“Spotlight,” the first new TV ad of 2012, will debut during NBA and NCAA basketball programming on March 26.  “Spotlight” opens under the stars on an iconic Corona Beach, where the indie band Everest emerges from the dark to welcome an intimate party of three before launching into their hit single “Let Go.”  The spot then cuts to a crowded club where the three friends toast one another and closes with the band playing a private moonlit performance on the picturesque Corona beach.

“Taxi,” a spot scheduled to debut this summer, opens with a cab rolling down a Corona Beach setting at sunset, curiously trailed by a rain cloud.  As the passenger opens the taxi door, the ad cuts to a rain soaked cityscape, he then dodges raindrops across the street and into a bar where a group of his friends await to hear the results of an important meeting.  Upon hearing the good news, they toast his success and return to the beachside bar.

“The Corona ‘Find Your Beach’ campaign is resonating with our fans while simultaneously connecting us with new customers,” said Jim Sabia, chief marketing officer, Crown Imports.  “As our lives get busier, we realize the importance of taking a step back and relaxing to keep us feeling positive and upbeat.  Finding these moments—or ‘beaches,’ as we call them—wherever you are is what Corona Extra is all about.”

Corona’s movement off the beach began in 2010 with the groundbreaking TV spot entitled, “Moments.”  This spot marked the first step toward expanding consumers’ beach state of mind by inviting them to experience the brand in new settings and challenging them to “Find Your Beach.”  In 2011, Corona continued the off-the-beach shift with three new ads “Flight,” “Commuters,” and “Snow/Sand.”  Each spot helped remind consumers that Corona is appropriate for every occasion and that “the beach” is also a state of mind

“The magic of the latest “Find Your Beach” creative rests in keeping the familiarity of the brand fresh.  The Corona beach has evolved into an iconic mental playground that allows us to introduce unexpected elements,” said Marshall Ross, executive vice president/chief creative officer, Cramer-Krasselt.  “Whether it’s a band, a taxi or a flight attendant’s cart—or bringing the beach itself to unexpected places—we’re able to bring newness and surprise to the story.”

Corona Extra’s 2012 out-of-home advertising depicts beaches where they typically don’t belong—in a city bar, on an urban rooftop or by a backyard pool—all shot by UK-based photographer Andy Glass. Four separate executions designed to broaden brand perceptions and expand drinking occasions will begin appearing in May on taxi toppers, bus shelters and other outdoor displays in ten top markets such as New York City, Chicago, LA, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Two additional TV spots, “Commuters” and “Snow Sand” are live.

“Commuters” features a group of friends breaking away from the busy after-work rush at a streetside bar, enjoying each others company during happy hour.

“Snow Sand” follows a snowboarder descending a sand-covered mountain, stopping at the bottom to reveal a picturesque mountain-side ski lodge and a friend waiting with a Corona.

The first of two new TV spots via long-time agency Cramer-Krasselt/Chicago debuted June 2 during the NBA Playoffs.  “Flight” follows the story of a couple relaxing on a beach as a flight attendant passes between them with a bar cart. As the passengers awake from a daydream, they’re sitting across the aisle from one another, having found their beach on an airplane.

Another spot slated to run this fall, “Snow Sand” will feature a snowboarder descending a sand dune, stopping to relax at a pair of beach chairs where her male companion awaits. Viewers slowly realize she is actually on a snowy mountain-side, soaking in the scenery and enjoying a Corona after a long day of snowboarding.

The “Find Your Beach” mantra will also carry over into out-of-home advertising, a refreshed Facebook page and mobile app, launching this fall, that will rewards users for interacting with the brand by finding their own beach. For more details on the complete campaign visit http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/raw/?p=6599.

“The magic of Porsche is how thoroughly the cars transform your everyday, routine driving,” said David Pryor, vice president of marketing, Porsche Cars North America. “It’s not only about the weekend joyride. It’s the only car in the world that combines true sports car exhilaration and the drivability for daily use. This campaign brings this fact to life, painting a bigger picture of the real Porsche value proposition, in some cases through the words and images of owners themselves.”

Spanning TV, print, online, mobile, direct mail and a cinema promotion, the campaign drives home the engineering genius that allows these coveted sports cars to be everyday drivers.

“When most people think of Porsche, they think ‘magic’—and the cars certainly are,” said Marshall Ross, chief creative officer, Cramer-Krasselt. ”What is markedly different about this campaign is we’re not selling the dream-car mystique of Porsche — that’s already a given. The creative challenge here was to tell the truth of the drivability of the car and still make it feel as special as it really is.”

Debuting in selected markets tonight during the NCAA Tournament, the TV spot features vignettes of Porsche sports car owners in a number of seemingly everyday scenes: a parent picking up kids at school, a man running a home-improvement-store errand and a mom clearing away snow from the windshield each with titles re-characterizing the car as “school bus,” “pickup truck” and “snowmobile.” In another vignette, as a man fires up the engine after a long day at the office, we see how the car’s incredible, mood-shifting virtues—as his “getaway car”—complement the everyday ones. The closing voiceover says: “Engineered for Magic. Everyday.”

