London ad agency Brothers & Sisters has launched a campaign for property website Zoopla, introducing two CGI animated characters created by Oscar-winning studio Aardman–Jess and Debs, two humorous hermit crabs who are navigating the real estate market.
It is the first work Brothers & Sisters has produced since all of the sister brands–Zoopla, uSwitch, Prime Location and Money.co.uk–were consolidated into the agency earlier this year. The agency was briefed to make Zoopla the obvious choice for consumers by demonstrating that its tools and features make it the best place to sell, buy and rent property.
The new Zoopla crab characters mark a continuation of the “Crabs” campaign originally launched in 2017. In this spot titled “Moodboard,” Debs is very pleased with her makeshift “moving house moodboard,” but when Jess tells her that Zoopla does it all for you–creates search areas, shows running costs, tracks local house prices–Debs chucks out her board and goes straight to Zoopla. The tagline is “Smarter about property.”
Aardman’s Darren Dubicki, who directed the spot, said, “This was the exciting task in creating a characterful Hermit crab duo for Zoopla. Figuring out the level of personality we’d need to bring them to life–giving them nuanced gestures so the audience believes there’s two real characters deep within their shells–firmly joined in neighborly friendship, and moved around together for as long as they remember. We hope that we’ve helped to create a blueprint for these crab characters, allowing them to venture further afield from the seaside…possibly meeting other friends along the way.”
Jess and Debs will also appear on OOH sites, with posters promoting the scale and expertise of Zoopla.
