The goal was to show laptop computer mobility in a simple yet elegant way. So the creatives at Marina del Rey, Calif.-based agency Ignited Minds crafted a paper airplane for this :30 promoting the Sony VAIO laptop brand in Brazil.
We open on an aerodynamically sleek paper plane flying through a cityscape, navigating its way through a maze of skyscrapers. We follow its flight through urban sprawl in Sao Paulo, even catching a fleeting reflection of the aircraft in a street-side puddle of water. Finally the plane lands, gliding through a window to rest on a restaurant table at which a man is seated.
The guy then unfolds the paper plane, smoothing it out across the table linen into a flat sheet, which becomes the top to a laptop computer. The man then opens to begin PC work and/or play.
A message appears on screen, which reads, “Mobile like no other,” followed by the VAIO logo and then the Sony slogan, “Like no other.” “The strategy was the focus on mobility, but we also had to convey style and design,” said Ignited Minds’ associate creative director and art director Tim Washburn.
His agency colleague, copywriter Jason Carter, added, “Being a launch spot, it needed to feel ‘big.’ But we only had two weeks to produce the spot once it was approved. We ended up shooting, transferring and editing in 72 hours in Sao Paulo.”
Initially the client had envisioned deploying a capsule, essentially a 30-second infomercial, to launch the VAIO in Brazil. However the creative team at Ignited Minds felt a higher profile, more ambitious spot was needed to give the VAIO brand its first major exposure to the Brazilian market. The client agreed, but the budget remained relatively modest.
“We had to come up with a simple idea that would be doable,” related Washburn. “Even at that, once we had the idea–despite the favorable exchange rate [on the dollar]–it wouldn’t have been possible without some serendipity.”
He and Carter noted that the serendipity was the willingness of companies and artisans to do the job for their reel, with this collection of talent coming together, firmly committed to making the :30 a reality. “This enabled us to go from what was originally supposed to be a product-driven infomercial showing mobility to what instead became a high quality brand launch spot with scale and scope,” said Carter. “This was important in order to help establish VAIO in Brazil as there’s been a shift in focus to laptops when it comes to marketing computers in Latin America.”
Extended reach Reflecting the success of the endeavor, the client has opted to air the spot–which had been initially slated for an exclusive run in Brazil–throughout much of Latin America.
So in addition to Brazil, it has begun running in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
Mike Wolfsohn was creative director for Ignited Minds, heading an agency ensemble that included associate creative director/art director Washburn, copywriter Carter and exec producer/producer Diego Espana. The director was Bia Flecha of Brasileira Filmes, Sao Paulo. Magda Barbieri executive produced for Brasileira, with Pedro Araujo serving as producer. The DP was Ze Bob Eliezer.
Washburn noted that the agency gravitated toward Flecha based on her reel which showed considerable expertise in meshing live action and visual effects/CG components. (The paper airplane was CG as was the scene in which it becomes a VAIO laptop. Visual effects house was Pix Post, Sao Paulo.)
Shared vision “In talking to her, we clearly saw she understood the vision right out of the gate,” said Washburn. “A secondary yet another important reason we chose Bia was that we had one day to shoot in Sao Paulo and she knew the city like the back of her hand. We wanted to capture Sao Paulo in anything but a cliche way and she made that happen with her sense of the city.”
Washburn added, “The expectation of the director [Flecha] was much different than that in America. She wanted to be involved in every single detail from beginning to end. She wasn’t handing off things to us but overseeing everything right through postproduction and audio.”
Carter noted that this modus operandi made the most sense given the tight timetable for finishing the commercial. “Flecha’s knowledge and relationships with the artists and companies in Sao Paulo–deeper relationships than we had with these artists–were needed to pull off the job,” said Carter.
