Kendal Steffen (Coker)

ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: KENDAL STEFFEN          

WRITERS: CLARE DAVIS, TJ VINING     

CDS: KRISTI FLANGO, SARAH WEIGL, DALE AUSTIN, BRANDON CURL, RYAN WARNER, DINA YOUNG

GCDS: RYAN CARROLL & SCOTT BREWER

march madness 2022 - 2024

March Madness is what Capital One calls its Super Bowl. Spike Lee directs four to six TV spots every year, and the cast is always full of familiar faces like Samuel L. Jackson, Charles Barkley, Jennifer Garner, Jim Nantz and more. The effort every year requires the entire GSD&M Capital One team — it’s all hands on deck. During the majority of my time on the team, I was the sole creative lead for Capital One social at GSD&M. My main role was to concept and lead the creation of social work that supported the TV concepts and supported on-site efforts for both the Men’s and Women’s Final Fours. Each year, there’s hundreds of deliverables. Here’s a small sample of the best.

“On The Road Again” Singalong TikTok Duet

In 2023, we launched Capital One’s first ever TikTok campaign, before they even had an organic TikTok account. We partnered with Jennifer Garner (who posted the original video) and Willie Nelson to bring to life an extended version of the TV spot — sold in by Kristi Flango and Sarah Weigl — that featured a basketball parody of “On The Road Again.” And, we let fans join in by making it a singalong duet-able video. It got over161M views on TikTok.

2023 Clios Awards Willie Singalong Bronze

2023 Shorty Awards Willie Singalong Finalist

March Magic Lamp Bracket Readings

In 2022, the team launched a spot featuring Magic Johnson as a genie in a bottle granting March Madness wishes. We extended the concept with an Instagram Story series that let fans get their own “bracket reading” by picking a number and tapping.

Chuck Blimp

In 2024, Brandon Curl and Dale Austin sold in a spot that featured a Charles Barkley-shaped Blimp, and they actually made a real-life Chuck Blimp that traveled across the U.S. during the tournament. I helped concept and create content that followed the Blimp across the country on Instagram, and we even made a TikTok filter that allowed users to “Blimp” themselves. We partnered with creators to generate hype and awareness, and shot BTS content on set.

Magic Mart vs. Chuck Stop Dueling Ads

What started as two broadcast spots sold in by Kristi Flango and Sarah Weigl — Chuck Stop (2023) and Magic Mart (2024) — grew into a full social extension: TikTok infomercials with Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson hamming it up for merch giveaways. Spike Lee directed the campaign. For the social content, he passed talent direction to me. No pressure.