Big financial companies were all feeling the same. Big and boring. And they just felt so corporate. For a company like the Principal, playing in that world was just getting them lost in the sameness. Plus, being in Des Moines, they were a little different, a lot friendlier, and damn proud of it. So we pitched an audacious idea: a totally animated campaign with a shlubby, ordinary character as the hero. We called him Eddie. He represented the little guy, the regular dude, the everyman who used The Principal to solve his financial challenges. Oh and to make the campaign even harder to buy, we proposed hand-drawing their logo. And we put it upside down in the hero concept. 

The client told us that our idea scared the hell out of them. So they hired us. 

We created so many versions of Eddie using the logo in new and surprising ways. And each helped expand people's understanding of what The Principal could do for them. We found we could tell any story and promote any product with a little Eddie ingenuity. 

The mark of a good branding effort is that it goes beyond advertising and gets everyone involved. The Principal completely embraced and owned Eddie and the campaign. From day one, they were all in.  

Eddie gave the brand an approachable, distinctive personality. But all's good in good times. When the economy started to weaken, we had to find a way to connect with a confused world. So we created the Parachute spot. It was the first step toward what would eventually be a bigger approach.