Houston-based full-service ad agency FKM edged out the competition on AMC’s new original series “The Pitch” to win a national marketing contract with Clockwork Home Services. The episode, which chronicled an intense agency battle to create the winning pitch and launch Clockwork’s three most prominent home services brands nationally, is the first in the series to produce a full-scale advertising and marketing campaign.
A television ad - one of four produced in the effort featuring Clockwork’s Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Mister Sparky and One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning brands - debuted on AMC following the episode and gave viewers a glimpse of the end result of a successful pitch.
“Our home services brands have remarkable stories to tell individually, and by going through this process, we’ve found new ways to tell them cohesively,” saidScott Boose, president of Clockwork Home Services. “Partnering with FKM to bring the initial concepts to life over the past few months has been exciting.”
FKM’s winning theme, titled “+Help,” expands Clockwork’s current focus on its on-time and service money-back guarantees, establishing a complementary platform for the brand’s marketing, advertising and promotion.
“FKM did a great job creating a campaign that communicates what our brands are all about - helping the customer in their time of need,” saidRebecca Cassel, Clockwork’s group president of consumer services. “The ‘+Help’ campaign is a fresh, new concept that will work seamlessly across all three of our brands, providing us with a national approach unlike anything we have ever done before.”
The concept was developed in a Utility Forum, FKM’s branded process in which three separate idea teams examine brand challenges from distinct perspectives - how to be innovative in the consumer’s life, how the brand and consumers can interact in better ways, and how the brand and its customers can have more meaningful transactions. With the insight that most home service calls are reactionary, made in a time of stress surrounding an issue in the home, teams produced and pitched three campaign ideas that demonstrate how Clockwork brands can help consumers get back to normal quickly.
“Showcasing a point of intersection between the three brands in one ad campaign was a big challenge. Our Utility Forums produced a number of great ideas to help the brands move beyond the ‘grudge purchase,’ but ultimately, ‘+Help’ is the best,” saidScott Brown, FKM’s chief creative officer. “The platform markets all brands equally and gives consumers a fun and smart reason to call.”
The end result has produced an integrated television, digital and print campaign that officially launched across the country May 15.
“This is a meaningful win for FKM, especially given the transformation we’ve experienced in the past year, restructuring the agency in the months leading up to the taping of our episode,” saidJose Lozano, FKM’s CEO. “But in business, the real work begins after the pitch. We’ll celebrate in a big way when the ‘+Help’ campaign starts making the phone ring for Benjamin Franklin, Mister Sparky and One Hour.”
