General info
Group Creative Directors
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
The Leichts are creative team Wendy and Cliff Leicht. As a married team with a collective twenty-plus years of experience in the industry, they have helped a variety of brands define themselves with a broad range of creative skills and strategic thinking. The Leichts have created award-winning work for brands as diverse as Gap, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Sony, and Jet Blue. Cliff and Wendy currently reside in Los Angeles, CA, where they worked as SVP, Creative Directors at Deutsch on Target and Pizza Hut. Most recently, they've been freelancing for agencies and various brands. Oh, by the way, it’s pronounced ‘light.’
Experience
SVP Creative Director
Deutsch LA
Cliff and Wendy were responsible for running Target, Pop Secret, Kettle Brand Chips, Emerald Nuts, and Pizza Hut.
V.P., Creative Directors
Mullen
Cliff and Wendy ran the JetBlue and JetBlue Getaways accounts. While at Mullen, they also worked on Barnes & Noble's Nook eReader, and they've pitched and won a piece of Google. That was fun.
Associate Creative Directors
As Associate Creative Directors at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Cliff and Wendy found themselves in the unique position of being able to both create work, as well as help guide other teams in the creation of integrated campaigns.
Prior to Crispin, the Leichts worked at agencies including BBDO, McKinney, Modernista, Arnold, and Leo Burnett, where they’ve created work recognized at various national and international awards shows including Cannes International Advertising Festival, Communication Arts Ad Annual, The Kelly Awards, D&AD, Clio Awards, Archive Magazine, Graphis, The Obies, The Effies, The Addy’s, and more.
Prior to Crispin, the Leichts worked at agencies including BBDO, McKinney, Modernista, Arnold, and Leo Burnett, where they’ve created work recognized at various national and international awards shows including Cannes International Advertising Festival, Communication Arts Ad Annual, The Kelly Awards, D&AD, Clio Awards, Archive Magazine, Graphis, The Obies, The Effies, The Addy’s, and more.
Honors
Clio Awards
Cannes International Advertising Awards
Communication Arts Advertising Annuals
The Kelly Awards
D&AD
Archive Magazine
Graphis
The Obies
The Effies
The Addies
The One Show
Education
Miami Ad School
Bachelor of Science, Journalism & Psychology
University of Florida
Associate of Arts
Miami Dade College
Recent Press
Kraft picked up a Bronze Clio for the Ted Williams - Fight Hunger campaign
Karma is an amazing thing. Ted Williams Fight Hunger won a Titanium Lion at the
2012 Cannes International Advertising Festival. Thanks, Ted.
2012 Cannes International Advertising Festival. Thanks, Ted.
New York Times coverage of our live online game show...
The first-ever live online game show hosted by Mark Hammerberg.
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese has won a 2012 Bronze Clio for its work for the Ted Williams Fight Hunger Campaign.
Adweek honors Kraft Mac & Cheese as Brand Genius 2011
Adweek has honored Kraft Macaroni & Cheese with the title of Brand Genius 2011!
The Kraft Macaroni & Cheese work was recognized with 4 merits in the Out of Home, Innovation, and Integrated categories.
America’s favorite comfort food comforts freezing fans. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese has warmed us on our coldest days for over 80 years. So why not take it to one of the coldest, most iconic places in America, Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, to let the warm, cheesy goodness work its magic there? A heated Big Noodle was delivered so that hardcore fans could warm themselves when the temperature falls below freezing.
There are 140 million tweets a day on Twitter. And, amazingly, some are synchronized tweets from people expressing love for mac & cheese. So Kraft Macaroni & Cheese invented a new Twitter game - Mac & Jinx - based on the traditional kids' game of jinxing. When two people are found tweeting love for mac & cheese in unison, both of them are sent a message pointing out their shared cravings. The first one to call "Jinx" by clicking the link and giving their address wins free Mac & Cheese and Mac & Jinx swag.
Kraft won a 2011 Obie Award. Hoorah!
On Monday, Crispin Porter + Bogusky began holding quick-fire Kraft Macaroni & Cheese contests, in which anyone who tweeted about Mac & Cheese had a chance at getting his or her tweet turned into a commercial. So far, they've made three spots—one of which (below) aired on TBS's Conan and Lopez Tonight last night, with two others (after the jump) getting posted to the brand's Facebook page. It looks like more Twitter-inspired spots are on the way, with the brand reaching out to people as we speak (and promising a national spot, so the TBS tie-in might be a daily thing for the time being). The brand is really into Twitter lately, having also made the cool Mac & Jinx game. And these new ads are pretty good (if rather non sequitur) for being whipped up in just a few hours. They've got decent humor, and the world's most famous homeless man is still voicing the slogan. Plus, this kind of quick content goes perfectly with the brand. Don't most people only make Mac & Cheese when they're lazy and want something fast?
Are your tweets cheesy enough for TV?
Got something genius to say about Mac & Cheese? Kraft and Crispin Porter + Bogusky are sifting through your cheesy comments on Twitter to find source material for a spot that will air on The Conan O'Brien Show and Lopez tonight on TBS, according to Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Senior Brand Manager Noelle O'Mara.
Kraft and Crispin will be choosing five tweets and throughout the day the spots will be shot by Bob Industries' Bob Odenkirk on multiple sets in L.A. O'Mara says one of those will be chosen to air on TBS tonight, while the rest will be featured on the Kraft Mac & Cheese Facebook page. Tune in there or on the brand's Twitter feed to see the contenders.
