Some say I peaked early.
I say, maybe…
I was 10 years old when I created my first ever ad campaign. I was running for Student Body President at Donlon Elementary School. I was the client, and the senior creative. My mom was the creative director, but keep that on the low.
The campaign idea was spurred by two simple insights: 1) I wanted to shake things up. And 2) people called me Boom. Thus the slogan was born:
"Give Donlon The Boom."
(Over 25 years later, and I still wonder. Should it have been "the" or "a"? I digress...)
The campaign executions consisted of one poster and one speech. The poster showed an image of a 10 year-old-me, holding a baseball bat, ready to swing for the fences. Headed right for me was a baseball — one that looked a lot like a bomb. You could do that kind of stuff back then.
The headline above read: "GIVE DONLON THE BOOM." I still have the poster somewhere. I should dig it up.
Then finally, The Speech.
Mind you, I had never used a microphone before. So when I walked up to that mic stand juiced to give a speech I had practiced a hundred times, I all but yelled into the mic. The sudden spike in volume gripped the attention of every person in that gymnasium. You could say I gave Donlon “the Boom” right out of the gate. Either way, I was teed up to make my case.
I knew what my opposing candidates were going to say. They made big promises they couldn't keep. Like a second recess, better food, more days off. So I said the opposite.
I made comedically easy promises I knew I could keep. Like guaranteeing recess will never be canceled. Promising every weekend will continue to stay off. And never doing away with PE class. Ever.
Other candidates asked students to vote for them. I asked students to vote for PE. Because even back then, I knew the students didn’t really care if I was president or not. Maybe a little. But first and foremost, they cared about what directly effected them.
They wanted to know how they were going to benefit from supporting one candidate verses another.
The logic is the same for telling brand and product stories.
But back to me.
In the end, my overly loud speech and one impactful poster with an image that probably didn't age well, was persuasive enough to elect me President of the Student Body.
Some say that was my peak.
In any case, I took my first swing at knocking an ad campaign out of the park*.
Oh, and I should probably mention something else about me besides a 5th grade passion project.
Like as an ad writer and creative leader, I’ve worked at a number of independent and network advertising agencies, and also one of the biggest in-house creative teams in San Francisco.
I’ve done lots of creative work for some of the biggest brands in the world including NFL, Alaska Airlines, Pepsi, Muscle Milk, Georgia Pacific, Playstation, Jeep, and now Salesforce.
I’ve been honored to work on multiple campaigns that have been awarded at almost every advertising award show there is including Cannes, One Show, D&AD, Effies, FWA, and many more.
Other lesser known facts about me:
I love fishing for catfish.
Love playing and watching soccer and chess.
And I love learning about the human brain.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by.
*Puns intended. Puns always intended.
