A new branding spot for Sears, "Then & Now," done via Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Chicago, highlights the venerable retailer’s role as a provider of a diverse array of merchandise over the years, from generation to generation.
Directed by Tony Kaye, through Minder Media, New York, the ad recreates different eras from the 1890s to the present, and shows how consumers have been relying on Sears for a multitude of needs for more than a century. The spot features people wondering aloud where they can get all manner of goods—everything from farm equipment to baby supplies to electronics and appliances. Additionally, people ask where they can get it all in one catalog, and with a price-match guarantee.
"Then & Now" starts out with vintage-looking film of a man inquiring where he can get a plow for spring planting. More scenes from that time soon follow: an early 1900s-era shot of an African-American man asking about galoshes and a pocket watch, and a shot of a guy driving a Ford Model T. Early on, the spot jumps to the ’70s, with a pregnant woman on a porch who wants a stroller. At one point, a present-day woman asks where she can get cute Capri pants; in mid-sentence, it cuts back to a mom inside her house, circa the ’50s, who also wants Capri pants. Near spot’s end, there’s a shot of a ’50s-era Sears salesman saying, "It was true then…" and cuts to a present day Sears salesman concluding, "…and it’s true now. For great brands, credit, service and satisfaction guaranteed." Several spot principals make a return appearance, asking: "Where can I get it all in one store?" "Where?" "Where?" "Where?" A Sears logo appears, with the words "Where else?" supered on screen.
"We didn’t want to make it too linear," notes Matt Bijarchi, director of broadcast production at Y&R, who also served as producer on the job. "We put a little bit of the historical-looking footage upfront to set the tone, and then introduced more contemporary scenes."
It would be incorrect to call this a nostalgia-based spot, says Ken Erke, VP/creative director at Y&R. "It was never the goal to make this a nostalgic journey," he notes. "We weren’t trying to rely on the emotion [evoked by] the past. We were just trying to portray the truth about Sears. And the truth is that, since 1890, people have been getting unique combinations of goods from Sears—from silk stockings to plows. No other store has everything Sears has. The heart of this campaign was imagining what people would go after. We wanted to be very honest about Sears, and wanted to be true in every way possible."
Authentic
production
The agency and director paid careful attention to the production process—everything from the period costumes and the hairstyles, to the manner in which the ad was filmed. Serving as both director and DP, Kaye fully understood the authenticity that Sears sought to convey, and used an in-camera approach to re-creating the different filmic looks for each period.
According to Bijarchi, Kaye’s insistence that "Then & Now" should be shot using cameras and techniques indigenous to the different eras was a strong selling point. "We could have just shot everything in 35mm and treated it in post," notes Bijarchi, "but Tony told us, ‘I don’t want to do [the spot] unless we do it this [authentic] way.’ He was really excited about it from the beginning. And he totally understood the brand, and understood what was relevant historically and to modern day."
Kaye wound up using six different cameras, to recreate 10 different decades, says Bijarchi. The equipment utilized included a 1907 hand-cranked Ernemann camera that Kaye found at a vintage camera store in Hollywood, and restored to working condition; a 1915 Bell & Howell camera; and a 1940 Mitchell GZ, as well as various Cooke lenses utilized to achieve the historical look. For the scenes set in the ’60s, Kaye shot 16mm reversal; and he shot DV for the present day scenes, in addition to traditional 35mm footage. The spot was lensed over seven days on location in and around Los Angeles.
"Tony did a lot of due diligence in terms of looking at film references from the different periods," relates Bijarchi, as did production designer Kels Jesse, who compiled many photo binders of references for the spot. "We’d actually booked a couple of days in telecine, but we were done in five hours because Tony shot the right type of film with the right cameras," says Bijarchi. "We did do a great deal of work in online because, while we wanted to be authentic to the time period, we’re still selling something; it has to sound and look good."
"Tony has a way of getting to the heart of a character," adds Erke. "He’s very intimate with [the way he uses] his camera. Looking at his reel, he’s done some intimate, touching spots. We had a lot of people in ‘Then & Now,’ and you have to believe what they were saying. Tony excels at that."
Bijarchi relates that, with more than 130 on-camera principals, Kaye’s commitment to casting proved a deciding factor in selecting him. "We needed people who looked authentic to the particular time period," says Bijarchi, "and who were believable. Tony knows if someone can pull off a line…if they can be believable and emotive."
Erke notes that Sears has catalogs from each era, as well as a historical library of archival photos, which were used for reference when putting together "Then & Now." One of the archival photos wound up supplying the template for a shot in the commercial: the ’50s-era scene set in the Sears electronics department in which a salesman shows TV sets to a customer.
Agency credits for the commercial include Erke and Bijarchi, managing partner/chief creative officer Mark Figliulo, art director Dawn Dingman, and copywriter Hunt Baldwin. Chris Crawford served as Kaye’s executive producer/producer. Rick Lawley and Lisa Gunning of The Whitehouse, which has offices in London, New York, Chicago, and Santa Monica, served as editors on the spot. Colorist for the spot was Michael Mazur of The Filmworkers Club, Chicago, and the online editor was Rob Churchill, also of Filmworkers. Mario Grigorov of Amber Music, New York and London, composed the music on "Then & Now."
expanding ideas
Erke explains that "Then & Now" is not a new direction for Sears, but simply represents "another layer" for the current "Sears. Where Else?" campaign that Y&R launched last year. The popular campaign—which represented a departure for the client—has won kudos for the creative manner in which it managed to convey the diverse array of merchandise Sears sells while also making people laugh.
The debut spot, "Getting That Great Fall Look," directed by Paul Gay of Omaha Pictures, Santa Monica, showed a dressed-up woman striking model-like poses against a background of blowing leaves; ultimately, the spot revealed she had been mugging it up in her front lawn with her husband, who was operating a leaf blower. The products (women’s apparel, a leaf blower) were cleverly woven into the storyline, and the ad—as with subsequent spots in the campaign—uses title cards that identify the merchandise; a checkmark pops up in the little box next to each product’s description.
"Then & Now," in fact, features a title card with Sears logo, underneath which a super reads "Where else?" with a checkmark popping up in the check box at spot’s end, thus tying it to the "Where Else?" campaign. "Obviously, the campaign has been very successful," says Erke. "We’ve gotten a lot of enthusiastic reaction from consumers—everyone seems to have a couple favorite ads, which is nice. It’s challenging enough to create a campaign that people even react to."
The client intends to continue the "Where Else?" campaign, says Erke, noting that there are plans for two additional spots that also incorporate "Then & Now"—one for the spring which focuses on springtime goods, and another slated for next fall, which will highlight back-to-school merchandise. The new spots will contain new footage, as well as images from the currently airing "Then & Now."
"Sears is always collaborative," says Erke. "But with the archival references, we really worked hand-in-hand with them. This was one of the most collaborative processes we’ve experienced." Praising the painstaking and successful effort to recreate the different eras, Bijarchi says, "The people that worked on this spot can use it as a benchmark for their future productions."
