The sins of Rome refresh the youth of Japan
An aggressive game show, a spiritual figure descending from above, an air of crazy menace… what more do you need?
Add one largely forgotten 1847 salon painting of the decadence of the Roman empire.
Analyse for what it could do for the youth of contemporary Japan.
Shape a mind-boggling narrative and mix together with state of the art film craft.
Once cooked, you have one of the most crazy and yet commercially astute spots.
If you wonder what we’re drinking, its Hecate, a flavoursome non-alcoholic drink in Japan. But you could be mistaken for thinking we have been on the harder stuff when you watch, or re-watch, What Happened?
This is one of the more bizarre mini-masterpieces of film craft to emerge from Japan last year. It’s had a fluctuating win ratio around the world: loved in some places, not everywhere. Just too crazy, for some, but the advanced jury of Cresta saw it for the gem of both imagination and craft when awarding it a trophy.
And to find out why, there’s no better person to tell the story than Kensuke Harada, the creative director, copywriter and film planner at Cherry, the agency behind this spot. Over to him:
“An idea can only be born from the product. All the ideas expressed in this film come not just from the strength and the uniqueness of the product but by fully understanding and deeply loving what's hidden behind the product: the client's business strategy, the vision they want to achieve, and even the brand character.
The most important thing is to break the barriers of client and agency. To work as “one team.”
Cherry, the agency that came up with the film concept, was not only behind the film’s production but the creative team was involved in every step of product and communication strategy development, all the way from the concept development of the beverage Hecate to packaging design.
Harada also worked as the client’s creative director for half a year, and alongside the President of Hecate company, he was involved not only with the beverage but the business planning and strategy for the company as a whole. He says of selling in such an unusual film treatment: “Since the project proposal was created by incorporating the clear role and purpose the film will serve within the wider communication strategy, the proposal was received well and smoothly accepted.”
The initial target of the launch was ‘rebellious party animals’, which led to the limited sales route of placing products at nightclubs, a few bars, and e-commerce. The role of the film was to improve product awareness among the initial target market and the increase of online product search.
Harada continues: ‘We were also aware that our target group had the tendency to react strongly to stylish products and films imported from overseas. Therefore, to make our product trend easily amongst our target market, we purposefully made a film that isn’t like the traditional Japanese ad. We created a film that our target market preferred - hyper-stylised, crazy, unconventional, with an eccentric storyline. As a result, the target group responded as predicted.Following the release of the film, e- commerce sales showed rapid increase, achieving 300 per cent of the sales target.”
The detailed development of the film was done by Haruda and his team working closely with film director Yukihiro Shoda.
Harada credits the director with adding new twists: ‘The various ideas director Shoda brought to the table, like reversing the scene in the apartment, added the artistic characteristics and spark to the film, raised the potency and value to a surprising level.’ He says it was vital for him to take responsibility of working closely with the client while not compromising the high-quality ideas created by Shoda and his team.
And that obscure choice of inspiring painting? Thomas Couture’s Romans of the Decadence, first exhibited in 1847 and now held at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, overflows with alcohol and sex and depicts the Romans as a people who have lost order and reason. ‘What would happen if this scene were non-alcoholic and juxtaposed against modern Japan? That was the hidden theme and challenge behind this film,’ explains Harada.
‘We aimed to create an image where light, shadow, and vivid colours dominate. Therefore, to make the top cut especially eye-catching, we visualised sunlight coming in from a low angle, bleeding through a window, creating a sunset tone of orange throughout the room. We created this with lighting and colour correction. We calculated the overall ratio of the contrast and adjusted the deep black shadows, blues, and blue-green hues. While contrast exists, by making the visual extremely smooth and accurate, we were able to successfully create a dramatic and picturesque world.
‘Also, we were able to unify the overall visuals by using the color palette of orange and cyan. How did we manage to create this ideal world within the budget? It is because of the rare and outstanding skills that the producers of this film, Mr. Aso and Mr. Maruyama, showed. With their incredible efforts, we were able to overcome all challenges.
I believe advertisements should be entertaining. In this era, with the rapid change in marketing, logic takes precedence. While top heavy and boring ads are on the rise, I wanted to once again prove that Japanese advertisement can be entertainment that can be enjoyed around the world.’
Job done.
21.04.20
