As VP Management Supervisor at Hal Riney & Partners in San Francisco, I was lucky enough to enjoy a stint on the Saturn account. The newly launched car from General Motors boasted the tagline, “A Different Kind of Company. A Different Kind of Car” which capitalized the fact that the company was out to change much maligned practices in the car industry. The car wasn’t all that different from its import rivals, but the company was breaking the mold in the US. It was a unique moment in time when people shared a common belief that things could be better; not just the client and the agency, but customers as well. How else could we have pulled off “Homecoming,” a commercial in which hundreds of Saturn owners converged for a reunion weekend at the plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee to celebrate their shared love of company and car?

The campaign was amazing, but so was the chance to work directly with Hal and see the impact an agency can have on a company. The agency was involved so early in the development of the idea that it contributed to the logo, car colors, car design, dealerships and other aspects of the company that went far beyond “advertising” to create an indelible brand.