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Modernista!

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"Modernista" redirects here. For Catalan art style, see Modernisme.
Modernista! LLC
Company typeIndependent
IndustryAdvertising, Marketing
Founded2000
Headquarters
Boston, Massachusetts
,
USA
Number of locations
1
Area served
World wide
Key people
Founders:
Gary Koepke
Lance Jensen
Websitehttp://www.modernista.com/

Modernista! is a creative and communications agency based in Boston, Massachusetts. The agency currently represents Showtime,[1] Product (RED), the National Park Foundation, Nickelodeon, Food Should Taste Good, Sophos, Jack Wills, Boulder Digital Works, Doc to Dock, Stop Handgun Violence, and the Art Institute of Boston. In the past, Modernista! has created marketing campaigns for clients such as General Motors, Palm, TIAA-CREF,Napster, the Gap, Anheuser-Busch, MTV, and Converse.[2]

In recent years, the agency has increasingly focused on interactive design. It has also involved itself in other types of creative projects, including music videos, magazine redesign, and alternate reality gaming. According to the founders, the agency has modified its business model and now operates less as an advertising agency than as a creative think tank.[3]

History

Modernista! was launched in January 2000 by Gary Koepke and Lance Jensen, both from marketing/advertising backgrounds.[4] In October 2000, Modernista! was appointed agency of record for General Motors’ HUMMER,[5] and in 2006 it was named the agency for GM’s Cadillac.[6] The relationship with both brands ended when GM went bankrupt in 2009.[7]

Following this, Modernista! revamped its executive team, which now includes president Matt Howell, managing director Alex Hesz, director of social media Sebastian Gard, creative director Davi Liu, and interactive creative director Xavier Teo. With this move, the agency is much more focused on digital marketing and communications than it had been, although it considers itself "medium agnostic."[8]

Activities

According to Bruce Horovitz, writing in the November 4, 2008 issue of USA Today, Modernista! is known “for linking music from often obscure artists with compelling visuals in its TV spots.”[9] In the print arena, one of the agency’s most visible projects involves the display of advertisements for the Stop Handgun Violence gun-control organization on a 252-foot-long billboard erected along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston.[10] Digital projects include web sites and microsites for HUMMER, Cadillac, Nickelodeon,[11] Boulder Digital Works,[12]Product (RED),[13] the National Park Foundation,[14] and the Art Institute of Boston.

In efforts outside traditional advertising, Modernista! has created music videos for David Bowie (“Slow Burn,” 2006) and U2 (“Window in the Skies,” 2007)[15] and has designed computer visuals for concerts by trance DJ Paul Oakenfold.[16] In 2008, the agency redesigned BusinessWeek magazine.[17] It has also done strategic planning consulting for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[18] In 2010, the agency produced an alternate reality game leading up to season five of the [[Dexter(TV series)|Dexter]] TV show.[19]

Controversies

In March 2008, Modernista! gained attention for a redesign of its own website, which now displayed only a small red navigation menu overlaid on the upper left corner of social-site pages that contain information about or from Modernista!, including Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. With each new visit to www.modernista.com,[20] one of these social sites is chosen at random to provide the agency’s “launch page.” In addition to the social sites, the agency’s blog page can appear on a random basis. In effect, outside of its blog, Modernista! refers visitors exclusively to social media to learn about the agency.[21]

At one time, this “siteless site” approach could utilize the Wikipedia entry for Modernista! as a landing page. Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales asked Modernista! to stop using its Wikipedia article in this fashion. Since then, Wikipedia has implemented technology that makes it difficult to make such use of an entry, and the Modernista! site no longer does this.[22]

References

  1. ^ “Showtime, Modernista Amp Up Dexter, Season Five," in Online Marketing Connect, August 30, 2010, http://www.onlinemarketingconnect.com/mediabistroagencyspy/2010/08/showtime-modernista-amp-up-dexter-season-five/
  2. ^ Modernista! client list, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Modernista/5609423057.
  3. ^ “Ad Agency Modernista Relies on Out-of-the-Box Thinking, in USA Today, Nov. 4, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2008-08-10-modernista-ad-agency_N.htm.
  4. ^ “Marketing Muscle and Guzzle,” in the New York Times, Oct. 24, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/automobiles/autospecial/24HUMMER.html.
  5. ^ “GM Announces Modernista! as Creative Agency for the HUMMER Brand, PR Newswire, Oct. 12, 2000, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-66008314.html.
  6. ^ “Modernista Wins the General Motors’ Cadillac Account,” in BusinessWeek, June 28, 2006, http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/archives/2006/06/modernista_wins_the_general_motors_cadillac_account.html.
  7. ^ “GM Bankruptcy: End of an Era,” in CNNMoney, June 2, 2009, http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/01/news/companies/gm_bankruptcy/.
  8. ^ "Modernista Reshapes Exec Team," in BostonHerald.com, September 27, 2010, http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view/20100927modernista_reshapes_exec_team_seeks_to_replace_key_accounts/srvc=home&position=also
  9. ^ “Ad Agency Modernista Relies on Out-of-the-Box Thinking, in USA Today, Nov. 4, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2008-08-10-modernista-ad-agency_N.htm.
  10. ^ “Stop Handgun Violence Debuts Dramatic Billboard in Massachusetts….,” Stop Handgun Violence press release, http://www.stophandgunviolence.com/press-debut.asp.
  11. ^ Nickelodeon "The Big Help," http://www.commarts.com/interactive/cai10/thisisyourland.html
  12. ^ Boulder Digital Works web site, http://bdw.colorado.edu/
  13. ^ (RED)NIGHTS concert site, http://rednights.joinred.com.
  14. ^ “This Is Your Land,” in Communication Arts 2010 Interactive Annual, http://www.commarts.com/interactive/cai10/thisisyourland.html
  15. ^ “The @U2 Interview: Gary Koepke,” Feb. 5, 2007, http://www.atu2.com/news/the-u2-interview-gary-koepke.html.
  16. ^ “Oakenfold Taps Modernista for 2008 Tour Visuals,” in Advertising Age, April 1, 2008, http://adage.com/songsforsoap/post?article_id=126089.
  17. ^ “Hey, How’d You Redesign BusinessWeek, Modernista?,” in Media Bistro, Oct. 31, 2007, https://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a9940.asp.
  18. ^ “Kindly Worship at the Modernista! Shrine,” in AdFreak, Aug. 11, 2008, http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2008/08/kindly-worship.html.
  19. ^ "Showtime (Dexter): Serial Huntress," in Creativity Online, http://creativity-online.com/work/showtime-dexter-serial-huntress/20867
  20. ^ Modernista! "siteless site," http://www.modernista.com
  21. ^ “Ad Agency Gets Web 2.0! Can It Be True?,” in AttentionMax, March 28, 2008, http://www.attentionmax.com/blog/2008/03/ad_agency_gets_web_20_can_it_be_true.php. See also “Modernista Dismantles Site, Trusts the ‘Net to Share Its Ethos,” in Marketing Vox, March 19, 2008, http://www.marketingvox.com/modernista-dismantles-site-trusts-the-net-to-share-its-ethos-037421/.
  22. ^ “Modernista!,” in Communication Arts 2009 Interactive Annual, http://www.commarts.com/interactive/cai09/Modernista.html.
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