Subaru Canada hopes people will “flip out” over it’s new, animated flipbook-style television spot, “Pure Performance” that recently launched across Canada. To demonstrate the performance and power of the 2011 Subaru WRX STI, DDB Canada‘s Toronto office created a real, flipbook or zoetrope that comes to life only when the vehicle passes by.
Targeting people for whom the handling and power of a rally car is of paramount importance, “Pure Performance” kicks-off of a national integrated campaign to raise awareness of the newly redesigned vehicle, drive sales and draw people into Subaru dealer showrooms.
The television spot opens with sketch animation of the redesigned WRX STI driving through a variety of challenging terrain while being chased by a giant robot crab. The camera then pulls out to reveal the animation is actually taking place through the window of a real 2011 WRX STI; animation that has been powered by the WRX STI driving past a series of 760 hand-drawn frames to create one smooth animated story. The camera moves out further to reveal the car driving past these frames, showing the redesigned performance vehicle in all its glory.
“The best thing about the new WRX STI is the experience driving it,” said Todd Mackie, co-creative director, DDB Canada, Toronto. “We were challenged by the strict advertising guidelines that make it particularly difficult to showcase true performance vehicles like the WRX STI. The use of illustration is a clever way to get that message across in an impactful way and still stay within the guidelines.”
The campaign spans more than just television, integrating a strong social media element as well as print, radio, online and in-store executions.
The roll out of the integrated campaign starts this week with the launch of the TV spot and will run through fall 2010 – driving traffic to the Subaru YouTube channel where enthusiasts can watch the “Pure Performance” TV spot, test-drive clips and other WRX STI content. Content includes a dynamic “making of” documentary that unveils the technical challenge behind the making of the television creative, which is governed by math and physics as much as concept and art direction.
“For the effect to work, we needed a laser level driving surface. It took meticulous testing to perfect the precise engineering involved. No post or CG was used to create the animation. All animation was filmed in camera, using the car itself,” adds Mackie.
Over the next few months Subaru Canada will launch a social media program, involving key influencers and bloggers, to help spread the word about the 2011 WRX STI.
“Pure Performance” was directed by the team Woods and Low of production house OPC. Animator was Kevin Adams of Starz.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More