29
de Desembre
de
2016
Act.
29
de Desembre
de
2016
Boys can play with dolls and girls can ask the Three Kings for toy cars. This is the message in the new animated ad made by the Barcelona production company Post23 for Audi, a type of short film that has stirred up social media thanks to it showing Barbie sitting in a German branded car.
It lasts for three minutes, is made completely in 3D and has a script that breaks gender stereotypes at a key moment in the Christmas shopping season. It has a format that is "innovative in publicity that, bit by bit, is gaining ground in Europe," points out the production company's director, Jordi Garcia. The firm has been in the sector for more than 15 years, and with more clients in Europe than in Spain, is clearly finding that the production of ads is acquiring a more "social" side.
Garcia tells VIA Empresa that to be chosen to develop a project like this requires following a certain procedure. "The main idea came from the Proximity Barcelona publicity agency," he says, "for a year they had been trying to sell it to Audi because they wanted to do a campaign with social involvement and not simply an ad for a car on a road."
Post 23 got the job through a competition against two other leading animation production companies in Spain, with the Barcelona firm coming out on top. From July to December, the team of 15 people that make up the firm worked full time on the short film.
Softening the message
"We increasingly have more clients who are beginning to think about other things than just selling. They see that there are problems and want to do their bit for society, to help raise awareness of certain attitudes or positions," says Garcia about a decision whose main objective is to always associate a brand with certain values. And in the case of Audi, the leitmotif for this shopping season is breaking down the differences between toys for boys and girls.
As a father himself, the head of Post 23 says that one day he doesn't want to have to do these types of ads: "I want my daughter to one day see these ads as old-fashioned, and for her to ask me why we made them. That will then mean that the problem will have been solved." It is a problem like waste management or promoting a more ecological mentality, a branch that Garcia says is increasingly common in these new types of campaigns.
He also thinks that society "is increasingly normalising the issues related to respect and responsibility" and that it is animation that is helping it to do so. "Publicity is expensive to produce, television slots are very expensive and do not allow you to make long ads," he says. "Animation helps to soften the message, you get the feeling that you are watching a film and not an ad," he concludes, adding that animated ad campaigns are most often used to spread the message of responsible consumption in Europe.
Television v YouTube
Until now, television was the channel par excellence, but the Internet is gaining ground on it. The main reason is the chance it offers to watch content when users choose and to decide whether users want the product or not. And that is something that brands find difficult to understand. "Neither Audi nor Proximity were used to animated ads to advertise online only, because at the beginning they did not know what the final product would be like," says the head of Post 23, who insists that only three days before the launch of the video it already had 1.4 million views.
Its success led to the decision to show the ad in some cinemas in Barcelona and Madrid as a short film, and also to its television debut on Movistaron December 23, 24 and 25, coinciding with the schedule of children's Christmas films. If it had not first had this success on the Internet, perhaps these decisions would never have be made.
Produced in Barcelona to sell abroad
Post 23 is a result of a merger between two companies, one devoted to animation, and the other to post-production. They came together for a project and decided to make the collaboration permanent by creating a new company, "because that way it is easier to manage the work," argues Garcia.
Every year they create between four and six campaigns, only because they are projects that take months and need the whole team to be involved. They are the creators of the ads for Team Actimel and have carried out a number of projects –both animation and conventional publicity- for Cuétara, Nescafé, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, Seat and Nike.
They are all projects that are well-known in Spain, but most of their clients are abroad. Garcia thinks that this country is one step behind in terms of animation, which "is mainly made for video games," he points out, adding that the market has to grow before we see animation in television ads, as is the case in other countries, such as the United Kingdom. The sector's reputation also has to grow, because, as he says, "the salaries offered in Spain do not compensate for the work done."
It lasts for three minutes, is made completely in 3D and has a script that breaks gender stereotypes at a key moment in the Christmas shopping season. It has a format that is "innovative in publicity that, bit by bit, is gaining ground in Europe," points out the production company's director, Jordi Garcia. The firm has been in the sector for more than 15 years, and with more clients in Europe than in Spain, is clearly finding that the production of ads is acquiring a more "social" side.
Garcia tells VIA Empresa that to be chosen to develop a project like this requires following a certain procedure. "The main idea came from the Proximity Barcelona publicity agency," he says, "for a year they had been trying to sell it to Audi because they wanted to do a campaign with social involvement and not simply an ad for a car on a road."
Post 23 got the job through a competition against two other leading animation production companies in Spain, with the Barcelona firm coming out on top. From July to December, the team of 15 people that make up the firm worked full time on the short film.
Softening the message
"We increasingly have more clients who are beginning to think about other things than just selling. They see that there are problems and want to do their bit for society, to help raise awareness of certain attitudes or positions," says Garcia about a decision whose main objective is to always associate a brand with certain values. And in the case of Audi, the leitmotif for this shopping season is breaking down the differences between toys for boys and girls.
As a father himself, the head of Post 23 says that one day he doesn't want to have to do these types of ads: "I want my daughter to one day see these ads as old-fashioned, and for her to ask me why we made them. That will then mean that the problem will have been solved." It is a problem like waste management or promoting a more ecological mentality, a branch that Garcia says is increasingly common in these new types of campaigns.
He also thinks that society "is increasingly normalising the issues related to respect and responsibility" and that it is animation that is helping it to do so. "Publicity is expensive to produce, television slots are very expensive and do not allow you to make long ads," he says. "Animation helps to soften the message, you get the feeling that you are watching a film and not an ad," he concludes, adding that animated ad campaigns are most often used to spread the message of responsible consumption in Europe.
Television v YouTube
Until now, television was the channel par excellence, but the Internet is gaining ground on it. The main reason is the chance it offers to watch content when users choose and to decide whether users want the product or not. And that is something that brands find difficult to understand. "Neither Audi nor Proximity were used to animated ads to advertise online only, because at the beginning they did not know what the final product would be like," says the head of Post 23, who insists that only three days before the launch of the video it already had 1.4 million views.
Its success led to the decision to show the ad in some cinemas in Barcelona and Madrid as a short film, and also to its television debut on Movistaron December 23, 24 and 25, coinciding with the schedule of children's Christmas films. If it had not first had this success on the Internet, perhaps these decisions would never have be made.
Produced in Barcelona to sell abroad
Post 23 is a result of a merger between two companies, one devoted to animation, and the other to post-production. They came together for a project and decided to make the collaboration permanent by creating a new company, "because that way it is easier to manage the work," argues Garcia.
 |
| The Post 23 team | Ceded |
Every year they create between four and six campaigns, only because they are projects that take months and need the whole team to be involved. They are the creators of the ads for Team Actimel and have carried out a number of projects –both animation and conventional publicity- for Cuétara, Nescafé, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, Seat and Nike.
They are all projects that are well-known in Spain, but most of their clients are abroad. Garcia thinks that this country is one step behind in terms of animation, which "is mainly made for video games," he points out, adding that the market has to grow before we see animation in television ads, as is the case in other countries, such as the United Kingdom. The sector's reputation also has to grow, because, as he says, "the salaries offered in Spain do not compensate for the work done."