THE LIFT

Silver eurobest Award
TitleTHE LIFT
BrandBIANCO FOOTWEAR
Product/ServiceBIANCO FOOTWEAR
Category A01. Fiction & Non-Fiction Films up to 5 minutes
Entrant &CO Copenhagen, DENMARK
Idea Creation &CO Copenhagen, DENMARK
Production NEW LAND Copenhagen, DENMARK
Credits
Name Company Position
Thomas Hoffmann &Co. / NoA Creative Director
Lea Floodgaard &Co. / NoA Art Director
Katrine Winblad &Co. / NoA Art Director
Mathias Trads &Co. / NoA Copy Writer
Daniel Kragh-Jacobsen new-land Director

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

With a runtime of almost 5 minutes, set in a single location, and without containing any dialogue whatsoever, the film still engage its viewers. The film itself is more reminiscent of a romantic-comedy than a conventional ad - and this approach led everything from production to distribution. It was written, shot and edited as a shortfilm. The film opens with a title, has a slow build, and character arcs that culminate in a spectacular anti-climax. What’s more, the film was optimized to spur conversations revolving around its human insight - and more than 16.000 people did so on facebook alone.

Background

BIANCO wanted to continue their history of making socially relevant ads - without causing controversy. The objective was to create an awareness campaign that would emotionally resonate with our audience and make the brand stand out in a rather bland category (affordable footwear) and thereby increase consideration. In our research, we found that most people overthink situations to such a degree that it holds them back in life. This issue stems, in part, from the fashion industry and BIANCO wanted to counter it. Thus the “Step out of your head”-campaign was born. The film “the Lift” became the campaign’s centrepiece. Set entirely within the confines of a lift, we follow two people who fall in love, without the other ever knowing. We gain insight into their thoughts by way of subtitles. They plot ways to break the ice, without ever opening their mouths. And that becomes the central conflict.

Describe the creative idea

In a film set entirely within the confines of a lift, we follow two people who fall in love, without the other ever knowing. We gain insight into their thoughts by way of subtitles. They plot and scheme ways to break the ice, without ever opening their mouths. And that quickly becomes the central conflict. Their overthinking holds them from acting on their desires. The film is an intimate, and often awkward, look into two people paralysed by their own thoughts. And by the end, we wish nothing more than they’d “Step out of their head”

Describe the strategy

This campaign is purely focused on brand awareness and increasing the consideration rate among BIANCO’s audience. The film is intended to spur conversations among the audience, fueled by a relatable human insight. Product related communication have followed, after establishing an emotional bond between brand and audience. BIANCO’s history includes brave campaigns focused on social issues, like ‘Equal pay is not enough’ and ‘Hate is so 2018’. ‘The Lift’ represents a different type of bravery, in an area that many struggle to get right: love. Delivering our message in a 5 minute short-film made us capable of unfolding a more believable and entertaining conversations. The conversations we optimized to unlock on social media was: ‘I know the feeling’, ‘This is what we talked about’, ‘Next time … just do it’, ‘This was us honey’, ‘The flirt - I always wanted to say something’ and ‘Why is it like this in society’.

Describe the execution

The approach and central idea of the campaign was creating a short-film that would engage viewers throughout a 5 minute runtime. And thus increase both brand awareness and consideration. The film was front-loaded with a modest media budget, and only sourced on social media. But with an organic reach way beyond its estimation, the film outperformed on both view-through rate and overall views. BIANCO has a rich history of campaigns that counter social issues. For their 2019 push, they wanted to continue this, but without causing controversy. That resulted in an almost love story between two people who’re paralysed by overthinking. To heighten the sense of awkwardness, and highlight the insight, the film is set entirely within a lift.

Describe the outcome

The campaign has been received with great excitement by its target audience. People are calling for a sequel, which is a rare request for an ad. The film was only allocated a media budget for Denmark and Norway, but has travelled much further on its own. As a result, the views on Facebook and YouTube have reached 16.9 million. 363.500 people have reacted to it, and shared it more than 155.000 times on facebook alone. The organic reach on Bianco’s own Facebook post amounts to 22 %. On YouTube, almost 50% of all the people exposed watched the 5 minute short-film to the very end.