Chicago’s Bottle Rocket Media is celebrating 15 years with a campaign that looks back at where the agency started and makes a clear statement about where storytelling is headed.
The Chicago-based video production and digital marketing agency has launched a handcrafted stop motion anniversary film designed as both a milestone celebration and a reflection on the value of human creativity in a media landscape increasingly shaped by automation and AI-generated content.
Founded in 2011 as a video production company, Bottle Rocket Media has grown into a full-service creative agency spanning video production, motion graphics, branding, marketing strategy, SEO, AI search, and paid media distribution. Its 15th-anniversary campaign leans into the agency’s original creative roots while underscoring the belief that technology may change the tools, but emotional storytelling still depends on human intention.
The timing is deliberate. As brands and agencies continue to navigate the rise of automated content and AI-assisted creative, BRM’s stop motion piece takes the opposite approach. It emphasizes craft, patience, physical production, and the kind of handmade details that remind audiences there are people behind the work.
“For 15 years, we’ve evolved alongside major shifts in media, technology, and audience behavior while continuing to embrace innovation and new creative tools,” said Dan Fisher, principal at Bottle Rocket Media. “As the industry pushes toward automation and content at scale, there’s also a growing conversation around what gets lost in the process.”
Fisher said the anniversary campaign reflects the agency’s belief that originality and emotional connection still matter. “Audiences still respond to work that feels thoughtful, original, and human,” he said. “This campaign is a reflection of the fact that great storytelling is about creating something people actually connect with.”
The anniversary also marks a personal milestone for Fisher and fellow principal Brett Singer. The two first met while working on The Oprah Winfrey Show, then built Bottle Rocket Media project by project into a Chicago agency with a growing mix of production, creative, and marketing capabilities.
“We’ve experienced every kind of creative challenge imaginable over the last 15 years, from high highs, slower seasons, and everything in between,” said Singer. “From the first meeting while working on The Oprah Winfrey Show to building BRM together project by project, Dan and I have always believed the best creative work comes from strong relationships, curiosity, and a willingness to evolve. The industry will continue to change, but our foundation will remain constant.”
The agency enters its anniversary year with recent awards momentum. BRM was recently nominated for a Webby Award in the Advertising, Media & PR category and won both a Gold and Silver Telly Award for Directing and B2B excellence for its work on the “Seamless with Basis” campaign.
Set inside a stylized 1960s-inspired advertising agency, the Basis campaign used cinematic storytelling and practical creative techniques to communicate the brand’s value propositions around automation, connectivity, and clarity in ad tech. According to BRM, the campaign drove engagement from 90 percent of targeted accounts through ad clicks and website visits, while delivering 2.5 times higher average revenue among engaged audiences.
The new anniversary film will debut across Bottle Rocket Media’s digital channels, accompanied by behind-the-scenes content showing the handcrafted production process, the agency’s creative evolution, and what 15 years of storytelling have taught the team.
For BRM, the campaign is not a rejection of technology. It is a reminder that tools are only as powerful as the human choices behind them. Fifteen years in, the agency is using stop motion to make a simple point: in an industry obsessed with speed and scale, craft still has a pulse.
Happy anniversary, Bottle Rocket from the Reel.
ALSO READ:
Miller Lite turns broken gifts into Father’s Day Fix-Packs
