I’ve assembled some of the highpoints of my career as a creative director, copywriter and content strategist for your review. It’s all original work that was personal to me, from original briefing through to final delivery. I am available to assist your teams as a creative director, copywriter and strategist.
Regards,
Daniel Zeff
With well over a decade of experience on the Dove, I have overseen numerous successful campaigns.
On this project, I oversaw the creative and production and was lead creative, including identifying the key insight that every child wants to change at least one thing about themselves.
The big idea, 'Change One Thing' , truly resonated with audiences and successfully inspired millions of kids and their parents as well as being widely shared and featured in both Time and The Huffington Post.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter
I helped the David Cornfield Melanoma Fund inspire young people to make a melanoma self-check part of their regular routine. But how do you make young people think about the risks they’re taking with their skin, years before a problem might occur?
‘Dear 16-Year-Old Me’ featured melanoma survivors sharing their stories, specifically the lessons they learnt the hard way, with their younger self.
Despite zero paid-for media support, the film passed 1 million YouTube views in its first week and eventually became the 7th most shared ad in the world for 2011. The original upload has been watched more than 7 million times on YouTube by people in 215 countries. And that’s not including the subtitled versions that have been created, or the unsolicited re-postings elsewhere.
The campaign was featured on the NBC Today Show.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter
A simple search term that kept reappearing on Google inspired Dove to challenge my team;
Where do my hair extensions come from?
Who sells their har?
After some careful research, we were able to find the origin of the hair used in a competitors advertising. This is that true story.
The creative idea is simple, powerful and authentic.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter
When Sanofi Genzyme needed to expose the ‘wait and see’ approach to MS, my team identified a new influencer in the MS community, the ‘Fearless Interferers’: Those close to people living with MS who ask the difficult questions and persuade their loved ones to Demand More from their futures. This new audience enabled us to build a strong campaign in an uncluttered space. The campaign has led to overwhelming success, with people spending over 4 minutes on the Demand More YouTube channel, inspiring countless patients to reach out to Sanofi Genzyme’s therapies.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter
How do you make claims about a body wash that consumers can’t even pronounce?
How do you inspire Japanese women to elevate their perception of a brand worthy of poetry?
Simple, ask them perform a writing task in the streets of Tokyo and capture the results.
Authentic and poetic, no copywriter could have said it better…
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
Lifebuoy asked me to help them fulfil their social mission "to ensure that every child reaches the age of 5". Our task was to partner with Lowe and showcase parents' reactions to Lifebuoy's "Gondappa" film.
"Gondappa" dramatically illustrated the appalling fact that 5 million children die from infections each year - many of which can be prevented with simple hand-washing.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
To increase share of the competitive whitening deo category in Thailand, Dove Deodorant asked us to create a campaign that would shake up the market. After some research we discovered that Thai women tend to pluck their underarms which leaves skin with a dimpled effect they call ‘chicken skin’. Despite its popularity, this compelling issue was completely unaddressed.
Our 'chicken skin' story invited Thai women to say goodbye to their chicken skin with a challenge to use Dove Whitening Deo over seven days (yes, as far as we know, it's the first Dove ad to feature live poultry).
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter
Suave asked me to help them celebrate their new claim: "Fragrances preferred over Bath and Body Works". We took to the streets of Chicago with an honesty box, to find out how Suave performed in a real-life blind test.
Women loved Suave's fragrances and, when asked to pay what they thought the product was worth, were amazed at how many bottles of Suave their dollars bought.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter
The Dove Body Wash Team invited me to help elevate their 7-day test for a key market: Mexico. My team, which included a Mexican-born Film Director, identified a simple insight: Mexican audiences love game mechanics, with even national service picked via lottery. So why not apply a similar idea in choosing the body parts for testing new Dove Body Wash? We filmed on location in Mexico City with our final content delivered as TVC and Digital content.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
Dove Body Wash was looking to create a demo video that showcased their sensorial superiority (rich, creamy product and thick, rich lather). But for Dove, that isn’t exactly new news. We needed to create a demo that was fun and engaging, without the support of a new product claim or innovation. To do this we looked at tying the demo to a real moment in time, something unexpected - like Chinese New Year. We created a surprising and entertaining film with a twist. It highlights just how thick and creamy the lather of Dove Body Wash is and also celebrates the year of the monkey.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter
To prevent the brand’s delisting by a major retailer, I successfully originated and deployed a focussed creative strategy targeting head on the growing trend for facial hair. With ‘United We Shave’, a big simple idea aimed at the heartland, we managed to find a new voice for the brand. Within weeks of deployment, the retailer decided to reverse their decision and even promoted the brand.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
Dove Invisible Dry Deodorant were after market share in the Netherlands, especially from competitor products that competed with its 'no white marks' claim.
