John Heller – DIRECTOR • PRODUCER • CAMERAMAN
CLIO Award winning infomercial and commercial campaign. John Heller directed and photographed for McCann Erickson. The 1-800-Flowers Holiday Flower campaign ran for three consecutive holiday seasons. Most television campaigns have a productive marketing life of four months.
Jim McCann of 1800Flowers and McCann Erikson chose John Heller to direct and produce their thirty minute infomercial and thirty second florist commercial. The campaign won a CLIO Awards for Mr. Heller and the agency. The approach Mr. Heller took for the 1800Flowers commercial was inspired by the creative team at the agency. The idea is to take a new product: the Holiday Flower Tree and show how good it looks in any environment, especially in places it would not normally be seen. The commercials were shot on film using numerous New York City locations. The commercial has a misleadingly simple look. The fact is the logistics of the production and images were complex to stage. A New York City pier location had to be secured. A hot dog cart, motorcycle, and RV were added for context and color, and an office, home and 1800Flowers retail flower shop are also locations seen in the commercial. The shoot had at least a dozen extras performing. And though the schedule was tight it all got done within two very organized shooting days. The results speak for themselves, the spot ran for three holiday seasons, almost unheard of on Madison Ave. Usually spots run for six months maximum. The Holiday Flower tree reach the company’s projected sales volume every year for three years. The CLIO Award added a layer to the success of this spot in driving new business to 1800Flowers retail sales. iCreative Networks partners are proud to have been part of the The Holiday Flower Tree advertising campaign. It was one of the most successful individual product launches in the history of 1-800-Flowers. The 1-800-Flowers brand had already been well established by McCann Erickson when the holiday flower tree tactical campaign was first launched. The 1-800-Flowers Holiday Flower campaign ran for three consecutive holiday seasons. Sales objective were reached in each of the three seasons the campaign ran. This type of direct response tactical advertising is what will works best for companies whose goals are to sell product. An added bonus for 1-800-Flowers founder Jim McCann was the campaign winning the prestigious CLIO award.