Here in the expansive and luxurious StopPress towers, Instant Kiwi’s ‘It Pays to Push Your Luck’ campaigns ranks as one of the funniest of the year, which isn’t entirely surprising given the comedy-loving combination of NZ Lotteries, DDB, Jesse Griffin and The Sweet Shop’s Stuart McDonald, he of Summer Height’s High fame, was involved in its creation. And after the first instalment, which saw the Alibi spot make it into the good bit of the Fair Go Ad Awards, it’s followed up with some entertaining/violating instore luck pushing that could almost be likened to the advertising equivalent of Trigger Happy TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIc4V5p6ePU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxfUTC2RJZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukqlKZe0RBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85-EslmGdMw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BgFCQEMWyQ
As it says on the video: “Before rushing in and making a big decision, it’s said that sometimes it’s best to sleep on it. We don’t know if it is supposed to be taken so literally, but hey, apparently the customer is always right.”
It has also followed up the first spot in the fake birthday party auditions with the release of a couple of new clips, including a bravura performance of a dying wolf and some awkward contortionism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCRauDLpals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR6mgAFMx-I
Back in June, Kirsty Phillips, Instant Kiwi marketing manager, said the campaign was a lot different to anything the brand had done in the past, primarily because it was largely unscripted.
“That keeps it fresh and spontaneous, but it did make it that much harder to sell internally because it was such a leap of faith. We really needed to have a lot of faith in DDB, the director and Jesse [Griffin],” she says.
While conventional talent and scripts were involved for the garage sale series, Griffin and McDonald held a series of workshops about the different scenarios that might eventuate in an effort to arm him with “lots and lots of ammo” so that they could surprise the actors and capture those genuine reactions. And, as a result of the entertaining ad libbing, she says they didn’t end up using the scripts anyway.
And, in an effort to gain the attention of a new, infrequent Instant Kiwi player, SparkPHD and DDB instigated a significant shift from the brand’s traditional media approach to a content-led strategy.
Credits:
Agency: DDB Group New Zealand
Client: New Zealand Lotteries
Product: Instant Kiwi
Group Executive Creative Director: Andy Fackrell
Group Executive Creative Director: Toby Talbot
Creative Director: Steve Kane
Art Director/copywriter: Jonathan McMahon
Art Director/copywriter: Lisa Fedyszyn
Designer: Toby Morris
Executive Producer: Judy Thompson
Agency Producer: Jane Mill
Agency Producer: Rosie Grayson
Agency Producer: Tania Jeram
Production Company: The Sweet Shop
Director: Stuart McDonald
Producer: Ben Dailey
Executive Producer: Fiona King
Managing Director: George Mackenzie
DOP: Crighton Bone
Editor: Peter Sciberras @ the Butchery
Assistant Editor: Michael Lutman @ the Butchery
Visual Effects Artist: Eugene Richards@ The Refinery
Colourist: Vincent Taylor @ The Refinery
Sound Design: Jon Cooper @ The Coopers of Franklin Road,
Sound Design: Craig Conway @ Final Sound.
Animation: Tony Leslie @ Waxeye.
Animation: Paul Carter @ Waxeye.
Group Business Director: Angela Watson
Group Business Director: Aimee McCammon
Account Director: Jenny Travers
Account Manager: Peter Jiang
Planner: Thinza Mon
Chief Executive: Wayne Pickup
Chief Financial Officer: Warren Sailsbury
Head of Marketing: Wendy Rayner
Marketing Manager: Kirsty Phillips
Brand Manager: John Alexander
