The Work That Made Me: Keith Stoeckeler

Keith Stoeckeler has over 17 years of experience with some of the top advertising holding companies, such as Dentsu, Interpublic Group, Omnicom, and Publicis. His work has significantly impacted the creative output of renowned brands such as AT&T, Citi, Harley-Davidson, IBM, Procter & Gamble, and Subaru. 

In 2020, Keith founded HEARTLENT Group, which specialises in branding, creative, and video production, focusing on sports, entertainment, and lifestyle. In 2023, he was motivated to pursue bringing a children’s book to life. His goal was to create a lasting gift for his two children, and the result was the delightful and award-winning book titled ‘The Sparkly Bun.’

Keith is a cheeseburger addict, is fascinated with typefaces and menu design, and has an unwavering preference for iced coffee, regardless of the season. 

The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…

Keith> Lil’ Penny with Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway from Nike. I loved everything about it, but I liked it because it was Hardaway, who I was a big fan of. He was Robin to Shaq’s Superman, and I enjoyed watching the Orlando Magic play basketball. 

As a student of advertising, I later in life learned to appreciate the combination of everything that went into and evolved from that ad — Wieden + Kennedy and Stacy Wall, Chris Rock as the voice, Tyra Banks and Jaleel White, Phil Morrison as Director, an appearance on Oprah…

I didn’t have the money then to buy the shoes or what I wanted — the Lil’ Penny figurines — from the commercials, but years ago, I found a complete set on eBay, and I now have them all! :) 

The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…

Keith> The print campaign for Absolut Vodka is the one I can point to that got me into advertising and marketing. I’d cut them out of Sports Illustrated magazines and had a binder of them, collecting them. Those ads caught my eye and were memorable, and I thought it was creative with how they extended the campaign with all the uses of the bottle/silhouette.

The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem, etc) that I keep revisiting…

Keith> For whatever reason, I do not revisit much. I read books once. I watch movies once. I prefer to seek new inspiration and areas rather than revisit. However, certain bands or types of music help me sort out problems, give me the ability to think clearly, and find inspiration with a clear head. Bands like Explosions In The Sky, Caspian, Jonsi / Sigur Ros, and other post-rock bands, especially without lyrics, allow me to truly clear my head, allowing new solutions and inspiration to enter my mind.

My first professional project…

Keith> I worked on some things early in my career, such as advertising and events for STIHL. But, I think my first professional project/campaign was when I moved to Minneapolis and worked for Carmichael Lynch, working on Harley Davidson. Working on their motorsports work, I was working on catalogues, planning, attending, and executing photoshoots in California, and travelling to Milwaukee to meet with the client… It was my first taste of a real comprehensive campaign and totality of work. From there, I was able to work on Harley proper advertising and grow more with the Carmichael team, working with CDs and ECDs and Writers and seeing how and being part of how some of those (now iconic) ads came together. 

That Harley work evolved to working on Subaru print and television advertising at Carmichael and travelling to truly beautiful places in the US and Canada to showcase Subaru’s All-Wheel Drive. 

The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous…

Keith> I’m jealous of the recognition it received and inspired by what it taught me and how I started to think differently about what work is/isn’t and how it relates to audiences — Metro Trains, Dumb Ways To Die, from McCann. 

It taught me the best work could come from the most boring of topics or industries or problems and that a “train passenger”, for example, is multi-faceted and is a mother, a father, a grandparent, a (enter occupation here), and at the end of the day is a person who wants to be entertained. 

The creative project that changed my career…

Keith> I’ll cheat and not say a “project” but more a client/brand — Proctor & Gamble, specifically their Digestive line when I worked on Pepto Bismol at Publicis NY. The team I worked with I knew at the time, but now, looking back, I appreciate how special each of them individually was, but as a team, how special that group was. We were able to do some genuinely breakthrough work for that category, and I learned a lot about how to push for good work, how a good idea could be better, and how good work can come from anywhere, like a digestive health brand. 

The work that I’m proudest of…

Keith> Our campaign with Rock The Vote in 2020 launched HEARTLENT Group. We established Hoopers Vote and Kickoff The Vote, which leveraged sports athletes and personalities to engage and empower the sports community to take action and register to vote during the 2020 Election. HEARTLENT Group designed over 400 custom digital content pieces featuring current and former basketball and football athletes, celebrities, and influencers. The campaign won 18 industry awards. 

I was involved in this, and it makes me cringe…

Keith> Many years ago, I spent a lot of time on a drink brand aimed at children, leading strategy, and I was proud to have cracked the strategic approach. Until I sat back and thought about what I really did — figured out a compelling creative approach to selling more “sugar water” to kids. I ultimately wasn’t proud of that, and I started to think about how I could work more on things that made more of a positive impact.

I’ve also worked on a vaping product that I didn’t have any heart for while working on the project… All of this to say I gained a new perspective on what I wanted to work on more, and more importantly, what I didn’t want to spend time on, and what I would refuse to work on in the future.

The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…

Keith> I, unfortunately, cannot talk about it. Still, it was an extensive moment campaign for a sports brand, and it excited everyone on the team about what it could be. Once we developed the creative idea, we couldn’t stop making it more robust. We would email and text each other late at night with new iterations and ideas we could incorporate. It was an enjoyable project that I hope will get to see the light of day.