium, the new home of the San Francisco 49ers. To promote the many impressive features of the new venue, HUb conceived and created a multi-faceted advertising campaign that includes extensive radio and television promotional spots, out-of-home (OOH) advertising, print campaigns, and much more.

10 Super Bowl ads worth watching on game day

USA TODAY - Snoop Dogg and Gilbert Gottfried inform viewers on the signs of being “hangry,” including the telltale “uncontrollable yelling” and “pants discomfort.” The ad for Eat24, a food delivery app and website, will air in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Miami and Baltimore.

A's marketers' internal teams get stronger, how agencies can collaborate

AD AGE - Working with clients that have in-house creative departments is nothing new. However, there is a shift happening, in which in-house creative teams are getting more involved in the work agencies have traditionally been hired to do, and the creatives that are filling these departments are getting much better.

HUb Strategy & Communication look to the 'golden years' of storage

LITTLE BLACK BOOK - HUb Strategy & Communication, a San Francisco-based integrated creative agency, has launched the first-ever brand campaign for Nimble Storage. The “Golden Years” campaign, which recently launched in San Francisco and New York City, takes aim at old-school storage vendors using yesterday’s technology. The outdoor, digital and video creative marks the first efforts by Hub since becoming Nimble’s partner in early 2014.

“Typically the advertising you see in the storage industry is a little...dry,” said DJ O’Neil, CEO / Creative Director for HUb. “We think this new campaign for Nimble bucks that trend. It’s a lot of fun.”

Nimble Storage shows where old storage technology goes to retire

MEDIA POST - Where does old technology go to die -- or retire? I always thought the answer was the bottom of a landfill, but an amusing campaign for Nimble Storage paints a different future for storage technology of yesteryear.

Rethinking healthcare + design for Blue Shield of California

PRINT MAG - BSCA called in the pros at HUb, a San Francisco–based branding and design firm, to overhaul the design of their print enrollment collateral—that first package of (overwhelming) paperwork explaining what they offer. The goal: less to overwhelm, more to engage. Which, when you look at just how much information they’re required by law and by nature of the business to include, is not such an easy task.

A's award-winning 'Green Collar Baseball' campaign returns for 5th season

MLB - The Oakland Athletics and HUb, the A's advertising agency, today launched the fifth season of their award-winning "Green Collar Baseball" marketing campaign.

The 2014 campaign will highlight both the work ethic and exciting style of play that has resulted in back-to-back AL West titles for the A's and their fans. The campaign is a fully-integrated program, featuring television commercials as well as print, outdoor and digital advertisements. The team's marketing slogan, "Green Collar Baseball," will again be integrated throughout the campaign.

This shop has thrived by helping in the early stages of marketing challenges

AD WEEK - HUb's clients include Microsoft, Google, Oakland A’s

Smart car drivers get easy parking karma with new app

7X7 - Smart cars are the perfect design for the city. They’re small (8.8 feet in length), ecologically friendly, and can significantly reduce your parking time. And yes, you can even look damn cool in one.

So when local San Francisco advertising firm HUb came to us earlier this month to announce the launch of smart spots, an app that finds tiny smart car parking spots, we wanted to learn more.

Sephora press kit hits #49 in Dieline's top 100 of 2013

THE DIELINE - 2013 is officially over and 2014 is in full swing! To kick off the new year, we compiled our annual year end recap: The Dielines Top 100 of 2013. These 100 posts, including packaging projects, articles, and The Dieline Awards 2013 winners, were the most read posts based on traffic in 2013. It is fascinating to see what projects made the cut, and what the overarching design themes were. From here, we were able to identify several unique design trends, which we will be sharing with you in more details next week. In the meantime, check out all 100 below, and let us know what trends and themes you have been seeing over the past year.

Get smart in San Francisco with HUb

SHOTS - Advertising, design and production company HUb has launched a new iPhone app designed to make finding tiny parking for smart cars easier. The app also uses social media to share the ‘smart spots’ among the wider network of smart drivers, adding social value to the technology. Using GPS tracking and aggregating location tips from users, the app is an innovative introduction aimed at a niche market and was born from personal experiences.

Sephora press kit

THE DIELINE - Sephora recently refreshed their Beauty Insider loyalty program with a new membership tier, VIB Rouge, for their highest level of clients. To welcome top national fashion editors to VIB Rouge, HUb created giant, personalized invitations in Sephora colors.

