An agency’s self-promotion campaign is put up or shut up time. The principal challenge to launching the Molotov Flask campaign for PALIO was finding a way to reference the agency’s storied past of defiance but make it clear that a change was underway. In other words, to put up the proof of change vs. just talk about the change. The goal being to communicate a change that was relevant to all: employees (current and future) and clients (current and future). A change embodied in the new agency mission of igniting brands in bold and beautifully disruptive ways. It’s a change that isn’t about navel gazing. It’s about torching the tried and the true. It’s about being brave enough to do what’s needed and not just what’s expected.

And if that wasn’t enough, the campaign was also serving as the world’s introduction to the agency’s new branding: refined name, new logo, and new colors.

Part of PALIO was born in California back in 1999 focusing exclusively on digital. The other part of PALIO was born in Saratoga Springs as a traditional agency of record shop at the same time. With both parts defying the norm in terms of focus and location. Today those parts and that defiance have forged the guiding strategy for the new campaign. PALIO is, was, and always will be a challenger brand at heart. The Molotov Flask was strategically chosen as an icon to represent how one goes about effectively changing established thinking and behavior in today’s world. The simple visual twist of using a glass Erlenmeyer flask instead of a conventional bottle reinforces the health and wellness focus of PALIO and makes it an instantly own-able icon for the agency.

With no allocated budget, the creative team was tasked with shooting and producing the image with as close to zero costs as possible. The image was shot in a studio in Saratoga with real fire in true defiant nature. This campaign will continue to be unveiled in more digital, print, and video mediums as the year goes on.

The campaign has successfully seeded the fact that this is a new PALIO. This is one agency.
And this is an agency poised to continue to grow and do great things. An agency that isn’t afraid to be beautifully disruptive.

Metrics from the website:
The new ad launched in April 2015.
Compared to the same timeframe last year (April 1 – May 31, 2014), this year:
• Unique users increased by 32% while sessions on the site increased by 20%. Page views jumped by 81% and bounce rated dropped by 85%. This shows new users to the site as well as significant more time spent on the site and viewing content.
When compared to previous quarter (Jan 30 – March 31, 2015), quarter 2 reflects:
• Bounce rate dropped by 82% and page views and pages per session both increased by 34%. Illustrating more engaged users during the April 1 – May 31 timeframe.