Volvo – Meet Volvo Ex90
Arguably the best example of emotive long-form storytelling from last year. While Jaguar took a flamethrower to their past, Volvo stuck to what’s made them great and produced a top tier example of product storytelling, making safety truly engaging. Granted if you can afford Hoyte Van Hoytema (cinematographer of Interstellar and Oppenheimer), the emotive magic will follow, but nonetheless it’s masterful, gorgeous, tear-jerking and memorable.
British Heart Foundation – England Til I Died
When this came out, I remember just staring at it, basking in its glory. The campaign commemorates 12 young football fans who lost their lives to heart disease – commissioning a wave of simple yet powerful murals to draw attention and ultimately support to the issue. Hard hitting stuff, incredible copy, lovely craft, deserving of some love.
On – Soft Wins
In a world of increasingly isolating, hardcore, do-or-die sporting narratives, it was super refreshing to see a softer side take centre stage. Thought the whole thing was a masterclass in creating an ecosystem built around the Super Bowl spot. Elmo, as the brand character, is nostalgic, memorable and just nice. The Super Bowl spot was built out of found, not forced insight, with nice honesty in tone. Lovely little short stories acting as explanations around it all. Awesome collaborations with athletes. Incredible integration into product creative AND activations of IRL events built out of the creative ideas. Super impressive stuff.
Paddy Smith is Chief Creative Officer of Born Social
