June 22, 2005
By Bob Raynor
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Take a dorky screenwriter, add one naked dead guy, mix in a monotone monologue and whaddaya got?

The Martin Agency going Hollywood, with a little less glitz than you might expect.

Richmond’s biggest advertising firm has created countless television commercials.

But it has never made a TV spot pushing a major network TV show, until now.

Its first effort — promoting CBS’ popular “CSI” shows — made a quick debut this month during the Tony Awards broadcast.

The commercial, which won’t be back on the air until August, incorporates none of the flash associated with the three “CSI” programs, which follow crime-scene investigators in Las Vegas, Miami and New York.

Instead, an actor playing one of the shows’ writers talks about his job, while dragging home from the office a naked actor playing a corpse. The screenwriter hopes to draw a bit of inspiration from his morbid companion.

“We avoided the conventional in-your-face graphics and 30 seconds of quick clips,“ said Bruce Kelley, Martin’s vice chairman. “This work connects because it respects the brand of the show, using provocative, compelling story-telling to draw the viewer in.”

The commercial, which will be part of CBS’s summer blitz promoting its new season, was shot in Los Angeles.

CBS likes what it sees from the Richmond agency. “We were looking for creative work that could deftly connect our CBS network brand and the ‘CSI’ show brand,” said Ron Scalera, CBS executive vice president and creative director. “The Martin Agency nailed it.”

Martin also has written the script for a commercial promoting “60 Minutes,” the venerable news show. CBS is producing that spot itself. It airs in August, too.

Promoting major network shows is something new for Martin, but the agency has plenty of experience working with cable channels, including TV Land, Nickelodeon, Speed Channel and Spike TV.

“CBS noticed and really liked our work last year for Spike TV, a sister Viacom property,” Kelley said. “They contacted us just before the holidays last year and this work was done during the last few months.

“While this is project work, we’re thrilled to be doing it. When you do work for a network, you know it’s going to be seen by millions.”