(LENOX, Mass.) – Scenes staged on location in the greater Berkshire region are being used to help sell a line of rugged-use products designed to protect sensitive gear: laptops, smartphones, and tablets, for instance. Winstanley Partners — a marketing and creative design agency based in Lenox, Mass., with offices in East Greenbush, N.Y. — engaged with Pelican Products, based in Torrance, Calif., in February 2012, to assist with the launch of its new ProGear line. The images are being used in product-packaging and in an international campaign of print- and web-based advertising.

Specific locations included Pittsfield Airport, Monument Mountain in Great Barrington, the Berkshire Scenic Railroad in Stockbridge, and The Egg in Albany, N.Y.; the agency continues to work with Pelican as it launches a new, international presence online and in retail stores.

As part of the project, Winstanley Partners scouted and ultimately chose a number of locations across the region to capture photos and video of the new products in action. Some use the natural surroundings in a literal way, while others were manipulated to look like other places, such as an arid desert. Those photos are now being used on Pelican ProGear packaging sold in retail stores across North America, and print- and web-based advertising is in development.

Winstanley Partners has just completed its first phase of a comprehensive campaign for Pelican ProGear, introducing the new brand’s expanding line of rugged-use products ranging from shatter-proof iPhone cases and laptop backpacks for city-dwellers and travelers to rugged outdoor/marine coolers for serious adventurers.

Photo and video shoots for packaging, advertisements, sales material and in-store collateral brought members of the Winstanley team across the country to locales such as the shores of Charleston, S.C. and the cliffs of Corral Canyon in Malibu, Calif., but some of the campaign’s core imagery was captured in the agency’s backyard – literally and figuratively.

Winstanley Partners’ Vice President and Creative Director Ralph Frisina explained that many local sites in Berkshire County and New York’s Capital Region were considered, and several selected, for Pelican ProGear photo shoots.

“The campaign is based on the central themes of adventure and aspiration,” he said, “and centers on what benefits of these first digital protective products in particular might appeal to an urban warrior, an extreme sports buff, or an alternative traveler, to name a few.”

Connected by the tag line ‘Bring It,’ Frisina said the agency’s art and interactive teams focused on Pelican’s existing reputation for durability and the growing need for consumers of all types to protect sensitive gear in virtually any situation, from navigating a city street to scaling a rock face.

“Sites were chosen to illustrate specific themes,” he noted. “Pittsfield Airport served as backdrop for an aviation-based photo shoot, while an active quarry owned by Lane Construction in Lenox Dale and Lee was transformed into a barren, remote desert through creative staging.”

That staging included a vintage Land Rover on loan from western Massachusetts resident and New York Times best-selling author John Robison.

Led by a creative team that included Winstanley Partners and photographers Mark McCarty of Troy N.Y. and Bill Wright of Pittsfield, Pelican ProGear products in action were also captured on rough terrain atop Monument Mountain in Stockbridge, Mass., on the water at Onota Lake in Pittsfield, and among the trains of the Berkshire Scenic Railway in Lenox. City-themed images were captured in Albany at The Egg and Empire State Plaza, as well as in several spots in downtown Troy, N.Y.

Winstanley Partners’ own backyard even served as an appropriate backdrop for an off-roading themed photo shoot that charged staff with slinging mud at vehicles, products, and models.

The agency began its work with Pelican ProGear in late February 2012, with development of ProGear’s identity, followed by packaging design for the entire line, the creation of sales brochures and point-of-sale materials, and design of the PelicanProGear.com website. Frisina noted that Winstanley Partners will continue to work with Pelican ProGear as the line expands.

Winstanley Partners is a marketing, creative design, communications, and interactive agency located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, doing business from the historic 1790 Elijah Northrup House in Lenox, Mass.

With a client roster that includes national and regional companies such as GE, Pelican, Polar Beverages, Spalding, and many more, Winstanley Partners has been recognized by national marketing and design associations including the American Advertising Federation, the New England Advertising Club, the American Banking Association, and the National Ski Area Association in its 26 years in business. For more information, visit Winstanley Partners or call 413.637.9887.
Introductory Products in the ProGear line currently include:

• A series of watertight, crushproof cases for laptops, tablets, and e-readers including Nooks and Kindles ;

• Laptop and iPad backpacks with built in watertight protective cases;

• Three-sizes of heavy-duty outdoor/marine coolers;

• Watertight & Crushproof iPhone and iPod cases;

• Rugged Head lights and flashlights, and

• Seriously Tough LED work lights.