Dot-com advertising may have dipped in the past year, but a new ad campaign for Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP could be the start of a new trend—at least you could make a case for it. Created by San Francisco-based Modo Futuro, and directed by Michael Shaun Conaway of StoryWorks, Sausalito, Calif., with visual effects by Digital Domain, Venice, Calif., "Plane" and "Train" have been billed as the first national television spots for a law firm.
With a reported combined production and media budget of $3.5 million, the campaign includes the two surreal :30s, as well as banner and Flash ads produced by StoryWorks. The TV spots and Web ads began airing on CNN on Jan. 15—the latter consisting largely of repurposed images from the TV spots, streaming on CNNfn.com. The media buy also includes airtime on CNN’s airport broadcast.
Brobeck director of marketing David Geyer described television advertising as "a natural evolution" for his firm, which represents high-tech corporate clients. "Having been successful in print, we sensed that the best way forward was to use the most powerful medium available to reach our target audience members, which are among the most successful buyers: CEOs of major corporations and emerging growth companies," he said.
According to Digital Domain senior VP Ed Ulbrich, the proposed campaign came as a surprise. "Our clients are usually companies like Nike, Budweiser, Coke and Pepsi," he told SHOOT. "When I initially heard of the project, I thought, ‘1-800-THE-LAW.’ It was like, ‘Is this for real?’ But if this campaign is effective for Brobeck, it’s going to create a new ad sector."
"Plane" follows a glider soaring past, in sequence, a giant daisy, a businessman in a barren landscape, and a woman standing knee-deep in a turquoise ocean; while "Train" is set inside a sleek train that speeds through an ice field, over an ocean and into dark
lunar landscape. The stylized spots feature an oversized hand—representing Brobeck—which rescues the plane and the train from their respectively perilous courses. The
glider, for instance, appears to stall and dip over the water before the hand saves it with a gentle push skyward. The train is headed for a winding mountain pass when the hand reaches down to straighten the track ahead. The water sequences were shot on location in the Bahamas, while the train set was built and shot on a stage at Digital Domain. Most of the scenes outside the train were computer generated.
Back in 1999, communications firm Modo Futuro created Brobeck’s first print campaign. According to creative director/ art director Carlene Canale, for this latest effort Modo Futuro turned to Conaway and his partner, StoryWorks executive producer Alex Melnyk, because of their cross-media branding approach. StoryWorks has been involved in interactive television, broadband, broadcast and Web-based campaigns for clients such as NBC Sports, Web TV, Nike, General Motors and Procter & Gamble. "We were impressed with their breadth of experience across media—both online and in broadcast," said Canale, who teamed with Modo Futuro copywriter Zack Anderson.
The project appealed to StoryWorks because of the opportunity to work in multiple mediums, and to be involved in the early developmental stages. "We like being involved through the entire project, from genesis to completion," Melnyk explained. "It allows us to develop a strategy to extend the branding across multiple platforms, and then to execute both the broadcast and online campaigns at the same time."
"In this day and age," added Conaway, "ad agencies and clients need to extend their influence into all outlets, from store kiosks to theatre ads, broadcast and banner. It’s actually the opposite of convergence. And how do you accomplish it? Do you hire five different companies? Or do you do a lot of preparation to maximize the production dollars? Because advertising budgets aren’t going to triple in the future."
After about three months of concepting among the agency and production teams, Brobeck warmed to the idea of an allegorical approach that relies on visual metaphors such as the empowered hand.
"[Brobeck CEO] Tower Snow wanted the ads to be like something no one’s seen before," recalled Conaway. "It was like someone telling me to do Apple’s ‘1984’ spot all over again."
Knowing the complexity of the visual effects it intended to pursue, StoryWorks approached Digital Domain. With its large facility, motion control rigs and stage assets. Digital Domain housed the entire 10-week production and post process, playing host to StoryWorks, which set up a base of operations on site.
The spots combine more than 33 visual-effects shots and, according to Ulbrich, virtually every effects discipline. The 20-person Digital Domain team included VFX supervisor Eric Barba; producer Richard Bjorlin; and lead compositor Katie Nook.
"We weren’t inventing new techniques, but we used 3D, CGI, green screen, compositing, motion tracking," Ulbrich continued. From his perspective, the greatest challenge was working with a client that wasn’t experienced in either production or effects.
"Sometimes that can be tricky because we’re doing a lot of educating," he said. "We call it white-knuckle production, where the clients are wringing their hands. But that wasn’t the case here. Between Brobeck, the agency and the production company was a really trusting relationship."
Most challenging for the director was the single-camera technique used in the spots. "We did a lot of previsualization with Digital Domain, because the timing had to be laid out before we shot film," noted Conaway. "We also completed rough animatics to correct camera angles, everything." Bojan Bazelli served as DP on the project, with Conaway and Nick Wittenberg supervising motion graphics.
Conaway credits a close working relationship with Venice-based Machine Head for the success of the music, sound design and voiceover used in the spots. He explained that one of Geyer’s fears was that the great visual spots would be undermined by a pasted-on voiceover that fell flat. So prior to the shoot, Conaway and the Machine Head contingent sat down to attack the problem of creating music, sound and narration that were appropriate for the surreal environment of the spots. In the end, the voiceover weaves together four different voices. The track for "Train" is fast paced and tribal, while "Plane" features orchestral sounds. Machine Head creative director Stephen Dewey and Chris Smith served as sound designers; Chris Neilman and Mark Kilian were the composers.
According to Geyer, his Brobeck colleagues are more than satisfied with the results. "I think the ads take the viewer to another place," he stated. "There’s nothing like the commercials on the air at the moment. And the allegory allows Brobeck to deliver a message that is thoughtful and sophisticated, which is so important to us."
