By Priscilla Castro

Four weeks ago, I was lucky enough to enter through the doors of Deutsch LA, and entered a very orange world of advertising that had enough energy and spirit to match its sunny and bright Los Angeles surroundings.

I toured Deutsch LA thanks to a kind invitation to the Cal-State Long Beach University Marketing Association. I’m always a little nervous when I tour ad agencies. I always try to think of what essential things to ask, and how I should network with people, and always feel intimidated by those that I meet along the way. But here at Deutsch, I felt a different vibe that made me feel I was welcomed with open arms. I mean, what other place has ever let me write a blog for them?

I was dressed in my best casual business clothes, hoping to make a good impression with my most professional demeanor. But although Deutsch is definitely a business-forward setting, I learned that here you don’t have to dress like you’re in an episode of Mad Men. It made me feel kind of silly being business casual when everyone else is rocking their favorite sneakers with jeans.

You don’t have do feel that you have to be stuck in your cubicle to get your work done. The environment here is very interconnected. I saw that reflected the company’s take on diversity, and how Deutsch embraces different ideas, cultures, and backgrounds, especially with its wonderful employees we were lucky enough to meet.

It seems that part of the reason that Deutsch has created so many brilliant advertisements is the integration of different ideas and thinking outside from your usual line of thought, which Deutsch does so well.

It is no question to me why Ad Age has noted Deutsch as one of the “Best Places To Work.” The company is a character in itself, and while it goes out to give brands like Volkswagen, Dr Pepper, and Taco Bell their own a voice in pop culture with entertaining and attention-grabbing adverts, they still manage to put in their own fun and distinctive flavor.

The culture that has been embraced here, along with the work ethic, is something that makes a recent college grad like me drool at the thought of just stepping inside. And the Deutsch dogs that sit all snuggled up in their humans’ cubicles are definitely added brownie points for best place to work. I think they should plan an annual Deutsch Dog Show, because I know if I worked here, my dogs would have some stiff competition for “Best In Show.”

The Coachella Music Festival can pull in some of best music acts in the business, but it’s also a festival—and that brings with it all of the standing, the sunstroke and, well, the outdoors.

Deutsch LA’s Julie Matheny, along with freelance art director Ivan Cash and freelance technologist Scott Blew, created a way to bring the joy of discovering new music to you, on your couch, away from the heat and hipsters with the Couchella Music Festival.

The curated online music festival, featuring only original content, showcased the best of what the internet had to offer, from the humblest of stages: the couch. The idea was born as part of a promotion for the Art Director’s Club Portfolio Night 11 LA. The team was put into a room for 24 hours and asked to concept something that would be worthy of their books.

“YouTube is great, but it’s so big that it’s hard to find real, original music, way harder than a few years ago,” Julie says. “We wanted to create something that celebrated the good stuff, and find a way to elevate it so that it stood out from the rest.“

You can relive this magical music festival at http://www.couchellafestival.com/ and check out the playlist.

Read more about the Target Dollhouse.

Read more about the Target Dollhouse and see the time-lapsed video of it coming to life.

Click on the image above to view a slideshow of the Dollhouse.

Once upon a time, there was a dollhouse. It was beautiful and inspired everyone who peeked inside its windows. Then, one bright morning, it opened its doors and invited everyone inside…

Grand Central Station is a busy place. Every day, more than 750,000 people (all in a New York rush) hurriedly pass through its hallowed halls.

Now, they have a reason to stop.

This week, Target and our Deutsch LA team have added a touch of magic to Grand Central and its chandelier-decked Vanderbilt Hall. The majestic space, which began its life as a waiting room for first class passengers, is now home to a life-size dollhouse that this week is promoting Target’s Threshold home décor line.

The team and their contractors built the two-story, 1,600-square foot installation in just 54 hours and designed it to showcase roughly 3,500 products –everything from sheets, to throw pillows, picture frames to lamps.

The house is packed with interactive features that draw visitors to the installation and connect them with Target’s “design for all” ethos. These include: a photo station where guests can capture and share their dollhouse experience through social media; a makeover artist in the bathroom; and digital photo frames that will feature photos taken by guests.

As Daniel Chu, our executive VP-experiential creative director explained to Adage: “Target is about the balance of the thrill of expecting more, and the reality of paying less.” With the dollhouse installation, we think Target has exceeded these expectations. We hope everyone in New York had a chance to drop by, but here in LA, we’ll be watching, longingly, from afar.