At the hub of the integrated campaign is a consumer-generated website— PorscheEveryday.com —where owners can share their own everyday stories. With a combination of professionally produced videos and images along with owner-submitted content, the site builds a mosaic showcasing the many ways a Porsche is engineered for everyday magic. For this effort, Porsche has once again reached out to its passionate and active loyalists and enthusiasts to participate and contribute to the story. Last month, to start things off, Porsche sent 200 Flip video cameras to select owners asking them to contribute videos. The brand has also invited input from all its owners, the Porsche Club of America, dealers and their customers, and the million-plus Facebook fans for everyday stories, photos and videos.

In partnership with the Reelz channel, Porsche will also invite amateur film-makers to submit films that demonstrate “daily magic.” Ten filmmakers will be selected to experience daily magic in a Porsche and then make a film about the experience. The winning submission will be shown in cinemas across the country—a first for Porsche—and on the Reelz channel.

Spice Islands is also partnering with beloved foodie bloggers like Martha Stewart fave Matt Armendariz, of the MattBites blog, to share unique perspectives on food and explore cooking and baking with the highest quality extracts and spices. He also issued a reader recipe challenge using Spice Islands All Natural No Corn Syrup Added Pure Vanilla Extract:  Jamie Miller from Napa, Calif. took top honors for her Vanilla Butter Poached Halibut recipe. There will be more recipe challenges and celebrity blogger partnerships to come.

Comprised of TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, online and outdoor advertising as well as local events and the wrap of the Metro Light Rail Train, the community campaign positions SRP as the leading expert and trusted steward of this valuable natural resource in the Valley for more than 100 years.

SRP employees were invited to participate in the campaign by taking photos of themselves holding a “Together We Conserve” poster and sending their photo and a brief story of how they conserve water to SRP’s special campaign website, www.togetherweconserve.com. The community is invited to join the campaign and send in their photos and stories  leading up to the centennial next March.

Each year, C-K commissions artists from around the world to bring their unique vision to the event’s promotional posters. The caliber of talent is widespread: from international artists such as Catalina Estrada, James Jean and Red Nose Studio and others who have worked on brands such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Target, Microsoft, Nike and American Airlines and publications such as O, The Oprah Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Time, to local students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Each artist brings a distinct perspective and enviable talent to the continuing theme of “Make an Impact. Have an Impact.” It’s a fascinating study into these artists’ styles and chosen media.

These donated illustrations are auctioned off at the event to raise money for Penfield and have gained industry recognition from Communications Arts and The One Show. (Travis Lampe’s “Robot” won a 2006 One Show Award and most recently, Chris Buzelli’s “Tiger” was featured in the prestigious Communication Arts 2010 Illustration Annual.)

For more information on Penfield Children’s Center, please visit http://www.penfieldchildren.org/. And look for the Penfield posters featured in coming weeks in Communication Arts and Creativity-Online.com.

The ads showcase hockey rookies who, when straying from their routine, are confronted by Ovechkin’s disembodied head, telling them to get back to the ice. In the first spot, called Locker, a student between classes finds Ovechkin glaring from the top shelf of his locker, scheming that with more practice and the new CCM skates “the championship will soon be ours!”

Television will air this fall on sports cable networks in the U.S. and Canada including FSN, Versus, NHL Network, TSN, RDS and CBC.

“White beaches, gentle waves, a guy and a girl relaxing seaside — these have long been symbols of the escape mindset associated with Corona,” said Jim Sabia, executive vice president of marketing, Crown Imports.  “Our new ‘Find Your Beach’ ads encourage fans to find their beach, wherever it may be — expanding that Corona state of mind beyond the ‘sun, sand and surf.’”

The debut TV spot, called “Moments,” features a montage of scenes with people relaxing with their Corona Extras, but at fresh, unexpected places — from a mountain vista to a Big Sur cliff to a New York City rooftop.  The spot closes on a couple on the iconic Corona beach, with the new tagline “Find Your Beach.”

“What we want ‘Find Your Beach’ to do is literally show that the beach is where you make it,” said Marshall Ross, executive vice president/chief creative officer, Cramer-Krasselt, Corona’s agency of record.  “We want to give literal, visual permission for people to take the Corona mindset with them.  Even to the ski slopes or the big city.  ‘Find Your Beach’ is a kind of how-to guide for the Corona way.”

Also unique to “Moments” is the soundtrack — the ad features an acoustic song called “The Secret Sun” by Grammy-winning songwriter, singer, guitarist and producer Jesse Harris.  Best known for his songwriting on Norah Jones’ album Come Away With Me, Harris’ lyrics perfectly reflect the Corona state of mind.

“Moments” will begin airing nationally on September 12 in the first week of NFL games.