Bonfire were recently invited by Olympus to tender for their latest TV advertisement.
The fabulous new Olympus Pen EP-1 and accessories.
The advertisement was for the new Olympus Pen EP-1. A retro-styled digital camera using the latest in compact digital technology – micro-four-thirds technology – developed in partnership between Olympus and Panasonic. But why approach a branding consultancy?
Bonfire had been working with Olympus and built up a thorough understanding of the brand and its goals. In early 2008 Olympus commissioned Bonfire to come up with concepts for the Mju 790SW TV advertisement that had already been placed with their incumbent agency.
This commissioned work provided the opportunity for Bonfire to learn about TV advertisement production, and Olympus to see how Bonfire could tackle a TV brief. It was on the strength of this creative we were invited to tender for the Olympus Pen EP-1 TV campaign this year.
At this stage we knew we were up against Red Brick Road (the incumbent) and A. N. Other. After the first round of presentations we were the holders of two of the preferred routes and were praised heavily for our approach, thinking, presentation style and open costing structure. During this process we had sourced a number of production companies, both leading and emerging, with leading directors to provide expert advice and guidance in the production and interpretation of the concepts.
The final presentations took place with one of our concepts a hot favourite amongst the UK marketing team. It then went to the European marketing team and we found out shortly after we had been pipped to the post by the ‘other’ agency, who later turned out to be Team Saatchi.
Although losing the tender we have learnt a lot in this process – not least the full production cycle of an advertisement and met some great directors and production companies in the process.
Mark Thackara, National Marketing Manager – Consumer Products, Olympus KeyMed says ‘The Olympus Pen EP-1 is a fantastic new product and it needed a different approach to your standard camera ad. We worked with Bonfire last year when developing the Mju 790SW advert, now known as the Toddler ad, and they showed a great understanding of the product, its market and how to approach it creatively. With this in mind we invited Bonfire to tender for our Christmas 2009 TV campaign alongside Saatchi’s and Red Brick Road (our existing agency). As a branding consultancy Bonfire’s approach was very different, analytical in its deduction and highly creative in its application. It was a very close call on the final decision but I have to give credit to this up-and-coming agency for their refreshing and enlightened approach to what was an equally challenging brief. Their costing structure was also very impressive – open, inclusive and honest and I look forward to working with the Bonfire team again in the future.’
With this knowledge we now look for more TV opportunities with the encouragement that we have a highly competitive creative team and about 65% the cost of the big agencies. Cost is a big issue at the moment and many TV campaigns have been axed due to the current economic climate – but there is another way. To find out more about how we tackled this campaign and how our creative approach can help you stand out in the crowd drop us a line on +44 (0)1525 841079.
