When I joined 7-Eleven’s in-house creative team as their resident motion designer, one of my first major projects was bringing Laredo Taco Company to life not just through a single campaign, but by helping build a full motion identity for the brand. LTC had a solid visual system, developed back in 2019. But as the brand scaled and new stores opened across the country, its presence still hadn’t been fully realized in motion. We didn’t need just another set of ads—we needed to define how this brand moved.
“Made Right HerE”
made right here
Revitalizing an ad campaign off the ground with no budget, time, or side salsa.
OVERVIEW
Project: Laredo Taco Company Made Right Here Re-fresh
Client: 7-Eleven
Date: Oct 2023-Jan 2024
Team:
Anne Frey - Creative Direction, Graphic Design
Michael Bakowski - Art Direction, Motion Design
Katie Burkhart - Concepting, Copywriting
Fresh campaign, old ingredients
Once the system was in place, we had a problem to solve: how do we create an entire brand campaign with zero new footage? Before I came on the team had re-purposed footage from an old shoot to cut some new spots using an external production house. But after the first few aired our Senior Copy Writer, Katie Burkhart, pointed out something critical: we had lost the story. The original concept of "Made Right Here", the freshness, the made-in-house tortillas, and the identity... lost. These new videos and campaign required capturing the original ethos, utilizing solely existing assets. This is where the motion came in.
I initially ideated and aggregated inspiration to create a mood board for the new videos, collaborating with Katie Burkhart and Anne Frey to finalize the visual concept. Anne Frey helped further develop these and designed the final style frames from our initial ideas.
Adapting to the new
Over time, Made Right Here evolved as we introduced new products; Even burritos to a "taco company". This included of all things, hot case food. Tamales, chimichangas, mini tacos, and yes... even corn dogs. They were all part of the LTC brand now, and they had to look good. So I teamed up with our copywriter, Camille Bibbee, and pitched something totally different. We pushed the boundaries of the initial campaign to create something loud, fun, and Mexican Surf Rock inspired to keep the campaign fresh.