The final "eyebrows" film is not far off the original script. Once I got the idea, I walked over to Rich (Flintham, Fallon's executive creative director) with it. We had a chat about it and how it could take shape and then I wrote it down. I think it's about half a page and an image. That's how it was presented to Lee (Rolston, see box) and Lucy (Evans, the senior brand manager at Cadbury Dairy Milk), who pretty much bought it straight off the bat. It takes courage from a client to do that.
I think we realised quite early that the small details would be the things that would make it great. But we had to be careful not to do things that would overshadow the main action, just keep you on your toes a bit. Once we got Tom (Kuntz, who directed the spot through MJZ) on board, he looked at how the camera and editing would complement and bring the spot forward.
It was a very collaborative process, I have to say, where Rich, Tom and I pitched in different things to add to the idea. I think the balloon came from Rich, and Tom definitely brought the whole music video touch to it, and so on. In most cases, we found that what we took away, rather than added, worked better.
The music
We all agreed early on that the music had to be one of those classic 80s electro tracks from that twilight era between funk/disco and hip-hop, as we know it now. However, it took a bit of time searching around to find the perfect track. It's such a narrow musical road. But when I played Don't Stop The Rock loud in the office, I could see how people's heads would start bopping to the beat. Occasionally, someone would throw themselves on the ground and do the worm or an arm or leg would do a wave movement. I had to stop playing it, unfortunately, after getting a call from health and safety. It's apparently considered hazardous to dance at work in the UK. But with that exception, it was, overall, a really smooth and enjoyable process.
Casting the children
Casting was another thing we put a lot of energy into. It's not as easy as you would imagine finding kids with eyebrows as talented as this. Tom and I were a bit worried at first. That apprehension went away once we met the two kids: there was no doubt who we were going to pick when they stepped into the casting studio. They were ace; they would walk on set and do their thing on Tom's command.
The anticipation
I'm reasonably new here at Fallon, but looking at the agency's legacy of making content that resonates with the public, I was never worried that we wouldn't come up with something worthwhile. I mean, the brief is more or less open to the whole agency to work on. There are so many great creatives here, that I never felt pressure that it had to be me coming up with an idea; that's just how it played out this time around. It's a great brief and fun to work on, even if the idea doesn't get sold. The experience stimulates you to do better work on the other accounts you're working on.
I'm sure there will be more great Glass and a Half Full Productions, only next time there will likely be other names in the credits. I just hope "eyebrows" will stand the test of time and make the cut for when Cadbury gives out "the best of Glass and a Half Full Productions" in a couple of years' time.
- Nils-Petter Lovgren is a creative director at Fallon
THE CLIENT Q&A
Lee Rolston Cadbury's director of marketing, blocks and beverages
- How did you feel when Fallon presented the idea?
With this one, we saw the idea and instantly just thought it felt right - you can't help but smile when you look at the idea even in its simplest form, and that was our strongest indicator that we were on to something.
- Do you feel a lot of pressure to live up to the success of 'gorilla'?
It's an interesting one because, from a success point of view, we need to look at creative and commercial success separately, and "trucks" and "gorilla" delivered against both of those.
- What are you hoping to achieve from the campaign?
We were looking to deliver the brand feeling, but what struck us was a charm and a warmth that really comes out in the execution. That was the dial we wanted to turn up - the warmth of feeling. "Gorilla" had that in buckets and "trucks" perhaps in moments.
- Do you think 'eyebrows' is better than 'trucks'?
The best thing about the campaigns is that they're all individual. I think it's up there, yes. Of all three of them, with this one, I couldn't help but actively laugh out loud - you can't help yourself.