See the Target Dollhouse come to life in this time-lapsed video and read about the Twitter reactions from spectators.

Who says online ads aren’t engaging? Two weeks ago Volkswagen took advantage of their one-day homepage takeover on Yahoo.com to give users a chance to play a classic 8-bit game—but with a Volkswagen twist.

Hybrid Hunter is a Jetta Hybrid driving game based on a well-known classic arcade game, Spy Hunter. Users could use their arrow keys to play, acquiring points by passing other hybrids on the road. The game even featured “eco-mode” and “turbo-mode” for the vehicle, letting the user to turn other vehicles into flowers for points, and to give the Jetta turbo speed.

The goal of the project was to create something engaging while telling the story of the Jetta Hybrid. The game is based in part on “Passing Lane,” an ad that shows how Jetta is the only hybrid you actually want to drive. “The new news is that the Jetta Hybrid has a turbo engine, so we tried to show it off as both fast and eco-friendly,” says Scott Clark, Associate Creative Director on the project.

While final engagement metrics are still being tallied, we know that the Yahoo placement garnered over 170 million impressions for the banner, giving the Jetta Hybrid the ultimate high score.

Here’s a video of the game in action:

Our internal product development team, the Inventionists, gives you this week’s latest innovations in brand experiments, start-ups, trends and apps.

Brands Experimenting in New Spaces

• Fab.com wants to compete with Amazon by producing its own products­—products you couldn’t find anywhere else. To accomplish that, they’re turning to the crowd to help them get the initiative off the ground.
• Infiniti wants to be your personal concierge even if you have no interest in buying an Infiniti vehicle. The #2 luxury car manufacturer has been operating a live call center for all of their owners, standing at the ready to do almost anything. They have just announced that anyone can sign up for a 60-day trial of the service. Luxury is as luxury does.

Startups We’re Watching

• CentUp is hoping to be the tip-jar for the 21st century. With a simple click, you can donate pennies to your favorite content creators and the charities they support.
• Shapeways is hoping to do for 3D printing what eBay does for ecommerce, and they’ve just announced $30 million in funding to do just that. You can already browse over 3 million products on their platform and they ship over 60,000 orders worldwide each month.

Apps We’re Using

• Wello gives you access to live personal training sessions through your webcam. It’s beach season, people.
• Tagg is Nike Fuelband for your pet. Track his or her location and activity, all through the web or your smartphone.

Bonus Round!

• Why gamification is dead, but game dynamics are immortal (we smell a cheat code).
• Why you should test your apps on drunk people (we approve).
• A primer on the quantified self movement (not related to Scientology).
• Someone’s always trying to kill the QWERTY keyboard (it’s not gonna happen).

When Deutsch LA decided on a shoot date for the Volkswagen Super Bowl teaser, Sunny Side , they had little warning that it would be one of the coldest days in more than two decades in Los Angeles. Sunny Side? Yeah, right.

With temperatures below freezing, the team arrived at Ventura Farms at 6:45 am on January 14th. Despite high winds and a bitter cold attempting to bring down everyone’s spirits, there was a universal idea beaming from every person on set, “Get Happy!”

Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff lived up to his role in the video by making everyone happy, chanting and cheering from the dark of the morning into the following day’s shoot at every opportunity. Internet celebrities made famous by their hilariously disastrous viral breakdowns emerged from the surrounding foliage to join in on the cheer of an angry day turned happy.

But how did this strange mix of events come to pass? Super Bowl commercials are the fruition of months of planning and preparation, right?

Not this time.

The idea came about so quickly that Deutschers managed to cram 6 months worth of work into a 4 week period, which included more than a week of holiday break.

At 3 AM the night before they were set to present to VW, associate creative directors Mark Peters and Brian Friedrich threw around an idea. The idea was to complement the VW Super Bowl commercial with an extension of the “Get Happy” message. The project would include Jimmy Cliff singing the Partridge Family’s “Get Happy” to a bunch of disgruntled Internet celebs.  With the Super Bowl less than two months away, the task might have seemed impossible to a better-rested team.

Over their holiday break, Deutsch team members scoured the Internet and compiled hundreds of famous YouTube freak-outs. Of these hundreds of videos, they narrowed it down to 200, and then to 20 worth pursuing.

