Calvin Lai

Product Campaign / Film / Digital / Social / Experiential / Print
Agency: Monks
Role: CD

Shure has long been a legendary name for musicians, performers, and creators—but in the conferencing world, its reputation is still emerging. This product launch was the perfect moment to change that. “The Bar That Removes Barriers” shows how Shure’s IntelliMix Bar Pro eliminates obstacles and redefines how teams collaborate.

Faced with an accelerated review timeline, we overcame a few obstacles of our own, using AI-driven workflows to streamline post-production, from generating scratch VO and rapid scene prototypes to creating placeholder imagery.

Brand Campaign / Film / Photography
Agency: Monks
Role: CD

To help modernize the classic “Rolaids Spells Relief” campaign, our team created a new throughline: Fairplains USA. This fictional town embodies the brand’s core traits through its people and places – from the Fairplains Freebirds minor league baseball team to the hardest working kitchen in the country: Fairplains Diner. Our little TVC attained a spot in P&G’s Top Quadrant for Brand Awareness and Brand Recall.

Always-On Social
Agency: Monks
Role: CD

I stepped in to lead Amazon Music’s Rotation Instagram during a key transition, overseeing a fast-moving, always-on content engine. Small challenge: we had no budget. So I partnered up with a talented team of creators and community managers to get scrappy. Together we developed scalable franchise ideas, ran rapid concepting sessions, and delivered culturally tapped-in work that kept the feed fresh and reactive. Safe to say my own hip-hop and R&B rotation has never been heavier.

Brand Campaign / Film / Digital / Social
Agency: Monks
Role: CD

AutoCamp isn’t camping or glamping. Fact is, there are no real words to accurately describe their unique blend of nature, luxury and community. So we invented them. AutoPedia is both a new language and a campaign platform—built to differentiate AutoCamp’s unique offering and boost summer bookings.

Visual Identity / Brand Integrated Campaign / Film / Experiential
Agency: Monks
Role: ACD

It’s not often you get to celebrate a 100th birthday. So when Shure hit the century mark, our team unwrapped a new visual identity, produced a series of videos that invited three audience segments into the celebration, and then brought the festivities over to NAMM – the world’s largest gathering of music product brands. Instead of telling a 100 year-long story about Shure, we made it a story about the performers, studio musicians, creators, sound engineers and anyone who has ever picked up a Shure mic.

Product Campaign Launches / Film / Photography / Digital / Social
Agency: Monks
Role: ACD

For decades, Shure microphones have put their superior products at the center of all their campaign efforts. But knowing our audience, we insisted that the performers be front and center. We used multiple product launches as our platform to shine a spotlight on up-and-coming artists. Without further ado, please meet Jungle Bobby and Featurette.

Brand Identity
Agency: Monks
Role: ACD

When Autodesk set out to reimagine its brand under the “Make Anything” platform, the ambition was clear: create an identity as expansive and adaptable as the world it helps design and make. In response, we crafted a story-led, modular system and tone of voice built for flexibility—stretching across industries, products, and audiences. Delivered as conceptual work for Autodesk’s internal brand team, the project helped inform and inspire the next phase of the brand’s evolution.

Campaign Launch / Film / Digital / Social / CRM
Agency: Monks
Role: ACD

The Philips Hue Sync Box offers an immersive experience for anyone, especially gamers. So we created this idea for a global product campaign: Game changing sync. When your LED lights and favorite video games are in sync, it feels like everything else is in sync, too. The results: 58 million impressions and a 415% return on ad spend.

B2B / Partnership marketing / Campaign / Video / Digital
Agency: Monks
Role: ACD

French marketers are constantly overwhelmed with information. Our “Bringing data to life” campaign showed how HubSpot’s integration with Google Ads helps them get the most out of the right data. The work helped Google and HubSpot surpass their campaign goals: 1.5 times more impressions and over 3 times more clicks.

Digital / UX-UI / Content Strategy
Agency: GALE Partners
Role: Creative Lead

At #133 on the Fortune 500 list, Arrow is perhaps the biggest company you never heard of. Our agency was asked to redesign its Enterprise Computing Solutions site so that it could speak directly to the resellers, vendors and service providers that make up the IT ecosystem. I led the team that developed the 50+ page website, resulting in a 2.5X increase in web content engagement post-launch.

Customer Journey / CRM
Agency: GALE Partners
Role: ACD

My partner and I led a 10-person team of designers, writers, motion artists, production artists and developers to create BMW USA’s first-ever CRM journey for prospects and owners. By putting the drivers at the center of the experience, we helped grow the brand from the #3 best-selling luxury automaker to #1 within two years.

Product Launch / Custom Art / Direct Mail / Partnerships
Agency: GALE Partners
Role: ACD

Known as a performance-first brand, BMW had to convince prospective buyers that the All-New 7 Series flagship sedan also embodies luxury. Our solution: a heightened sensory experience. Layer by layer, we ignited all the senses. The visual language was so impactful that BMW’s global CEO requested the project’s original artwork to be framed for his private office. And the 7th Sense didn’t just look good. It helped drive sales: 1,895 purchases in the first two months.

Campaign Launch / Branded Content / Social / Video
Agency: Fathom Communications
Role: Creative Lead

“True North” is all about putting aside the stereotypes about Canada in favor of stories that capture the country’s true essence. We partnered with Great Big Story to deliver content that reveals Canada’s true values. The campaign generated well over 1 million views in just the first two weeks. By the following year, 14.3 million U.S. tourists visited Canada, the highest figure in 12 years.

Campaign Launch / Digital Content / Video / Collateral
Agency: Fathom Communications
Role: Creative Lead

All Business is more than an advertising idea. It’s a 24 hour test drive where business owners get to put the Ram ProMaster to work. My agency partnered with Escape Velocity Content to produce a mini-documentary series that followed four business owners for an entire work day. The campaign garnered rave reviews with the leadership team at Fiat Chrysler and triggered a nationwide dealership program.

Campaign Launch / Social / Film
Agency: Fathom Communications
Role: Copywriter

Hunterventions is Hunter’s modern spin on a makeover. We swapped big-budget overhauls for attainable design moves where the right fan doesn’t just cool a room, it completes it. We partnered with interior designer Andrea Toney to create bite-sized transformations, turning each episode into a mini-masterclass in thoughtful design. The campaign more than doubled Hunter’s historical social engagement measures.

Campaign Launch / Radio / Retail / Sponsorships
Agency: Ogilvy New York
Role: Copywriter

Love it or hate it, mLife worked. A curious campaign that introduced a better, smarter mobile life. Our team transformed a landline telecom giant into a relevant voice in the mobile space, boosting brand recognition by over 50% and surpassing our clients' customer acquisition goals by 9% in the first year. My favorite part of coming to work during this era was writing and recording dozens of radio spots – letting the theater of the mind stretch the audience’s imagination.

Campaign Launch / Advocacy / Print
Agency: Bozell New York
Role: Copywriter

The Family Violence Prevention Fund asked our agency to help them direct domestic violence victims to life-saving resources. After learning that the majority of victims suffer quietly, we broke the silence with the “Hidden Scars” campaign, a poster series that made some noise in offices across the country.