The Barclaycard Campaign Story
Context
Due to recession, the UK credit card market was declining and, for the first time, Barclays made a loss. To gain market share they created a new differentiated credit card with a range of benefits.
New Product... New Game-changing Campaign
Enter 'Latham'.
An old Cold War style spy confronting a new world which he little understood. A 'Bond' character who was everything 'Bond' was not. With no sexy gadgets, he had to take on the world armed with only a new Barclaycard.
A (Sort of) 'Bond' Parody Mini-Sitcom starring Rowan Atkinson
Latham believed he was irresistably attractive to women, yet women ignored him. He possessed a sense of superiority that merely translated into arrogance and pomposity. He believed in his own rightness that inevitably leads to his continued undoing. Where Bond always won, Latham always failed.
Why Rowan Atkinson?
Rowan was known for two very different characters. The worldly wise, cynical and Machiavellian Blackadder and the incompetent, ignorant and disruptive Mr Bean.
Blending traits from both we created a new character that represented how absurd it was to live in a modern world without the benefits of a Barclaycard.
Rowan softened the image of Barclaycard (that was seen as soulless and heartless) giving them a personality and a friendly approachableness.
'Tinkerbell' (Launch Ad)
Awards Cannes Silver Best Campaign. D&AD Silver Nomination Best Campaign, One Show Gold, British TV Silver.
'Mole' TV Ad
Awards Cannes Gold Individual 60sec. Cannes Silver Campaign, D&AD Silver Nomination, One Show Gold, British TV Silver.
Comedy Writing Insight
If you write scripts for a brilliant comedian like Rowan Atkinson, don't let his character favour the product. Let the straight guy/side-kick do the product sell and let the comedian be funny.
Of course you have to persuade your Client that the 'Star' isn't going to use and promote their product. Comedy allows you to turn everything on it's head.
'Birthing Blanket' TV Ad
Awards Cannes Silver Individual 60sec. Cannes Silver Campaign. D&AD Silver Nomination, British TV Silver. One Show Gold,
Continued Success
5 years and 17 films later, Rowan Atkinson won a BAFTA Advertising Award for best actor.
'Richard Latham' became 'Johnny English'
The campaign was so popular Bond scriptwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and William Davies with Rowan made the film ‘Johnny English’, based on the character in the ads.
And a major movie franchise was born.
TV Campaign Impact
After launch, awareness of Barclaycard ads tripled from 13% to 34%. Product benefit awareness scored 85%. Barclaycard became a highly appealing brand hitting 64% against competitors at 15% and 18%. For the first time in 15 years Barclaycard overtook it's competitors to become the the most used card. Within 12 months the net loss was transformed - in the middle of a recession - to a £46million profit. Source: Millward Brown
_________________________________________
Hamlet Cigars
The CDP campaign "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet" was one of the most enduring ideas in the history of British advertising, and ran for over 30 years. This was my contribution.
A Valentines Day and Wedding Season Special
Although the campaign had produce many TV ads my film was the first time it used claymation to tell the protagonists story.
The Brief
The Hamlet Cigar brief never changed; "solace in the face of adversity".
'Wedding Cake' TV Ad
Awards Canne Bronze, D&AD, British TV, Clio, GoldenBreak.
Client Visualisation
When presenting storyboards and concepts, it's important to help your Client 'visualise' and 'feel' what you're asking them to buy.
Here, the story was completely focused on our hero. With no dialogue the animated character had to put in a great performance.
We based him on (and showed the Client) the silent movie actor, Harry Langdon. Who demonstrated the perfect pathos in his movie 'The Strong Man'.
Credits
An Aardman production directed by founders Peter Lord and Dave Sproxton.
Music
Every ad used an excerpt from a jazz rendition of Bach's 'Air on the G String', played by Jacques Loussier and His Trio.
________________________________________
McEwan's Lager
A refreshing approach to refreshment. Emotional visual storytelling for the big screen.
'Let Off Steam' Cinema Ad
Awards D&AD for Direction.
