Prince, Absolut, and Alan Watts: The Work That Made Jill Applebaum
Jill Applebaum has worked on brands big and small, from packaged goods to luxury goods.
Her work has been honoured at Cannes, Facebook Studio, D&AD, London International Awards, AICP, Clio, Art Directors Club and others, and has been featured in publications such as The Harvard Business Review, Contagious Magazine, NY Times, WSJ, Fast Co, Campaign, LBB, and more.
She currently serves as chief creative officer at Public Inc., a North American social impact marketing agency that helps companies profit with purpose.
Jill spoke with LBB to discuss why her work with Oreo, Period.org and Meals on Wheels America sticks out as some of her proudest projects.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Jill> Anything by The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Jill> I had a bunch of Absolut ads hanging in my dorm room. Ironically, about a decade later, I ended up working for the brilliant Graham Turner who was one of the campaign’s originators.
The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Jill> I bought the whole Alan Watts audio collection. It’s a million hours long and I microdose it (which would probably make him proud). He does strange and beautiful things to my brain.
My first professional project…
Jill> It was for an Always maxi pad (with wings!). It was terrible. I can’t remember the headline, but my grandparents had it framed and hung it in their den.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*...
Jill> Any piece of content with snoring in it gets under my skin in a way I can’t explain. Makes me want to throw my device out the window.
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Jill> ‘The Gentleman’s Wager’ (Anomaly for Johnnie Walker). It’s pure branded entertainment. I thought the pay off was brilliant. And then there’s Jude Law. I am also excited by all of the recent episodic content on TikTok. I think branded entertainment is about to have a big moment.
The creative project that changed my career…
Jill> Oreo ‘Daily Twist’ got the most attention. We created 100 pieces of content in 100 days in celebration of the brand’s 100th birthday. It was made before every brand had a ‘news room’, and the hardest part was working with Mondelez to get the right group of people together every morning to green light a concept by 11am.
The work that I’m proudest of…
Jill> Don’t make me choose one of my babies! From our work at Public Inc. with PERIOD.org, to my past work on Oreo, I’ve been very lucky. I couldn’t possibly pick just one!
I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Jill> I made a lot of bad product demos in the ‘90s for people who didn’t know what happens when liquid hits an Always maxi pad or a Huggie’s diaper.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Jill> We work with Meals on Wheels America, and while we were shooting our main fundraising work, we carved out a little corner for an hour and also grabbed a holiday piece called ‘Silent Night’. It’s super scrappy and simple, but it makes me mushy. And the fact that it helped the organisation raise millions of dollars for a wonderful cause is a pretty sweet bonus!