Elite sand sculptors Carve San Francisco

7x7 - "We wanted to invite accomplished sculptors to San Francisco, provide a spectacular backdrop and accommodations, and see what unfolds," said Kathryn Keown, a member of HUb, an award-winning creative ad agency and creators of Carve San Francisco. "It's rare to be able to dedicate a week of your life to the pursuit of beauty."

Normal doesn't play here: Behind the 49ers' new ad campaign

MODERN LUXURY - "Normal doesn’t play here," goes the 49ers' new advertising slogan, which was coined by local advertising firm HUb on behalf of our almost-defending champions. It'll show up on billboards, on TV spots, in the paper, on sfgate.com, and on Facebook. So how to sum up the identity of a beloved sports franchise in a series of pithy, ad-ready catchphrases? We asked DJ O’Neil, CEO and creative director of HUb, and Ali Towle, Director of Marketing for the 49ers, to let us in on their secrets.

Carve SF - City's first international sand sculpture competition

SURFLINE - Carve San Francisco, the city's first-ever international sand sculpture competition will be held from October 15th-20th near the Sports Basement in the Presidio. Carve showcases the extreme art of sand sculpting, inviting teams from around the world to sculpt 400 tons of sand into astounding and intricate works of art over five days.

Accounts and people of note in the ad industry

NY TIMES

Athletics identify their success factors: Fun, freedom

USA TODAY - Individuality is not only accepted but encouraged in Oakland's famously loose clubhouse.

The A's are up to their goofy antics again, adding a dugout canopy of arms as greeting for home run hitters to their previous assortment of Bernie Leans, hijacked mascot cars, hallway hockey contests and general wackiness.

Carve Tahoe to transform snow into art

FIRST TRACKS ONLINE - Prestigious snow carvers from around the world will call North Lake Tahoe home Feb. 8-12, 2013 for the regions first-ever Carve Tahoe competition, with the judging taking place Feb. 13. The weeklong international snow sculpture contest is specifically geared for spectators who will view firsthand 20-ton blocks of pure snow shaped and carved into breathtaking masterpieces. The competing teams are the best of the best selected from the events top applicants and representing more than 20 countries. Lawrence Nobel, the lead judge of Carve Tahoe, is an award-winning sculptor and illustrator who previously designed a Gold Medal for the 1984 Olympics and created George Lucas Yoda Sculpture in the Presidio of San Francisco.

Chevy's menus featured on "Art of the Menu"

UNDER CONSIDERATION - If you've been to one Tex-Mex restaurant, you've been to them all. But Chevys isn't Tex-Mex, its Fresh-Mex, which means its menu is full of charming iconography you wouldn't mind getting fresh with.

Oakland A's - Scott Hatteberg "Bobblehead" TV spot

AD LAND

University of San Francisco visibility campaign

COMMUNICATION ARTS - Local ad agency HUb recently unveiled the first-ever visibility campaign to increase awareness and recognition of San Francisco institution, University of San Francisco. The citywide campaign launched on transit shelters, billboards, taxi tops, Muni sides, online banners, and local papers, featuring San Francisco as a major part of the messaging and design while steering clear of typical tourist imagery. Focused on offering a unique perspective, the background photographs were taken around San Francisco and coupled with clever headlines that get the school's Jesuit messaging across in a fun, unexpected way. It's an edgy, contemporary and unexpected campaign that communicates that USF offers more than just a good education.

10 game trailers that rocked PAX Prime

WIRED - Wired Magazine featured 10 game trailers that got their attention at the recent PAX Prime Event. The Rise Of Nightmares trailer, created by SF agency HUb, made the top of the list.

HUb updated the look-and-feel of the museum’s marketing campaign

COMMUNICATION ARTS - The Walt Disney Family Museum, which opened in Fall 2009, hired San Francisco-based creative agency HUb Strategy & Communication to position and update the look-and-feel of its marketing campaign. Focusing on little-known vignettes about Walt Disney’s life, the campaign is running as street pole banners and on Muni and cable car sides in San Francisco and as online banners.

Oakland Athletics “The Closer” TV spot

COMMUNICATION ARTS - “Green Collar Baseball" is HUb's concept for the 2011 Oakland A's season. The idea spawned from the fact that the team is gritty, scrappy and young. To make up for their lack of experience, they give an extra dose of hustle and effort in everything they do. The San Francisco agency communicated its unrelenting passion and drive for the game across this integrated campaign using a mix of gritty type and textures, action-packed game stills and consistent writing. "The Closer" is one of seven TV spots that will be released during the season.

