SamJemielity.com

Playboy.com Site Relaunch 2011

SamJ — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:47:45 +0000

In 2010-2011 I oversaw the creative content for a relaunch of Playboy.com’s editorial site. I planned the new content strategy, determined the extent of legacy content to be carried over, developed new content franchises for the launch, and collaborated with ad sales, marketing, social media and development on the business strategy of the site.

Key Elements of the Relaunch:

New content clearly surfaced and called out

More integrated social media sharing and user comments

Dedicated video section and increased video presence sitewide

Content focused on key verticals

Better pictorial interface that delivers more ad clicks per gallery

Content built around Playmates and contributors with large social audiences

The Playboy Key Club Unlocked by Harley-Davidson

SamJ — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:06:27 +0000

In 2011-2012, I directed the digital content for a 10-month program featuring four Playmates who became brand ambassadors for Harley-Davidson. Heather Rae Young, Jaime Edmondson, Mei-Ling Lam and Jaclyn Swedberg learned to ride with Harley-Davidson and chronicled their motorcycle experiences via the microsite and social media.

Watch the Key Club Trailer:

Mortal Kombat: Jo Garcia vs. the UFC’s Brittney Palmer

SamJ — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:25:38 +0000

In Spring 2011, I oversaw the creative development, production and post-production of a sponsored video and accompanying photo gallery featuring Playboy’s video game personality Jo Garcia “battling” UFC Ring Girl (and future Playboy cover model) Brittney Palmer in a tongue-in-cheek face-off playing the newest Mortal Kombat video game.

Although age-restricted, the video has garnered more than 430K views since its launch on Youtube, on top of the traffic it acquired on Playboy’s main sites.

Sole Mates: Top 23 Air Jordans Ever

SamJ — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:20:27 +0000

With the 2011 NBA Playoffs tipping off in late May 2011, Playboy.com brought together two icons: the Playboy Playmate and the Air Jordan.

We approached preeminent sneaker collector and Nike expert Matt Halfhill of www.nicekicks.com from Austin top rank the top 23 Air Jordans ever, and paired his list with eye-popping pinup style photography of iconic Playmates by photographer Jared Ryder. We also released a pre-launch parody video featuring Francesca Frigo re-creating the memorable Spike Lee-Michael Jordan Air Jordan “Mars Blackmon” commercial.

Add in stellar design by freelancer Nigel Evan Dennis and image retouching by Dov Scher, the result was an internet sensation and a hit with sneakerheads and Playboy fans alike.

Sole Mates Mars Blackmon Parody Video featuring Francesca Frigo:

Sole Mates Launch Video:

7Crown Playmate Mixologist Campaign

SamJ — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:41:06 +0000

In June 2011, I was the creative lead on a project to promote Seagrams’ launch of their new flavored whiskeys, featuring Playmates Lauren Anderson as the spokesperson for Seagrams Dark Honey and Jaime Edmondson as the spokesperson for Seagrams Stone Cherry. We created fake “campaign ads” with each Playmate stumping for her flavor of whiskey, as well as mock mixology videos. See the other videos below.

Jaime Edmondson Stone Cherry Mixologist Ad:

Jaime Edmondson Stone Cherry Attack Ad:

Lauren Anderson Dark Honey Attack Ad:

Top College Football Programs Ever

SamJ — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:16:11 +0000

In Fall 2011, I oversaw a feature on the Top 10 College Football Programs of the Playboy Era that ran on www.playboy.com.

I teamed up with Playboy’s college football expert Gary Cole, Playmate and sports enthusiast Jaime Edmondson, photographer Jared Ryder, art director Eric Smith and image specialist Dov Scher.

The featured turned out to be one of the most talked about, shared and debated college football features of the Fall, which we promoted via Youtube with a video featuring a specially commissioned rendering of all ten schools’ fight songs.

Workout Wednesdays with Jayde Nicole

SamJ — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:28:15 +0000

In June 2011, under my creative direction, Playmate and certified personal trainer Jayde Nicole to start a text-and-video fitness blog on Playboy.com, Workout Wednesdays with Jayde Nicole. Leveraging Jayde’s fitness knowledge, existing archive of exercise videos as well as her large following on Twitter, we created a popular weekly feature on Playboy.com.

Hot Laps featuring Pilar Lastra

SamJ — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:17:51 +0000

In 2009, I teamed up with Playmate and auto enthusiast Pilar Lastra to produce Hot Laps, a car culture web series for Playboy.com. The series lasted some two dozen episodes and featured items on NFL superstar Patrick Willis, the Skip Barber car control course, the Bugatti Veyron supercar and armored vehicles.

Hot Laps: Bugatti Veyron 16.4:

Hot Laps: Chicago Auto Show:

Hot Laps: Lamborghini Superleggera and Mercedes McClaren:

Hot Laps: Porsche Boxster S:

Miss Gruber

SamJ — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:05:25 +0000

In June 2010, I was the creative lead on a project for Relativity Media to promote the Will Forte movie, MacGruber. We cast Playmate Jennifer Pershing as MacGruber’s female counterpart in a typical life-or-death situation.

Playmate Pep Talk for Bud Light Hotel

SamJ — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 20:55:16 +0000

In January 2011, I was the creative director for a program for Bud Light to promote the Bud Light Hotel at the Super Bowl. We created a custom video featuring Playmate Jaime Edmondson inspiring the troops to party with Bud Light for football’s biggest weekend.