Cherryflava

Allan Gray: Imagine the possibilities

Posted on 15. Sep, 2009 by Jonathan Cherry in Advertising, Cherryflava TV

On a day that another legend passes away, it’s fitting that we focus on the brand new Allan Gray ‘Legend’ TVC, which was produced by King James and Velocity.

Keith Rose was the director of the ad inspired by James Dean and we have to say that as far as production values go – this has to be one of the best local TV ads for 2009. It’s not far removed from previous Allan Gray work regarding it’s grading, tone and great copywriting, but as a stand alone short film…it’s remarkable.

It was fourteen [14] months in the making and the level of detail that the teams went through to get the final product just right – is crazy.

More about the making of the ad after the jump…

ALLAN GRAY – THE MAKING OF A LEGEND

From concept to completion the new Allan Gray commercial was just over fourteen months in the making. A massive feat that took a combined team of well over a hundred and sixty people, not including extras.

The commercial, ‘Legend’, asks us to consider the possibilities of a legend like James Dean had he been given more time. What would he have achieved? How might he have benefited society?

The ad illustrates the importance of time in allowing potential to unfold. Both in life and in investing. Like its predecessor ‘Beautiful’, it demonstrates the theme of long-term investing, but this time focuses on the investor as an integral part of investing success. Using the tragedy of Dean’s early demise as an analogy, the ad suggests that not giving an investment time to mature is equally tragic.

“Time is an essential ingredient in creating wealth,” says Allan Gray’s marketing manager Tracy Hirst. “We can do a lot for investors, but only if they partner us by giving us their time and staying invested for the long term. In the absence of time, value is destroyed.”

Allan Gray’s advertising agency, King James teamed up with Director Keith Rose, from Velocity, to bring the board to life.

“In all my years of advertising, I have never seen a treatment that was so detailed, so carefully thought through, and so deeply researched, than the treatment Keith gave us when pitching to handle this commercial. From beginning to end, his commitment to the job bordered on obsession.” says Alistair King, Executive Creative Director at King James.

“This was an incredibly challenging board,” says Rose. “You just take it for granted that James Dean is so iconic, so to go and mess with him and replan his life, if it doesn’t work it’s like you’re desecrating his memory. We really needed to deal with it with sensitivity.”

According to Karin Barry-McCormack and Paige Nick, the creative team from King James; “For both of us, this was without a doubt the most exciting, challenging and intricate television project we have ever worked on. And it was amazing to work so closely with such a passionate team and such a collaborative client.”

Notice the 'backward' racing numbers

“There were only two replica 550 RSK Porsche Spiders available to us for use in the accident sequence. The one we ended up using was a right hand drive, which we recreated as a left hand drive by flipping the entire shot, which meant all the decals and number plates had to be put on backwards. There were only 28 or 30 these ever made.” Paige Nick, copywriter of King James.

Reverse angle

Anybody ever said that you look like James Dean?

“We focused on ears, jaw line, new lips and nose. We experimented with half a dozen different prosthetic pieces, styles and techniques before we found the right combination that would look believable. Then to compliment the prosthetics we had dental pieces fitted to fill out his mouth and compliment his different ages.” Paige Nick, copywriter King James RSVP.

Freaky

video link

[thanks Tessa]

Tags: Allan Gray, James Dean, King James, Velocity