Credits
Shot in Iceland and Yorkshire by Director Gerrard de Thame.
Music for Visual Storytelling
Telling an emotional story in 90 seconds can be challenging, so it was important to use the right music track to create empathy and enhance the 'Love Lost' narrative.
To build emotion we wanted a vocal but didn't want the song lyrics influencing the visual story.
So we turned to Africa to find the perfect rousing track. 'Souareba' by Salif Keita An afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. From his album 'Soro'
________________________________________
Barclays Wealth
Times Square Video Wall, New York
When Barclays purchased the Lehrman Building in Times Square they inherited the famous, unusual shaped, Video Wall.
We created a brand film that visualised four pillars of personal wealth; enjoy, protect, grow, and pass it on.
The film in situ
A flat unwrapped version showing all 3 elevations
BBC Radio5Live
New Football Season
The BBC budget was minuscule, so we minimised the production costs by using existing footage the BBC had the rights to use. All the budget could then go into the post production.
'Spot the Ball'
Awards D&AD Silver nomination, Promax Gold Best Sports Promo.
Keep it Simple
The best ideas sell themselves. The simplest ideas allow you to deliver award-winning work even under crazy time restraints.
This film was completed in 10 days from Client approval to air date.
_________________________________________
Sure (Rexona) Global TV Ad & Cinema Film
Brand Transformation
Elida Fabregés iconic brand mnemonic - The Sure Tick - was becoming tired and irrelevant. It was time for a change in direction.
The Heroine's Journey
We were briefed to make the 'Tick' represent the empowerment of a modern confident women.
'Truth' TV Ad
Awards D&AD for Direction
Good Storytelling Transcends Borders
After it's success in the UK the Client ran it all over the World.
Casting Is Crucial In this case we found the perfect actress but our Client wanted a clichéd model. A win:win situation came about when we identified the Client just didn't like our heroine's cropped hair. A simple wig solved the problem.
________________________________________
McEwan's Best Scotch Campaign
(A Beer with strong ties to the North East region of the UK)
Reframing the Brief
To create the right solution for beer drinkers (rather than the client) we had to challenged the client brief and expectations.
We were asked to create a outdoor poster campaign. But we knew beer could build a stronger emotionally connected brand personality on TV.
Turning Posters into Television
Buying TV media wasn't the issue - Being regional it was cheap. Prohibitive TV production costs were the problem.
A Trip to the Moon was the Solution
We created a story narrative where our local beer drinking heroes went to the Moon. Why the Moon?
Because NASA footage was public domain and free to use commercially.
'Florida's Horrider'
Awards D&AD, Clio, Euro Best.
Impact
Sales of beer went up. The budget increased And new TV ads were made - creating a new successful TV campaign .
Music for Comic Storytelling
Using the right music in comedy can be a hard one to crack. Historically, many comedians have reworked songs to send up various subjects.
Here we rewrote the lyrics of an obscure 70s pop hit, The Monks 'Nice Legs Shame About Her Face' to 'Nice Place Shame About The Beer' which worked a treat for a regional brand.
________________________________________
Zurich Bank Campaign
Zurich wanted to go all British
The European bank wanted to create a new brand identity that gave them British authenticity and pathos.
'New Dawn' TV Campaign Launch Ad
Director Choice is Everything
Director Gerrard de Thame again. Because 'pig control' was so important, this film was shot entirely in a studio. We had complete faith Gerrard could recreate and capture the essence of the British countryside without going on location.
Pigs Will Fly! Not.
(Some you win. Some you lose) We did present to the Client a much better way to launch this campaign. One that would engage and get the British population talking about it in the silly summer months.
Make Pigs Really Fly
Creating radio controlled model flying pigs (a proof of concept does exist on YouTube) and fly them randomly over parts of Britain and wait for the public to spot them and react.
The British Press would have loved this story. We would have partnered with one of the daily tabloidsand caused quite a buzz by gamifying it.
Sadly the client thought we were a bit crazy.