Ben Ruggiero

When life hands you Skittles, make Summerade. This program reversed category share declines by creating an ownable new ritual that drove summer relevance and sales with Gen Z. Tapping into the Tiktok recipe trend, we put a nonsensical SKITTLES® spin on the classic summer lemonade stand tradition. Inspiring shoppers to mix their own SKITTLES® drinks, the campaign reversed brand share declines, resulting in unit share growth of 1.1 points, a 22.6% increase YOY. Additionally, this omni-channel program achieved incremental brand unit growth of +3.1 million units during the promotional timeframe YOY.

Type: Integrated Campaign

Role: Creative Director

Awards: 2024 Silver Effie

We had a little over a week to conceive and execute a brand experience to pair with The Eric Andre Explosion Tour at The Salt Shed—and Brocc Party was born. Curaleaf brought the broccoli (aka weed) and Eric brought plenty of ranch dressing.

We plastered colorful and provocative signage all over the venue and teased the event on social media, inviting fans of comedy and cannabis to come "hit the bus" before the show. Upon the bus was a fully legal consumption lounge replete with Curaleaf cannabis brands where fans could sample the greens and leave with some sweet swag too. The Brocc Party was such a hit that Eric Andre himself gave us a shout on his IG, earning over 6MM additional eyeballs for Curaleaf.

Shifting a millennial dude’s mindset is hard. So is mike’s. But instead of trying to change their behavior, we enhanced what they already do, by giving them a steady stream of bite-sized genius to make their social occasions even more fun. After the campaign ran, guys were 94% more likely to buy mike’s.

Type: Integrated Campaign

Role: ACD / Copywriter

Awards: 2015 Webby Honoree, 3 American Advertising Awards, 2 Reggie Awards, PRO Award

I helped create and launch Cresco Labs’ first and only retail brand, Sunnyside. Our goal was simple: make cannabis shopping easy and approachable to all. Our first campaign used illustration and wit to welcome cannabis curiosity and invite newbies to Ask Us Anything. The work not only helped normalize and professionalize a budding industry, it also established Sunnyside as the market leader in Illinois.

Type: Integrated Campaign

Role: Creative Director / Brand Director

As the younger crowd continues to defect from light beer toward crafts and cocktails, we saw a chance for Miller Lite to reconnect with them over a shared passion for live music and redefine what it means to be a festival sponsor. Instead of simply buying pouring rights and stage signage, Miller Lite helped pave the way for up and coming musicians and their fans to make it to one of summer’s biggest stages.

How does one 420 in 2021? Invite everyone to join in and give them a high-five when they do. Our integrated “Way to 420” campaign reframed the most important calendar day in cannabis from a secret stoner holiday to an open invite for all walks to celebrate the plant their own way.

Type: Integrated Campaign

Role: Creative / Brand Director

This high-end bike company wanted to break away from the peloton of competitive sameness that exists within the world of bike advertising. After all, approaching things differently is exactly why Cervélo has become so successful. The idea: whether you're engineering a bike or riding one, to be brilliant takes a little bit of crazy.

Type: Brand Campaign / Print / Digital

Role: Senior Copywriter

Awards: This pitch campaign awarded us the business.

While big beer brands battle over who owns summer, Mike's Hard Lemonade carved out a space in the backyard—where the first batch was first squeezed and summer is best spent. Together with celebrity chef Graham Elliot, mike's invited consumers to Come Out Back. 

Type: Integrated Campaign

Role: ACD / Writer

Talking to dudes about dandruff is tough. We needed to find a way to appeal to male sufferers in-store, while raising awareness that this shampoo fights more than just flakes. So we partnered with NFL star Troy Polomalu, known for his warrior hair to hammer home all 7 benefits of using Head & Shoulders. Special packs included a free demo of Madden with purchase.

Type: Partnership Activation, Retail, Direct Mail

Role: Copywriter

Awards: Marcom, Hermes

The idea started like this: a select number of bottles would be misprinted "oro" (Spanish for gold) and seeded in-pack. If you found one, you instantly won a trip to Mexico. The idea evolved into Corona's first-ever consumer promotion, where every Corona purchase was another chance to getaway. 

Retailers saw a 228% sales lift when featured during the summer promotional period.

Type: Integrated Promotional Campaign

Role: Copywriter

Awards: Reggie, MarCom, Hermes

Welcome to Surf City USA. Population 500,000. To stand out amid the sea of surf fans, Pacifico not only painted the town yellow, but enhanced every aspect of the experience—from free pedicab rides, to VIP viewing deck access and a mobile app that helped you find your friends and a cold Pacifico on tap. The event helped reinforce Pacifico's standing as La Surfeza of beers.

Type: Event Activation / Digital

Role: Senior Copywriter

Awards: 2012 Hermes Award for Best Mobile App

Turns out young dudes are just as hungry for in-game content as they are for meat snacks. We offered both in this digitally-driven retail promotion for Slim Jim. The cherry on top? Letting fans choose the BF4 content we’d unlock for them, right from their devices.

Type: Digital Retail Campaign

Role: Senior Copywriter

Awards: Chicago Advertising Federation, Bronze - Digital

Challenged to create a simple gift for expectant parents within the agency, we treated the incoming kid as though it were a new client and developed a full-blown strategy to better prepare new moms and dads for their toughest assignment yet.

Type: Agency Self Promo

Role: ACD / Copywriter

Awards: American Advertising Association, Silver