Got something genius to say about Mac & Cheese? Kraft and Crispin Porter + Bogusky are sifting through your cheesy comments on Twitter to find source material for a spot that will air on The Conan O'Brien Show and Lopez tonight on TBS, according to Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Senior Brand Manager Noelle O'Mara.
Kraft and Crispin will be choosing five tweets and throughout the day the spots will be shot by Bob Industries' Bob Odenkirk on multiple sets in L.A. O'Mara says one of those will be chosen to air on TBS tonight, while the rest will be featured on the Kraft Mac & Cheese Facebook page. Tune in there or on the brand's Twitter feed to see the contenders.
How bout some cheese with that tweet?
Apparently quite a few people on Twitter are talking about mac and cheese, so much so that the favored dish has become a trending topic. (Why might be the question.) But Kraft Foods, ever the opportunist, has seized on the conversation to push its Macaroni & Cheese brand by getting fans to play an ole fashioned game of jinx.
The promotion works like this, according to a statement to Ad Age by the food giant: "When two people Tweet about mac & cheese, we send both of them a link calling their Mac & Jinx and provide a link. The first one to call "Jinx" by clicking the link and giving us their address wins free product from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. The package arrives to the winner's home within 7-10 days, and when they open it they're in for another treat: an official Mac & Jinx T-shirt."
The promotion, by Mac & Cheese agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky, is apparently working, as "Mac & Cheese" was a trending topic by the end of the day. The effort comes as Kraft continues to position the brand for adults, not just kids, with the "You Know You Love It" campaign.
Apparently quite a few people on Twitter are talking about mac and cheese, so much so that the favored dish has become a trending topic. (Why might be the question.) But Kraft Foods, ever the opportunist, has seized on the conversation to push its Macaroni & Cheese brand by getting fans to play an ole fashioned game of jinx.
The promotion works like this, according to a statement to Ad Age by the food giant: "When two people Tweet about mac & cheese, we send both of them a link calling their Mac & Jinx and provide a link. The first one to call "Jinx" by clicking the link and giving us their address wins free product from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. The package arrives to the winner's home within 7-10 days, and when they open it they're in for another treat: an official Mac & Jinx T-shirt."
The promotion, by Mac & Cheese agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky, is apparently working, as "Mac & Cheese" was a trending topic by the end of the day. The effort comes as Kraft continues to position the brand for adults, not just kids, with the "You Know You Love It" campaign.
Kraft Foods is resurrecting a childhood game and adding a modern social media element — Twitter — to get people talking about macaroni and cheese.
Under a new program quietly rolled out over the past few weeks, any time two people individually use the phrase “mac & cheese” in a tweet, they’ll each get a link pointing out the “Mac & Jinx.” The first one to click the link and give Kraft his or her address gets five free boxes of Kraft’s mac and cheese and a T-shirt.
Under a new program quietly rolled out over the past few weeks, any time two people individually use the phrase “mac & cheese” in a tweet, they’ll each get a link pointing out the “Mac & Jinx.” The first one to click the link and give Kraft his or her address gets five free boxes of Kraft’s mac and cheese and a T-shirt.
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese gives Ted Williams, the man with the golden voice, a second chance. Williams signs on to be the official voice of KMC's TV commercials.
Footage of the recording session appeared on YouTube and quickly went viral.
Crispin cooks up another edible idea.
'Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which has been known to come up with product ideas, not just advertising for its clients—remember BK Chicken Fries?—has debuted its latest idea in edibles, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese for the Grill. The agency pitched the dad-targeted idea to Kraft and it's now being sold in test markets, in time to hit the BBQs firing up for this week's Labor Day festivities.'
'Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which has been known to come up with product ideas, not just advertising for its clients—remember BK Chicken Fries?—has debuted its latest idea in edibles, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese for the Grill. The agency pitched the dad-targeted idea to Kraft and it's now being sold in test markets, in time to hit the BBQs firing up for this week's Labor Day festivities.'
BrandFreak ran a story about the grillable Mac & Cheese product we pitched and Kraft subsequently made. Have a look...
Here's a bit of recent press from our latest Kraft Macaroni & Cheese campaign.
Click on the header above, if you've got the time. If not, here's an excerpt:
'With their new campaign called, You know you love it, K M&C has immediately done something that only very few companies have been able to do successfully—Nike, Apple & McDonalds being the major examples—they've gone with just a symbol as a logo. No words, no name, no nothing. Just a symbol. But they've even one-upped these aforementioned brand pioneers as their new symbol isn't merely an ordinary designed symbol, it's actually their product...'
Click on the header above, if you've got the time. If not, here's an excerpt:
'With their new campaign called, You know you love it, K M&C has immediately done something that only very few companies have been able to do successfully—Nike, Apple & McDonalds being the major examples—they've gone with just a symbol as a logo. No words, no name, no nothing. Just a symbol. But they've even one-upped these aforementioned brand pioneers as their new symbol isn't merely an ordinary designed symbol, it's actually their product...'
Gap won a Kelly at this year's show for Best Insert. Click the link above to check it out, if you like.
Please note:
This is a personal blog and statements here are my personal beliefs and opinions and are not reflective of my place of employment.