Justin Grazioli - Creative Director

TOP CHEF

For Season 18 of Top Chef the show was coming back from a long break due to industry wide COVID production delays and our campaign wanted to remind fans of what makes the show the gold standard of cooking competitions while highlighting how the Portland location would influence the season. With a focus on diverse chefs and new challenges, our campaign message was big, bold and premium.

Campaign Collaborators: Jonah Birns, Kaci Dimas, Augusto Ferriols, April Hartstein, IconArts, Lynn Jia, Annie Rakel, Vikki Sanchez, David Seo, Whitney Shin, Slaqr, E.B. Vallone, Richard Versales, Zealot

PROMOS

We created different promos based on a variety of campaign pillars and audiences that we wanted to hit. Some promos were heavy on the stakes of the competition or the alumni judges, others on the diversity of the cuisine, some introduced the chefs individually and all highlighted Portland as the exciting backdrop to the new season.

RAW

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WELCOME TO PORTLAND

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QUOTE

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MEET THE CHEFS

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KEYART

We know the fans love and connect with the long running judges of Top Chef so we made them the feature of our keyart while finding a unique and eye-catching way to stylize Portland in the season's title.

SOCIAL & DIGITAL PIECES

Supplemental videos we released on digital and social platforms to introduce the chefs, the retuning alumni and the themes of the season. Below is a small selection.

QUICKFIRE - JUDGES & ALUMNI

The Quickfire series of videos were rapid fire questions that the cast of the season answered, edited with a bit of playfulness and personality. This video features the judges and the fan favorite alumni who returned to be guest judges.

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QUICKFIRE - CHEFTESTANTS

In adition to more straightforward "Meet the Chefs" interview pieces we made, we also used the Quickfire format to introduce the new contestants which garnered more engagement on social.

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MIXING IT UP - ALUMNI COME TO PORTLAND

To spotlight what was new in season 18, primarily the returning alumni and the Portland inspired challenges, we created this social piece exclusively from footage of the fan favorite alumni expressing excitement for their return.

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COVID & THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

With the season releasing in early 2021, it was important that Top Chef acknowledge the challenges facing the industry and just how important it was to return slowly and safely.