.99 is often thought of as a retail shop. That is its main area of expertise, of course, and there’s no doubt its production processes and studio facilities are a big part of its appeal to clients—and one of the major reasons it won five out of five pitches in recent months and managed to recover super quickly from a horror year in 2012. But it has had its creative moments as well, perhaps none more so than the inflight videos for Air New Zealand, and it’s shown its creative stripes once again for one of its new clients Genesis Energy, with a brand refresh that centres around a split-screen TVC that shows how the company is ‘in it for you’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTaAbHM_xJk
The tagline could be seen as the energy equivalent of ANZ’s ‘We live in your world’ and, given the increases in the price of power over the years, many would argue the ad should also say ‘we’re in it for money’. No doubt the charitable sentiment of the ad and the idea of ‘putting customers at the heart of its business’, will lead to many complainers complaining. But that aside, it’s a nice showcase of Genesis’ generation capabilities; the visual/thematic links between infrastructure and staff with the homes and offices the company powers has been done brilliantly by Thick as Thieves’ Leo Woodhead; and extra points to .99 for greasing up to its client Foodstuffs by getting some Pams baked beans in the ad and also giving a nod to Pooky the pukeko at the start. In our humble opinion, it’s probably the best single TVC to come out of .99 in a few years.
“We want to show our customers what
Genesis Energy stands for and that we’re here to help them,” says Genesis Energy’s general manager of marketing, Chris Watney. “We also wanted to
develop one brand that speaks to all our customers and stakeholders and ensures
that we stand out from our competitors.”
.99 executive creative director/ chief executive Craig Whitehead
says the creative direction grew out of the agency’s experiences visiting
a range of Genesis Energy sites across the country.
“We found that everyone we
met, from the Contact Centre team through to the people generating the energy
we all use, were genuinely in it for the customers and the communities they
work in. So we wanted that realness to come through in the work.”
The TVC features real Genesis Energy employees, as well as the pupils of Lake Tekapo School, who are part of Genesis Energy’s Schoolgen programme. Subsequent advertising will dig a little deeper into the new offerings from Genesis Energy that help its customers manage their energy use.
The TV advertising is
supported online with a campaign microsite developed by .99’s digital team in
partnership with Genesis Energy that explains the rationale behind the campaign and the things it’s doing to improve.
“We’re always looking for smarter, simpler ways of providing you with the energy you need for today and tomorrow,” the site says. “Whether it’s Advanced Meters, in-school solar education or online energy monitoring, we’re putting our energy into making life easier for you, your family and your business.”
The site also points users in the direction of Tomorrow Street, an experiment “where 15 real Kiwi families let us into their homes so we can study their energy use and they can help us test the latest energy innovations”.
Credits:
ECD/CEO: Craig Whitehead
Head of Copy: Mark Easterbrook
Senior Art Director: Dom Antelme
Head of Motion Graphics & TVP: Vicki O’Leary
Senior Account Director: Rachel Aikin
Senior Motion Designer: Craig Murray
General Manager Marketing: Chris Watney
Brand Manager: Sumi Davis
Director: Leo Woodhead
Production Company: Thick as Thieves
Executive Producer: Nik Beachman
Producer: Nikki Smith
DoP: Ginny Loane
Editor: Tim Mauger
Colourist: Clare Burlinson
Flame Artist: Leoni Willis
Music + Sound Production: Liquid Studios
Composer: Peter Van Der Fluit
Sound Design: Craig Matuschka
