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Pomparkour and ceremony as Colenso and V move up ladder

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While most normal people merely think about ridiculous ideas and never actually go through with them, the beauty of the ad industry is that agencies are often given a big bunch of cash to make those ridiculous ideas come true. And that’s exactly what Colenso has done with its latest—and awesome—ladder-inspired campaign for V’s new Isokinetic, guarana infused energy drink.

Colenso’s past work for V has, as group account director Angela Watson says, “blurred the lines between the real world and the fake world”, with the efforts of the monster trucks and jetpackman creating some major discussion, both online and in the media, about whether or not the whole shebang was real or not. And while she says this most recent effort is most definitely real, it’s continued that slightly mysterious, almost unbelievable trend to keep the punters interested. And the rather beautiful TVC that follows three jumping, climbing Kiwi beans (one is Japanese but has lived here for a few years) around as they go about their kerrazzee business in Auckland has to rank as one of the coolest we’ve seen in a while, from anywhere.

Watson says the agency heard about a few local guys who have worked with Cirque de Soleil in the past and, most recently, were employed as stuntmen on the Power Rangers show that was being filmed in Auckland and were pursuing a rather strange and seemingly fairly dangerous leisure activity that’s been labelled ‘Pomparkour’, which is basically a combination of using hooked ladders to climb buildings (the French art of Pompier) and urban exploration (the French art of Parkour), with a few special tricks thrown in there.

The TVC took three days to shoot, starting on the harbour bridge, and Watson says independent director Nathan Price did an amazing job, not just of filming, but also of finding the amazing locations that she didn’t know even existed in the city. Of course, all appropriate safety precautions were taken, with the stunties being wired up (cop out) to avoid splattering.

V has been something of a marketing success story, both for its viral campaigns and its use of social media and online channels. Frucor beverages marketing manager Iaan Buchanan discussed the rise of V and the role social media has played in its success at a CAANZ event earlier this year saying that around its tenth birthday V was losing relevance among the key 18-24 age bracket and TV wasn’t working.

As a result, the brand decided to create an online community called the V Republic, primarily because 18 percent of Gen Y believe traditional broadcasting messages, whereas 50 percent believe a message if it comes via a friend. And, as such, he says the conversation economy is ever more important, with marketing, particularly to the younger generation, increasingly being about how you can include your brand in those conversations.

He thinks the companies that can think of interesting ways to engage consumers online will be the ones reaping the financial rewards in the real world. And with a fully-kitted out Facetweetubebo capacity on the V Republic website for the Pomparkour revolution, as well as a print and Adshel campaign to go along with the TVCs, Colenso and Frucor look set to continue creating those conversations with this one.

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