Milk advertising turned inside-out

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For the first 13 years of our lives we do exactly what our parents tell us. For the next 13 we do the exact opposite. To engage a new audience who are sceptical of advertising, Colenso BBDO’s latest work for Anchor features three poems written and performed by world champion slam poet Harry Baker, who hails from Bristol in the UK.

With a degree in mathematics and a sharp mind for science, Baker was an obvious choice to translate the nutritional benefits of milk into poems for teenagers, says Colenso CD Dave Brady. “He explains complicated biology with relaxed rhyming prose to impart a fresh perspective on milk.”

The words were brought to life in film by three visual artists who interpreted one poem each using their distinctive disciplines. Dance and style icon Parris Goebel choreographed Blank Canvas, recent design graduate and budding filmmaker Megan Au shot Real, and Assembly’s visual effects team led by Jonny Kofoed created Inside-out.

“I love the way each film feels so different,” Brady says. “The process required bravery and trust from both the client and ourselves to hold the reins lightly and collaborate from a very early stage with some interesting and very talented creative people. All the films draw you in beautifully and keep hold of you.”

The campaign aligns directly with Anchor’s Go Strong platform, the belief being that the nutrition in dairy provides the strength which builds confidence to give anything a go.

Fonterra marketing manager Kevin Taffs said: “We were fascinated first by Harry’s articulation of milk, and then the collaboration between local artists to illustrate the goodness it provides. I think they’ve done a marvellous job.”

Deliberate in positioning itself as the antithesis to traditional marketing, the campaign is designed to inspire teenagers to be themselves, and to create their own definition of strength.

“Everyone needs a healthy diet to reach their potential – especially young people who are still growing,” said Fonterra International group business director Rachel Morgan. “We needed to reach a suspicious and possibly indifferent audience, and encourage them to reconsider dairy as being a relevant ingredient for balanced nutrition.”

Brady said: “I think it’s fantastic that a brand like Anchor is talking to young people about building a strong body, getting out there in the world and giving it a go.”

November last year saw Anchor celebrate 130 years as one of New Zealand’s heritage brands.


CREDITS

Agency: Colenso BBDO
Client: Fonterra
Chief Marketing Officer: Andy Dasgupta
Marketing Director: Clare Morgan
GM Anchor: Otavio Faccina
Marketing Manager: Kevin Taffs
Poems: Harry Baker
Production Company (Inside-out & Real): Assembly
Production Company (Blank Canvas): Brett Goebel & Parris Goebel via Studio 23
Filmmaker/DOP (Real): Megan Au
Sound Design: Peter Hobbs, Harmonic Studio
Media Agency: MediaCom


The collaborators

Harry Baker: Harry Baker is a London-based performance poet. He started out performing Jay Z-Maths parodies in school competitions, then represented his country in Paris to become the youngest ever World Poetry Slam Champion in 2012 at the age of 20. Ed Sheeran calls him a champion. Ice Cube recently asked him to promote his movie with a poetry-style rap battle. Harry’s raw honesty, tongue-in-cheek humour and blistering wordplay has won the hearts and minds of audiences across the globe. He’s had 5-Star Edinburgh Fringe shows, published a book of poems and given Ted talks. Last summer was Harry’s first time in New Zealand, where he toured teaching creative writing in schools. Since Harry often references maths and science in his work, we wanted to know what he thought of milk. He told us in three poems.

Parris Goebel: Parris Goebel is a 25 year-old artist, dancer, choreographer and director from south-east Auckland. In the last few years she’s worked with Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, J-Lo and Janet Jackson. Parris’ dance crew Royal Family have won three gold medals at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships, beginning with the then unknown all-female crew ReQuest. Inspired by Harry’s words on milk, Parris created and performed the choreography for Blank Canvas featuring friends and fellow dancers, Kirsten Dodgen and Kaea Pearce.

Assembly: Assembly are an Auckland-based production company with a core team of directors, filmmakers, concept artists, graphic designers, developers, engineers, vfx specialists, 3D artists and animators. Each visual concept for Inside-out was developed from scratch by their team of graphic effects specialists to create the poem’s ‘world’. Animation director Jonny Kofoed did an amazing job blending together typographic, video and CGI elements to deliver a multi-layered, highly textural and evocative piece of film. He was even a milk delivery boy back in the day.

Megan Au: Every reaction filmed in Real was genuine. Filmmaker Megan Au met and introduced herself to people around Auckland city where she could capture natural responses to questions on film. The team at Assembly helped Megan out with some gear and guidance, leaving her to create her first piece of commissioned work out of university. Megan is currently completing an honours year while upskilling through work at Assembly and through personal projects.

Peter Hobbs: Peter is a music composer and sound designer based in Kingsland, Auckland. He has composed soundtracks for film, television, commercials, art installations, and contemporary dance works. He also fronts the Alternative Country “Lost Demos”. Hobbs describes himself as a “diehard advocate for the spaces between the notes”. He enjoys collaborating on artistic projects, and creating soundscapes for virtual reality and other visual mediums, regularly working with the leading Māori dance company.

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