Monday, 15 September 2008 | Levent OZLER
Duck Brings New Character to Life for Cox Communications
 Pod.mov ( 5MB )
Coffee.mov ( 3MB )
Birth.mov ( 4MB )
DUCK announced the recent completion of an animation project for new Cox Communications television advertising featuring the company's new mascots, nicknamed "the digis." In the commercial, "the digis" are birthed in multitudes from high-tech pods in a massive hanger at an unknown region and then pile out of the hanger to greet the world. The end of the spot proclaims, "Get ready, your world is about to get a little bit better." The teaser announcement comes courtesy of the creative minds at Doner, Cox's advertising agency of record, who selected Lane & Jan (Lane Nakamura and Jan Chen) of Los Angeles-based creative studio, DUCK. The inaugural effort, POD is the first of a four spot advertising campaign which launched May 19th.
The new characters introduced by Cox and Doner represent the brand promise of being a "friend in the digital age." These characters help demonstrate how customers can get more out of what they're passionate about through Cox's Digital Cable, High Speed Internet and Digital Telephone service. DUCK's Lane & Jan were involved in bringing these new characters to life, and the job involved unusual circumstances for the designers. "Typically, an agency approaches us after they have decided on a design and it then becomes our job to animate them," remarked Nakamura. "This time around, Doner came to us with an initial concept idea of what they wanted the character to look like and from there Jan and I had the chance to play with that idea and help influence the final design of this really great character." The spots were later modeled and animated by Lane & Jan using Autodesk Maya and then Adobe AfterEffects and Apple's Shake.
"Lane and Jan, as always, produced incredible work!" commented DUCK's EP Mark Medernach. "Not only are they involved in the creation of an outstanding series of spots for Cox, but they have also helped to introduce the world to these sleek new characters. The umbrae of the space pods really contrast the slick white, futuristic outfits of the characters. The whole aesthetic of the spot conveys this sense that Cox is ultra-modern and forward-thinking. The whole thing is very sci-fi, but at the same time, we're trying to tell the story that Cox brings future technologies to consumers today."
The campaign itself is significant for Cox who is the leading bundler of video and broadband telecommunications in its markets. Cox was the first company to begin offering a competitive choice for telephone service, along with high-speed Internet and digital cable to consumers. Whereas initial marketing challenges were to educate customers on why they needed services like broadband, high definition service, On DEMAND and many others bundle elements, today's consumers are more savvy and Cox is endeavoring to demonstrate how consumers can get the most out of their services. Cox distinguishes itself from its competition by providing reliable services supported by highly-capable and friendly customer service.
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