The Gate crowned effectiveness ‘Agency of the Year’

The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers headquartered in Alexandria, Va., partners again with The Gate, to launch their newest campaign and to help MOAA with their mission of fighting for the benefits of military service members and their families.

The campaign is an extension of the three-year initiative called Officer to Officer. The campaign centers on the real-life challenges officers go through and offer their advice on how to address them. Officers face a different set, but still pressing issues during the pandemic.

“We thought we could extend the campaign by creating videos that centered on officers giving advice on issues that surround the coronavirus epidemic. We reached out to the officers who had previously shared their stories and asked them to offer their counsel once again,” according to Beau Fraser, President and Chief Strategic Officer of The Gate.

“Creating and producing the campaign took on new challenges in the middle of a pandemic. Remember, this was shot in mid-march during the height of fear and uncertainty. We couldn’t have a traditional shoot, so we captured the advice remotely,” added David Bernstein, Chief Creative Officer of The Gate.

The Gate worked with director Scott Zacaroli who had shot the first two pools of videos. He created a device that enabled the agency to place a smartphone camera almost directly over a Zoom call on a laptop. This two-camera setup with zoom capability, made it possible to conduct an interview with talent face-to-face and still have everything captured on the better quality cameras and sound.

“The idea was to place a smartphone camera as close as possible to the eyeline of the interviewer at the center of a Zoom screen. This was not a perfect science. Every computer shape and size, and each smartphone had some variety. The Zoom format adjusts to each computer as well, so there’s was a lot of trial and error, “explained Zacaroli.

The result was a dynamic extension of the campaign, during a time that the message could go far and make an impact., according to the agency.

The new campaign will launch nationally across multiple digital channels. The videos will live on a microsite, which functions as a video gallery and resources hub, also designed by The Gate. Shorter forms of each story will also drive visitors to the site.

The videos can be seen here.

Kathy Partain, MOAA’s Vice President of Membership and Marketing, commented: “The best advice is timely advice. We wanted to avoid the typical COVID message that merely showed support. And instead, wanted a message that our audience, other officers, could value.”

About MOAA
MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. With 350,000 members from every branch of service – including active-duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, and former officers, and their families and surviving spouses, they are a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers and their families at every stage of their careers. For more information, go to moaa.org.

About The Gate
The Gate is a full-service advertising agency known for making considered purchases worth considering. Our panel of consumer, cultural, and category experts helps us identify your “Why Axis”: why customers should choose your product or service over someone else’s. This expertise has led to successful communication programs for clients in finance, consumer goods, luxury, insurance, mining, energy, and more. The Gate manages over $250 million in client advertising and has a network of offices in New York, London, Edinburgh, Shanghai and San Francisco. For more information, visit thegateworldwide.com/ny.

About MSQ Partners
MSQ Partners is a group of creative agencies with 15 international offices. It comprises six agencies in total, spanning advertising, public relations, direct and digital marketing, design and brand strategy and B2B, and is the fastest-growing multi-disciplinary group in the UK. Clients are offered the choice of working with individual agencies or with a multi-disciplinary team designed around their specific needs. Unique to an international group of our scale and reach, our 70 most senior employees are all shareholders in the group, providing a strong incentive for effective collaboration across agencies.