#RonsealAdBreak
Sherwin Williams
Issue 40 | September 2016
Agency
BJL
Creative Team
Creative Director: Richard Pearson, Karl Stones
Production Team
Production Company: Mob Film Director: David Schofield Producer: Phil Kerr Executive Producer: John Brocklehurst First Assistant Director: Sam Ferguson DOP: Clive Norman Editor: Polly Ward Post-Production Company: Bark & Bite Channel 4 Partnerships Executive: Stephen Berti Channel 4 Partnerships Manager: Adam Denton Channel 4 Group Partnerships Manager: Andy Moore 4Creative Director: Keith McCarthy 4Creative Producer: Luke Fraser 4Creative Production Manager: Will Breeden
Other Credits
Account Director: Helen Worsey, Jenna Livesey Senior Account Manager: Ed Vaughan-Hughes Senior Account Executive: Robert Ellen Senior Campaign Manager: Tarryn Farnworth PR Director: Julie Chadwick PR Group Account Director: Rebecca Hardy Senior Social Media Manager: Hannah Newbould Social Media Account Executive: Connor Jones Senior PR Account Manager: Caroline Gibson Client Marketing Director: James Smith Client Account Director: Kate Sitch Client Communications Coordinator: Gemma Fox
Date
29th April 2016
Background
DIY's not something most people want to take any interest in. It's not a glamorous category, which can make it tough to produce advertising that people notice. Ronseal is a brand that has been famous since the 1990s for its honest, straight-talking brand values. So trying to solve the problem by making DIY seem a fun way to spend the bank holiday weekend wasn't the right thing to do. Something different was needed. Something which would get noticed and talked about. Something bold, brave and risky.
Idea
Ronseal took over the week's highest profile UK TV ad break, during Gogglebox, and showed nothing but a man painting a fence for over 3 minutes. All of that time was used to show viewers, through product demonstration and British humour, that Ronseal One Coat Fence Life 'Does Exactly What It Says On The Tin'. Helping them get the job done easily, so they can get on with enjoying the rest of their weekend. The ad was sandwiched in between the usually frenetic Friday night TV schedule and therefore created a quiet 'pause-for-thought' moment to remind us of those jobs that demanded attention over the Bank Holiday. Alongside the TV spot the spot featured custom-made channel idents created by 4Creative, as well as a full weekend of PR and social activity. This included an extra 12 minutes online, showing the man completing the rest of fence.
Results
Millions of people watched it, and joined the conversation online. The social interaction plan encouraged viewers to share their reactions using the #RonsealAdBreak hashtag, which was on screen throughout the entire TV ad break. It created a real 'Gogglebox within Gogglebox moment' with viewers getting the chance to respond directly on the ad break they were watching - following the show's theme of commenting on the week's TV. It's reach of over 35 million on Twitter, trending for 6 hours, 2 in the UK number 1 spot, was a Channel 4 ad break first. The ad itself was also heralded as an advertising first, a 'slow TV' ad, a unique way of standing out. Not just against other ads, but social media, second screens and the rest of the noise of the modern world. It demonstrated that the more space you give people, the more they take interest. In evaluation the work achieved very high scores of 75% for originality. People called it 'to the point' and 'different', commenting the ad showed the product didn't take long to paint a fence. Surprisingly 63% even found it interesting.