The idea that financial advertising has to come from a set of stuffy rules is long gone. UK ad agency, Now, and UK credit card provider, Vanquis, have still found striking new ground to walk on.
Their campaign’s lead commercial features a cat “walking tall” (literally and figuratively) through the street, set to Val Doonican’s hit, Walk Tall. Most importantly (as if the likely prospect of the ad making an impact isn’t important?), the commercial is confident, positive and upbeat. It’s perfectly timed to catch the mood of the moment as the UK emerges from lockdown.
Ben da Costa, chief creative officer at NOW, stated, “What better way to demonstrate that a Vanquis credit card can help get you back on the front foot with your finances and feel confident again, than a track from the legend that is Val Doonican and your everyday cat walking on its hind legs?”
Walk Tall with Vanquis is running across TV, radio and digital, and kickstarts a PR and social campaign created to spread the message further.
The hero spot was directed by Henry Littlechild at MPC Creative. MPC produced both the live-action and VFX for the campaign.
A lot of thought and attention went into the making of the photo-realistic cat – from his looks and personality to his distinctive walk, which was inspired by cultural references including Saturday Night Fever, Reservoir Dogs and Singin’ in the Rain. The walk was projected live on set using a proprietary app, then fully animated, lit, rendered and textured during post-production.
Ever changing travel restrictions made for tricky planning as the ad was shot in January 2021 during UK’s third lockdown. With special permission from the Bulgarian government to travel and with regular testing on the set, the team was able to go ahead with filming at the COVID-secure Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia.
Thomas Allder, Customer Director at Vanquis, stated, “After months of planning and development, we’re really excited for the launch of our Walk Tall campaign – our first major campaign since 2019. It all started with focus groups, where our target customers told us that they wanted to see future-focussed, positive messages when thinking about their finances. This is exactly what this campaign embodies. It puts Vanquis firmly back on the map, clearly communicating how we support people as they take back control of their financial future, boost their confidence and therefore walk that little bit taller.”
Ben Moakler, business director at MediaCom, added, “The Walk Tall campaign is all about financial confidence and positivity. It’s important that the media strategy reinforces that. We’re using mood and mindset data to pinpoint the right moments in the week, ensuring our ad reaches people when they are feeling most confident and positive.”
Credits:
Client: Vanquis
Advertising Agency: NOW
Production Company: MPC Creative
Director: Henry Littlechild
Producer: Adam Farley
Executive Producer: Johnny Blick
Bulgarian Producer: Aleksander Kenanov
Director of Photography: Krum Rodriguez
Editing: Matt Chodan @ Gorilla
Audio: Munzie Thind @ GCRS
Post-Production: MPC
CG Lead: William Laban
Animation: David Bryan & Clementine Supiot
Modelling: Silvia Bartoli
Rigging: Maximillian Mallmann
Colourist: Matthieu Toullet
2D Lead: Kamen Markov
VFX Producer: Saskia Delius
Media Agency: Mediacom Leeds
