LEE WALKER

Insight: Children's free time has dropped by 25% since 1981, and experts agree that parents are unintentionally limiting their children's development by treating childhood as a time for early resume building, instead of a time for creative freedom.

Toys"R"Us says no more. This multi-channel brand repositioning campaign was designed to fight for kids' right to free play. In "The Great Speech," 10-year-old Gracie rallies the neighborhood kids to stand up for their right to be wacky or silly, to do nothing and everything all at once. 

The campaign launched in September 2017 with TV, online video, social content and an online experience, continuing in Spring 2018 in store signage, print, email and social media.

Insight: When it comes to parenting, there's no such thing as "ready" because despite the best intentions, things never go according to plan. This campaign was designed to position Babies"R"Us as a parent's best friend throughout that messy and wonderful journey of preparing for life with a new baby. And to show that prepared or not, it's all going to be just fine.

Campaign appears in social, online video, digital and print advertising, and in store signage. 

Insight: For parents, there's nothing more important than giving your child an experience full of joy. This Toys"R"Us Awwwesome campaign delivered high emotion with TV and online video capturing the spirit of making Christmas wishes come true. A military mom surprises her son and husband with a Christmas Eve visit in "RC Car" - giving them exactly what they wished for. Two kids decorate a lonely neighbor's tree and receive a surprise themselves in "Tree."

The campaigns also served up 20+ spots delivering promotions in the "Shelf Talkers" series, where consumers learned what toys talk about when humans aren't around. 

Catalog and digital featured dioramas of toys (and sometimes kids) celebrating Christmas traditions, with behind the scenes time-lapse video and animated gifs in social media. 

Insight: When it comes to Christmas, kids will do anything to stay on the Nice List. An-y-thing. And parents will do anything to make sure their kids receive the gifts they want most. This campaign for Toys"R"Us was designed to celebrate the crafty ways kids go about getting what they want, and seamlessly integrates promotions into the brand DNA.

TV/online video, radio, digital, social, print with augmented reality experiences, store signage, gift wrap & bags, and team member tee shirts. 

The Victory Campaign was designed to strengthen "Big Brands, Small Prices" position for Mervyn's, pairing key merchandise categories with practical insights about saving money. 

The campaign appeared in TV, outdoor and print, with a co-op advertising plan to intensify major markets. "Waiter's Salary" and "Somebody Brands at Nobody Prices" were developed specifically for the LA market; the final three images shown were a 4-page magazine insertion.

Insight: Parents admit they actually enjoy shopping for all the little items that fill up their child's Easter basket, and toys are definitely part of their consideration. 

This campaign was built to shift more of those purchases to toys with the reminder that "Toys Last Longer than Candy," and leaned heavily on digital content as well as print, TV and online video.

In April 2017, Animal Adventure Park's April the Giraffe made headlines as fans across the nation awaited the birth of her baby. The Toys”R”Us team, inspired by our very own Geoffrey the Giraffe, jumped on the opportunity to sponsor the live stream, adding it to the eCommerce site as well. 

Seconds after the baby giraffe was born, the logo on the park's feed was switched from Toys”R”Us to Babies“R”Us, and the Toys"R"Us live feed moved to the Babies“R”Us site. It was amplified with April-themed video and social media posts on Facebook and Twitter, with product suggestions for April like giraffe toys and a stroller with telescoping handles.

Overall the zoo’s feed was the second most live-viewed channel in YouTube’s history. Fortune and Time magazines tweeted that "April the Giraffe is helping Toys'R'Us break the internet." The day April gave birth, the Giraffe Cam saw 14m live views and at 6:55 am, the Cam had 1.2m simultaneous viewers, ranking as one of the top five most-watched moments for a live event ever on YouTube. 

Toys“R”Us secured an ABC News global exclusive with two live shots on Good Morning America and coverage on World News Tonight. Fox News and CNN also covered the sponsorship.

The original Toys"R"Us flagship store in Times Square was the number one tourist destination in NYC for families, and also drew a loyal local base as well as a significant number of repeat international customers. This unique environment required constant innovation to keep the brand experience fresh, to create moments that kids and adults, too, would never forget.

My role was creative oversight of Visual Merchandising, and the amazing team who conceived and produced these experiences.

To mark the beginning of a new cultural era, a new corporate identity was developed with Geoffrey the Giraffe at its heart, and applied to corporate collateral as well as common areas of the Toys"R"Us global headquarters. The vision, mission, brand purpose and guiding principles were interpreted in contemporary materials throughout the building to inspire pride among team members. The furniture was a big hit, too - especially the oversized rolling ottomans living alongside a video wall streaming branded content.

Toys "R"Us regained its status as the city's #1 stop for fun when it opened a pop up shop in August 2017 at Broadway and 42nd Street. The visual identity was inspired by Massimo Vignelli's iconic subway system graphics, and was conceived, licensed through the MTA and installed within 30 days. Bold graphics connect the subway stop outside to the store entrance, continuing in key strike points throughout the store. Key attraction is Play Lab, an interactive experience with rotating product demos, fun activities and toys unboxed for kids to play with. 

Campaign creative vision and direction of studio photography for digital and print. 

Campaign creative vision and direction of studio photography for digital and print. 

Creative vision and storytelling for seasonal campaigns, and direction of location photography for digital, social, print and video. 

I'm amazed nearly every day at the way light (or its insufficiency) turns something ordinary into a moment of breathtaking beauty. And I'm forever grateful to my phone for making it possible to capture them.

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