Connecting with small U.K. businesses throughout the pandemic, Barcklaycard Business has set its sights on growth, positioning itself as the go-to for all small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking for a partner to take their business to the next chapter. Towards that end, Droga5 London devised a campaign which includes this launch film for Barclaycard Business in the U.K.
Directed by Jeff Low of Biscuit Filmworks, the film opens in a hardware store with a business owner winding down what feels like a typical bank commercial for Barclaycard Business. The logo appears, signaling the end of the ad. But the footage keeps rolling as a customer engages her in what seems to be a completely irrelevant yet strangely intriguing philosophical debate. After all, if a hardware stores sells all its hammers, is it still a hardware store? What makes a hardware store truly a hardware store? The wryly existential discussion eventually winds back to payments and at the mention of her business, our SME owner snaps back to camera to continue the ad: because “the payment part is just the start”.
Chris Russell and Ahmed Ellabib were the Droga5 London creatives on the campaign.
CreditsClient Barclaycard Business Agency Droga5 London David Kolbusz, chief creative officer; Shelley Smoler, executive creative director; Raph Basckin, group creative director; Chris Russell, Ahmed Ellabib, creatives; Peter Montgomery, head of production; Josh Sanders, producer; May Powell, assistant producer; Damien Le Castrec, head of strategy; Francesca Zedde, strategy director. Production Biscuit Filmworks Jeff Low, director; Thomas Hardmeier, DP; Kwok Yau, producer. Editorial Work Bill Smedley, editor. Postproduction ETC Sound String & Tins
Director Gia Coppola Teams With Mejuri For “A New York Minute”; 1st Episode Takes Us To The Grocery Store
Mejuri, known for turning fine jewelry into an everyday luxury, has partnered with director Gia Coppola (The Last Show Girl, Palo Alto) and The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles, for the first time reimagining the brand’s story as episodic content. In a series of microfilms, co-created by Coppola and premiering following New York Fashion Week, Mejuri eschewed a typical celebrity campaign and cast us as voyeurs to a group of aspiring young women--real people, not actors--at the crossroads of their adult lives against the backdrop of New York City.
Titled “A New York Minute,” the series features five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane. Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
“When I met with Gia and The Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
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