EBEN STROUSSE

HP Lifestyle Photography

Steep production costs and exorbitant agency fees were putting pressure on HP's approach to lifestyle photography. I built HP's first in-house, live capture production team, eliminating external agency overhead. My team then sourced award-winning photographers and videographers in Buenos Aires, China and India to capture world-class imagery with low-cost market price tags.

HP Lifestyle Photography - "The 4th Wall"

We led a shift away from HP's voyeuristic lifestyle photography approach by 'breaking the 4th wall' and delivering images that created a more powerful emotional connection between the subject and the audience.

HP CGI

HP produces over 40 thousand unique product images each year, appearing in every conceivable WW marketing asset. HP leadership wanted to elevate and differentiate their products from everyday tech commodities, so my team of 30 CG Artists, Animators and Producers took an archival approach to image development, celebrating every feature, design element and nuance.

HP Audio Visual

HP's numerous WW sub-brands, partners and sponsorships demand regional nuance and a breadth of audio-visual storytelling, so we built an in-house team of 23 international Producers, Animators, Editors and Storyboard Artists to address their diverse needs.

Video - "Ferrari Partnership Launch"

Video - "Ferrari & HP Colors"

3D Product Feature Video - "Battle Tested"

3D Product Feature Video - "ENVY Keys"

3D Product Feature Video - "Magic Keyboard"

HP Social Responsibility ~ "Uganda Lullaby"

Every two minutes a child dies of malaria. And each year, more than 200 million more new cases are reported. When I learned HP's
new large format printer could help, I jumped on a plane to Uganda with a film crew to tell the story.

HP Large Format ~ "Print Over Hate"

Some hate can't be erased. We decided to cover it with love.

HP Z2 Mini Introduction ~ "Small But Powerful"

Engineers and architects are relatively few in number but design everything in the world around us. So HP designed a PC especially for them. And we celebrated the achievement with the help of one of the world's greatest architects, Daniel Libeskind.

Film - "Reinvent Design"

Product Video - "Small But Powerful"

Influencer Video - "The Power of CAD"

Packaging - Exterior

HP Social Responsibility - "Don's Voice"

Packaging - Interior

HP believes in technology for the sake of humanity. We were honored for the opportunity to work with the team at Not Impossible Labs to help Don find his voice.

HP ZBook x2 Launch ~ "Unleash the Power of Adobe"

While HP didn't want to hear it, research proved that artists and designers care more about their software than their hardware. We hired influencers to help demonstrate how the HP ZBook x2 was designed to bring their favorite software to life.

Product Demo Video - "Reinvent Your Creative Journey"

Digital and Targeted Print

Digital - Instagram

Website

HP ZBook WW Re-branding ~ "New Frontiers"

If NASA chooses your PCs for the International Space Station, you tell the world about it (or at least your target).

Video - "See You Soon"

HP x360 ~ "Ghost Wave"

I spent three weeks in South Africa with some of the world's leading surfers searching for the largest un-surfed wave on the planet. We caught it all on video, in real-time, and created a short documentary video.

Documentary Video - "Ghost Wave"

Digital Video

HP TouchPad ~ "Work From Your Happy Place"

We decided that the best way to illustrate the joy of free 4G was to show how it allowed people to work from their "happy place."

HP TouchPad Launch ~ "Butler"

For the launch of HP's first tablet, we brought the intuitive nature of the product to life with the help of Russel Brand, an actor and comedian, who is himself, larger than life (and very, very funny).

Twitter ~ "Bill of Rights"

The Twitter COO asked me to help craft their brand voice. I felt the brand proposition lacked clarity and wrote the Twitter Bill of Rights.

Twitter Bill of Rights

Stoli Brand Re-Launch ~ "Look Beneath the Surface"

The explosion in popularity of vodka turned the 'drink of the people' into the drink of the pretentious. We invited consumers to 'look beneath the surface' of all the fancy, vacuous bottles, and instead celebrate the raw, powerful moments fueled by a shot of authentic Russian Stoli. Za Vas!

Digital, Social & Back Cover Magazine Print

Bus Wraps/Transit Shelters, Billboards

Logo Design

Barclays / iShares Brand TV

Barclays is a mainstay in the UK but had limited presence stateside. We re-positioned them in the US to demonstrate they were a brand to be taken seriously. Our campaign contributed to a $40B+ increase in their iShares ETF business.

Film - "Fake"

Film - "Corporate Recruiting"

Film - "Wonderland"

Smirnoff Brand Campaign ~ "Purity"

Smirnoff was losing share to rivals because of a perceived lack of quality. We created a campaign that brought their product truths to life in a unique way. It resulted in a 10% increase in quality & value measures and over 5% global volume growth.

Film - "Triple Distilled"

Film - "Filtered"

Film - "Clearly Smirnoff"

Film - Smirnoff Ice "Bear"

Enroute ~ Air Canada In-Flight Travel Magazine Article

I was hired by Treasury Estates winery to write an article about the world's most expensive wine.

Penfolds Unveils Their New Limited Edition Ampoule

By Eben Strousse

The Penfolds Ampoule - Not On the Menu (table of contents teaser)
This bottle of wine is not on your menu. They don’t serve it in Business Class. Nor First. In fact, most of the people with their own planes will never get a taste. That’s because only ten exist. And they retail for $168,000.

The Penfolds Ampoule – The Final Page in Wine
In the finer dining establishments you can always discover impressive options on the last page of the wine menu. This coveted page varies by restaurant but those venues with four or more stars will offer bottle selections with prices that can raise a brow. The last page is for the big spenders, the show-offs, the connoisseurs. But what you won’t find, on any last page, is the Penfolds Ampoule.

The Penfolds Ampoule – When Perfection Isn’t Nearly Good Enough
Steve Jobs took technology seriously. Larry Bird shot 500 free throws every day after practice (and rarely missed). Michelangelo spent four years on his back painting one ceiling. Likewise, Penfolds takes perfection to a new level. Don’t be ashamed if you’ve never heard of an ‘ampoule’ (pronounced ‘am pool’). This is a term only widely used by scientists and historians. It refers to a hermetically sealed, glass vial used to preserve a precious liquid. Ancient ampoules held the blood of saints. In other words, when an ampoule is used, a mere bottle just won’t do.

The Penfolds Ampoule Project is a reflection of wine-making heritage, innovation and artistic collaboration, delivering a ground breaking work of art encapsulating a rare and significant wine.

The creation of the new limited edition glass ampoule stores the extraordinary 2004 Kalimna Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon made from the oldest continuous producing Cabernet Sauvignon vines in the world. This latest release pays tribute to a rare wine but also celebrate the talent and innovation of some of the best artisans and craftsmen of South Australia.

Penfolds’ ampoule combines the scientific precision of wine preservation, the art of glass making, a dose of fine metal work, and exceptional design. This distinct ampoule carries the history and heritage of Penfolds which commissioned glass artist Nick Mount, designer/maker of sculptural and functional objects Hendrik Forster, furniture craftsman Andrew Barlett and glassblower Ray Leake. By joining forces, they collaborated to create an object that encapsulates the passion and technical skills required to realize such a unique, prodigious project.

Only ten of these handmade vessels exist, and bearing in mind that each is individually numbered, they constitute sculptural works that summarize the excellence of wine making and the beauty of an extraordinary handmade object. Penfolds Ampoule ownership furthermore entails an executive member of the wine-making team to personally attend a special opening ceremony. The winemaker will travel to the destination of the owner's choice, anywhere in the world, where the ampoule will be ceremoniously removed from its glass plumb-bob casing and opened using a specially designed, tungsten-tipped, sterling silver scribe-snap.

Cheers.