It was decided that only the authentic Internet characters would be used, no look-alikes would be cast. So working in coordination with an outside vendor, Deutsch then tracked down the individuals starting with just the uploader’s YouTube username. In a few days of negotiations after making contact, Deutsch had its Super Bowl co-stars ready to go.

After two cold mornings filming at Ventura Farms in Los Angeles, Deutsch LA took to the editing room to put together the finished product.

Even though the making of the project sometimes felt like the snowstorm that could have manifested itself on January 14, ultimately the “Sunny Side” project mirrored the axiom from which it was born.

Two NY Deutschers have helped that heart stay beating for a long time: Julia Karlson-Waid, who celebrates ten years this April, and Richard Bryan, an impressive twenty-five!

We wanted to share a little about them and what makes them true Deutschers.

Julia, VP, Director of Client Accounting

Q.  What do you wish people knew about what you do? 

Let’s say lap-dancing bills. A lot of money passes through the agency and most of it isn’t ours. I think I have the same amount of responsibility and stress as all the other Deutsch groups: how to walk the tightrope between properly stewarding the client’ funds and protecting the agency.  My wish: I wish people knew what I say aloud when the client kicks back lap-dancing costs. (Just kidding! This has never happened at Deutsch).

Q.  Does your family know what you do? How do they explain that to their friends?

My family all knows what I do in theory, but they are bemused by it. My mother was an accountant so they assume it’s something similar, but it startles them that I ended up in this discipline. I don’t know why this should be, as I was always good in math, and do a creditable impression of a spinster schoolteacher, so I don’t see the cognitive dissonance.

If they speak of it to their friends, they point to Donny and state, somewhat inaccurately but irrefutably, that I work for him, thereby lending my work-a-day life some borrowed glamour.

Q.  If I opened your refrigerator, name three things that I would find?

Oh, my. I’ve just lost 45 pounds so mostly you’ll find grapefruit. It’s a little boring in there right now. Always on hand are bottles of ginger beer, four Dark & Stormy’s, and limes for margaritas. One has priorities, you know.

Q. Congrats on the weight loss…we feel you on the priorities! They say life is about simple pleasures. Describe one of your simple pleasures and how it makes you feel?

The Argentine Tango. I’m neither proficient nor experienced, but the time spent focusing on pairing the physical coordination with the mental acuity to learn and execute the phrases is time when the green eyeshade comes off and the tight skirt with the ruffle down the butt comes on, and it’s all mine.

 Q. What was your very first job?

Oh, boy. The first post-graduation job that I was offered, but turned down, was as a Bunny in the newly re-opened Playboy Club in 1975. I ended up taking a job as a bookkeeper for a mobbed-up guy who owned a jillion parking lots throughout Manhattan and Queens. Scared me silly and I left after six months.

Q.  What makes someone a Deutscher? Passion, slightly off center, smart and compassionate.

Q.  Out of all the dogs that visit the agency, which one is your favorite and why?  The large one. Not sure of the name.

That large one, Richard…would be Boom Boom. Let’s see if Greg DiNoto will give you an autographed pic!

Thanks for letting us get to know you both a bit better. Your passion and humor shines through. But of course: you are Deutschers!

Congratulations to you both for the celebration of dedicated service and longevity.

Do you remember your first kiss? It was probably as awkward as it was memorable. That’s the feeling we tried to convey in our new Taco Bell commercial, “First Kiss.”

The spot shows how Taco Bell’s Live Mas tagline works in small, believable ways, with people taking leaps they wouldn’t normally take. A teenage couple on their first date in front of a Taco Bell is reminiscent of a John Hughes’ movie — equal parts awkward and sweet. The song, “All Eyes on You” by St. Lucia, has an 80s synth vibe that gives the ad even more of a Hughes feel.

“For us, the ad captures one of those moments where you first felt really alive, where you borrow your parent’s car, hang out with your friends in a Taco Bell parking lot, and (possibly) steal your first kiss,” says Senior Copywriter Melissa Langston-Wood.

Director Zach Math, who also shot our other recent spots for Taco Bell, “Hola” and “The Most Obvious Idea in the World,” worked to create actual tension between the boy and the girl.

“He wouldn’t let them talk to each other until the actual shooting began,” says Senior Art Director Sara Oakley. “Then he ripped a 100-dollar bill in half, and said afterward they could tape it together if they went out on a date.” And in answer to your question, we’re not sure if they did or not!

Here’s to those small moments — and Cool Ranch Dorito Taco breath for your next kiss

Check out it out as AdWeek’s ad of the day.