Longer-form marketing films unhampered by the limits of broadcast TV allow for deeper narratives which in turn often inspire forceful and innovative visuals. Here are eight brand films from 2019 we believe live up to that promise.
All these films were published in The Stash Permanent Collection during 2019 and appear here in chronological order by the date of publication.
LAGUNITAS “MUMBLEPHONE: MADAM CHAIRMAN”
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Ryan Tamborski, art director at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, CA: “We’ve put our phone number on our packaging for a long time, and we’ve received some pretty great voice messages over the years.
“We heard this one and thought we’d pass it along to [Nashville director/animator] Allen Laseter to mumblefy it.
“The Lagunitas MumblePhone series includes other voicemails mumblefied by artists like Honus Honus, Saiman Chow, Jon Riedell, Reece Parker, Glooby’s World, and more.”
TRAVELERS “UNFINISHED STORIES: THE TREEHOUSE”
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In an effort to reduce traffic fatalities caused by distracted drivers, Travelers Insurance and TBWAChiatDay New York commissioned a series of animated films imagining unfinished chapters in the lives of actual victims.
In one of these films called “The Tree House,” LOBO director Guilherme Marcondes uses a mix of stop motion and digital animation to detail the heart-wrenching story of 61-year-old Howard Stein who was struck on the side of the road by a driver tending to her GPS.
HENNESSY X.O “THE SEVEN WORLDS”
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Carsten Keller, creative director at MPC in London: “The brief was quite detailed as we received a lot of nice storyboards and drawings from Ridley alongside a great script from the agency.
“We knew we had to create seven completely different worlds but there were still quite a lot of open questions in terms of how to get there.
“The biggest challenge was to keep the quality high for such a long amount of time: four minutes and 100 shots of almost full-CG.”
GUNEE “HOMME”
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Digital Artist Thomas Gugel in Cologne, Germany: “Together with the creative head at fashion label GUNEE, I created this film for their menswear brand. The result is a corporate video that shows the different aspects of the process of creation.
“The materials and shapes of the animation almost naturally evolved by comparing the different parts of the hand-drawn pattern with photographs of rock formations I collected over the last years of traveling – never sure what I could use them for.”
FENDER “THE MYSTICAL JOURNEY OF JIMMY PAGE’S ’59 TELECASTER”
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To help celebrate Led Zeppelin’s 50th-anniversary, Nexus directing partners Smith & Foulkes take us on a magical mystery tour of the late 60’s to reveal the intimate relationship between lead guitarist Jimmy Page and his Fender Telecaster.
Smith & Foulkes in London: “It goes without saying that everybody loves a dragon. And we made full use out of that! But it was much trickier to visually illustrate the mirror guitar which was more about the optical sensation of prismatic light patterns.
“So we hit upon this idea of how images are bent and twisted in a Hall of Mirrors, which seemed to fit the idea of new sounds being distorted as Jimmy experimented with the Telecaster.”
UBER AIR “AIRBORNE”
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Gevorg Karensky, director/CD, and David Karapetyan, managing partner at Bipolar in LA: “Uber approached us to help create a campaign for this year’s Uber Elevate Summit so people could feel the incredible experience of flying on an Uber Air vehicle.
“We wanted the campaign to communicate how Uber Air will work and appeal to consumers with cinematic visuals and exciting camera work.
“We also knew the campaign had to be accurate and stand up to scrutiny from the FAA – Uber worked with the agency to get pre-screened and approved on the San Francisco to Santa Clara flight path.”
BALLANTINE’S “TOO GOOD TO HIDE”
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Mike Sharpe, founding partner and CD at Found Studio in London: “‘Too Good To Hide’ was initially conceived as a live-action film, but with the vast elements and ambitious concepts at play, we suggested a 3D approach.
“The film was to tell the story of three signature single malts that normally lie hidden inside of Ballantine’s famous blend.
“Exploring a fictitious House of Ballantine’s, we crafted a story of revelation. Viewers encounter locked doors, towering walls, safes, and hidden corridors, as they make their way through the brand story to uncover three unique worlds.”
CHOBANI “IMPACT”
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Fabio Acorsi, director at LOBO in New York: “To let the public know more about where it has come from and where it’s headed, Chobani released an environmental impact report and commissioned Lobo to create this companion film that offers a poetic counterpart to the data-centric document.
“Taking inspiration from Chobani’s brand-identity artwork (delicate, colorful hand-painted illustrations), we brought to life an idyllic 2D-animated journey showing how the act of giving is the first step into making universal wellness happen sooner.”