Accounts and people of note in the ad Industry

NY TIMES - Oakland Athletics renewed its contract with HUb as agency of record. Billings were estimated at less than $1 million. It will be the second year that HUb will handle tasks like integrated marketing for the A’s; a campaign that includes television commercials is to start running in March.

Microsoft to bloggers: You’re a doll

MEDIA POST - To promote its Windows 7 phone, Microsoft brought to life its personalization feature, in the form of shadow boxes (those glass-covered display cases) featuring dolls hand-sewn to resemble 60 national bloggers.

HUb, the agency behind the campaign, played off the Windows Phone 7's "Live Hubs" feature that allows users to personalize their start screens with calendar, photo, and email tiles.

Billboards join wired age

WALL STREET JOURNAL - "It's an old-school media that has been around for hundreds of years but we've dressed it up and made it fresh," said Zohar Levkovitz, chief executive and co-founder of Amobee, Inc., a start-up based in Redwood City, Calif., that has developed the technology and begun selling it to advertisers.

News from the advertising industry

NY TIMES - Chevys Fresh Mex, part of Real Mex Restaurants, Cypress, Calif., named three agencies to handle assignments with total spending estimated at under $10 million. They are HUb Strategy & Communication, San Francisco, for tasks like creative development and social media; Cakewalk Creative, San Francisco, for tasks like decor; and Duke Marketing, San Rafael, Calif., for public relations.

Top ten: 2010 MLB team commercials

RUM BUNTER

Ex-Giant Benson has become star pitchman on WFAN

FOOTBALL FORUM - Brad Benson was sitting in the office of his central New Jersey car dealership Wednesday when his cell phone began to beep urgently. He looked at the caller ID.

"That's the missus now," he said. "Maybe she heard it."

"It" was the latest of his famously wacky -- and notoriously politically incorrect -- radio advertisements. It had debuted just that morning on WFAN.

Nike's latest ad vehicle comes armor plated

AD WEEK - "Holy Crap!" indeed. HUb's first assignment for the Nike 6.0 Extreme Sports Group led to the creation of an action-sports urban assault vehicle -- actually a converted 1959 amphibious tank-like truck -- initially tricked out by the agency for the Mountain Dew's Action Sports Tour. The vehicle has proven popular and will now visit various cities over the next several months.

Nike 6.0: urban-assault vehicle

AD AGE - For the Mountain Dew's Action Sports Tour, HUb and Nike 6.0, the sportswear company's action sports division, outfitted the tank-like truck with a skate ramp and surfboard racks, skateboard rails, bike racks, and an overnight camper.

Nike delivers the OMG, the WTF and the HOLY CRAP

AD RANTS - Most marketers want some kind of reaction to their advertising. Desired reactions range from increased sales to increased brand awareness to changing behavior to announcing the existence of a new product. Rarely is the desired reaction so specific as to make people say, "Holy Crap," after they see it but that's just what Nike wanted and that's what HUb did.

Nike taking massive kill-truck on Dew Tour

AD WEEK - What athletic shoe doesn't need a giant urban assault vehicle? Nike won't say no, that's for sure. HUb Strategy & Communication tricked out a vintage 1959 fightin' machine for Nike to take on Mountain Dew's Action Sports Tour, and now the decommissioned amphibious contraption will build some brand by leveling cities where Reebok controls the perimeter. Or maybe it's just embarking on a marketing tour. Nike should use its death-truck to target the singers behind that insufferable Converse song and teach its competitor the real meaning of "My Drive Thru." Of course, New Balance might retaliate by outfitting a B-52 with high-tops, but that plan would probably bomb. Because the B-52 is a bomber. Thank God I'm too old to be drafted. Unless McCain gets elected, that is.

DJ O'Neil: Sailing in unsafe marketing waters

SF EXAMINER - "Everyone said they could do anything, but they really couldn't," O'Neil said. "They had their specialty." Emerging media create new challenges all the time and agencies scramble to build each coming medium into their creative approach. O'Neil said his approach to work in all media was to flip the standard model by eliminating in-house creative departments.

Jason's loyal to sweaters

AD RANTS - The cats at HUb asked us to check out the new introductory video on their website. (You can't miss it.) The goal was to give potential clients a warm fuzzy feeling that would invite them to dig deeper. From what we can tell, it looks like some dudes talking about Jason and his thing for sweaters. It took us awhile to work out who Jason was, because we couldn't take our eyes off that porcelain monkey in a state of shock.

Digital ad toys must prove their worth

BIZ JOURNALS - San Francisco's ad agencies will continue to bare their digital soul in 2008.