A Noteworthy Commercial
It all started on Monday, January 22, when Regan, VP of Brand Marketing & Media Strategy for Maximum Effort, a film production company and digital marketing agency, reached out to us on Instagram about a potential project. Intrigued and curious about the opportunity, our co-owner Amy had a phone call with Regan that very same day to learn more and agreed to shoot a commercial for Noteworthy, which (unbelievably!) would be featured during the Super Bowl and via streaming TV services across the U.S.
Our team was a bit in disbelief at hearing the news, and also a little confused as to why they picked us. What was this for? How much is this going to cost? Who are these people?
Maximum Effort is a film production company and digital marketing agency founded by actor Ryan Reynolds (yes, that Ryan Reynolds) and George Dewey. Within this company are several “projects,” including MNTN, Inc. MNTN is an advertising platform that focuses on using performative TV advertising software for brands to optimize television ads via streaming networks toward their targeted audience and marketing goals. In other words, they use advanced software to help small businesses afford television advertising and guarantee their ads will be shown to the right people–maximizing their investment and results.
So, why Noteworthy? Did you know Missoula, Montana, ranks as one of the top small cities in the nation that depends on small businesses? With that fact in hand, MNTN sought out a small business in our community for their test project, and out of all the many fantastic businesses in town, MNTN selected us to run a case study using their platform.
Their plan was to run side-by-side ad campaigns: one in the Missoula market during the SUPER BOWL and the other on streaming networks using their performance TV software and see which performs better. The ultimate goal being to show the MNTN Performance TV software will out-perform a TV ad on the most watched day of the year, and MNTN could make a case study ad for their company using Noteworthy as their test piece. And the best part–they were going to do it all at their expense. All we had to do was say YES!
The next day, Amy met virtually with an Austin- and LA-based creative team from Maximum Effort and MNTN to get a walkthrough and confirm details for the shoot. By Wednesday, the team confirmed a two-person film crew would be flying into Missoula that afternoon to film the very next day!
Thursday arrived, which meant it was filming day! Montana Video Production Rental was hired to assist with equipment and lighting, the crew had arrived from Los Angeles, and the press room had never looked cleaner.
Filming took most of the day, starting at 10:30 a.m. with our press operator Dani expertly mixing inks, cutting paper, and printing our Greetings from Montana Postcard on our Original Heidelberg presses for the cameras. Dani was a pro! The film crew also captured our wholesale product designer Adrienne’s creation process, took drone shots of Noteworthy’s owners Amy and Taylor in front of the store, and filmed several of our other Noteworthy brand products and equipment throughout the shop. The day wrapped up at 7:30 p.m. with high-fives all around.
Oh, and it was that afternoon when Regan called to confirm Missoula-born actor and director David Lynch (any Twin Peaks fans out there?) would be doing the voice-over for the commercial! (Whaaaat!? Could this get any crazier?)
By Sunday, Amy and Taylor received the first preview of the commercial and were able to make a few small edit suggestions. Overall they were really happy with what the crew had created, especially in such a short period of time! By Monday, exactly one week since this whole project began, we had our very first television commercial, and by Thursday it was airing on streaming platforms!
We still can’t really wrap our heads around how this all came to be, but we are immensely grateful for the opportunity! So, all this to say, if you’re in Missoula and watching the Super Bowl on our local CBS network you just might see our ad during the third quarter! And if you're not in our local market, you very well may spot it on any of the numerous streaming networks over the next few weeks. If you see it, let us know! We're excited to hear what you think!
Can’t wait to watch? You can watch it right here!