We needed to prove that Dove Deodorant performs better, not just on black and white clothes, but on any one of 100 colours. And on the most delicate items in your wardrobe.
So we asked women to choose a free piece of designer-wear. There was only one catch - you have to spray it all over with Dove before you can take it home. Real Women discovered that Dove is completely invisible on any colour. And we found out just how far women will go for free stuff.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
Dove "Friends" is based in a global truth - that Real Women everywhere can see the beauty in others, but not in themselves.
I partnered with friends at Ogilvy to produce this simple but beautiful idea across the globe. We filmed versions for 20 countries including the UK, Europe, USA, Japan, Brazil, India, China and many others across Europe and South East Asia.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
I’ve learned the real secret to discovering your perfect match is seeing the world the same way they do. That's why, in collaboration with Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrists, I created an innovative tool called eMPI (Evidently Multiphasic Profile Index). eMPI's unique, patented toolset enables you to enter your consumer's world, revealing the mindsets and motivations that drive their everyday decisions. The process effortlessly combines your existing data with eMPI's empirically verified clinical library. Its step by step process then decodes behaviours into clinical mindsets; uncovering hidden unmet needs and creating powerful new insights.
I know there's nothing worse than a plan that requires a team of strategists to understand it, that's why eMPI's approach is remarkably simple to implement, and best of all it makes sense too. Your eMPI Mindset Report concisely encapsulates the findings into clear and practical guidance.
The channels need to be right for the strategy, not the other way around. So we start with an expertise in digital strategy and use the right tools for the job, without playing favourites. We have in-house expertise in creative, design and digital filmmaking, alongside an ability to execute using the latest technologies. From a Facebook video post to a TikTok Story, a classified ad to a special build 96 sheet - every piece of content I create tells a story.
Claiming to be the Author of Authenticity assumes that authenticity isn’t simply just a result of capturing what’s real. Let me explain how I decode authorship and why the process for devising your narrative delivers consistent, authentic results that resonate with your audience.
Unilever’s Global Media Team asked us to help inspire their print obsessed Hair Category colleagues to embrace digital advertising. So we decided to speak to them in their native tongue, by way of a beautifully printed hardcover book.
We curated a collection of inspirational essays that drew upon the combined knowledge of the top digital agencies on Unilever’s roster and distributed the results to the Hair Category team. The book is now in it's second edition, with an updated design and set of essays.
My Role: Art Director, Contributing Editor
NEST is the workplace pension scheme set up by government.
They asked Evidently to help explain the complex financial realities of pension planning simply and approachably.
We told the story through an animated bird working hard to build its financial nest. Our feathered friend helped us create an entertaining piece of content which consumers could easily understand.
My Role: Strategy, Art Director, Copywriter, Director
Battersea Power Station is a beloved feature of the London skyline, yet it's remained derelict for decades with no clear vision for its future. Such a high profile development posed unique challanges as we embarked on a journey to inspire stakeholders; government, local community and prospective tenants, to support this unique development. My approach placed the masterplan architect, Rafael Viñoly at its centre, using his personal touch to help guide our audience. His unique passion and vision, accompanied by his brilliant sketches, helped simplify a complex story. The series of content we created has entertained audiences large and small. Today our relationship continues with Battersea Power Station, helping to tell the story of London's largest and perhaps proudest example of Urban Regeneration.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
UKTI stands for UK Trade & Investment. It is a government department tasked with bringing new trade and investment from companies into the UK and encouraging foreign multinationals to set up businesses here. Our challenge was to tell a story that rose above these claims and statistics and set the UK apart from other destinations.
More people choose to invest in the UK than anywhere else in Europe. This truth needed to be told simply and effectively, so that it was comprehensible to investors around the world. The final cut also needed to be translated into Arabic, Chinese and Spanish versions.
We crafted a testimonial-style film featuring business leaders and business owners who had set up businesses in different parts of the UK. The result is a factual, credible film that showcases some of the fantastic businesses who have invested in the UK.
My Role: Strategy, Creative Director, Copywriter, Director
