“I’ve been amazed that it moved people in ways I’ve never been able to do before through an advert.”
The reaction to EE’s latest ad, as described by the telco’s brand and demand generation communications director Kelly Engstrom, speaks to a powerful combination of killer insight, emotionally-charged craft and the medium of TV.
“Freedom”, the TV ad created by Saatchi & Saatchi London to help EE position itself as the UK’s most personal customer-focused brand, has won not only the public’s hearts but now also the September/October Thinkboxes award for TV advertising creativity.
In the sweeping film, the many and varied ways young people use technology on their phones and the associated challenges and emotional highs and lows are brought to life, set to So We Are Here by Bloc Party.
The brief was to launch EE Learn, a set of tools to aid digital health for any young person on any network that was developed as part of the introduction of “new EE”, says Engstrom.
“We undertook extensive research to understand what’s important to our customers and their immediate future technology needs,” she explains. “From this, we identified four key focus areas for the new EE brand: home, work, games and learn.”
The idea of things that really matter to people – products and services that offer a solution to everyday problems – was a powerful starting point for the creative team.
“We needed to acknowledge that growing up with phones today isn’t easy,” says Will John, Saatchi &Saatchi’s executive creative director.
“Telcos play a role in that. But they can also play a more positive part, too. Then, it was about identifying the right moment in teens’ lives to show we get the issue but we’ve also got the tools to help.”
The moment the team chose to feature – just after the final school bell rings – had clear dramatic potential. It was also universally relatable, and this, along with the decision to lead with TV, was key to EE’s aim to maximise reach.
“TV always has been and remains a really important part of our plan to drive mass awareness,” Engstrom says. “Given the role we want to play in our customers’ lives, this means showing up in TV shows which people count on and rely on.” Like Great British Bake Off, in which “Freedom” made its first appearance.
Setting the action in the kids’ world rather than that of the parents also raised the emotional stakes. “They’re on their own, with phones, free to do whatever they want to. It’s freedom,” says John. “We wanted to capture that spirit.”
The idea was to show the good and the bad of that moment in the day, along with the emotional pressures.
A director with the right tone, plus a track record of creating stunning, emotive films and an ability to bring freshness to the EE brand, was required. Daniel Wolfe, Elliot Power and the team at Love Song were the fit.
They were, John adds, the perfect answer: “Their treatment, approach and ambition blew us all away.”
Wolfe and his team visited hundreds of homes and schools and met countless children and families from across the country before selecting who to feature. The final choice was made to ensure the ad was universally relatable and represented the nation.
The vast majority of the children featured were non-actors - “ordinary kids” - who were selected through casting sessions in local schools around the UK. “They met drama students, of course. But Daniel also wanted to speak with those children who might be deemed the ‘naughty kids’,” Engstrom says. “By spending time with them and talking to them, he was able to elicit all of those feelings we see in the ad for real.
One of the biggest challenges, however, was when filming began: keeping track of all the footage.
“We did have a script and we did go through the normal processes of production meetings,” says Engstrom. “But for the shoot, we also had multiple cameras rolling at any one time, so it was impossible to see everything being shot.”
John recalls: “We had four or five units going most of the time – one in a school, one outside the gates, another down an alley and someone off in a shopping centre.” Luckily, however, the creative team had worked with Wolfe and his team before.
“So, we trusted them. And the process,” John says. “And we were massively rewarded.”
Music for “Freedom” was earmarked pre-shoot. Once they got into the edit and saw the intimacy of the sequences Wolfe and his team had captured, however, this quickly changed.
“The Bloc Party track added to the emotion that you see in the visuals, so we just loved it,” Engstrom says. “And I’m so pleased Bloc Party loved it, too – which culminated in them making a music video for the track out of [the film shot for the ad].”
Both client and agency are deeply touched by the finished spot’s reception.
“It’s been amazing to see the emotion that it elicits from people, which is something rare in advertising,” Engstrom notes.
In part, this is thanks to its relatability. But John also cites maintaining a firm commitment to the initial concept.
“Ideas usually start out as precious, delicate thoughts or provocations and as such can be easily killed or trampled on. You need to protect and nurture them and then make people love them and want them as much as you do,” he says. “With the right team in place and a little luck, they might just grow into something special.”
Engstrom agrees. “My top tip is to hold onto the insight that is driving the idea, the script and the strategy in the execution.
“Also, to make brave decisions and make the calls that will bring that to life. Because there needs to be moments in the advert that can really connect with customers, and we need to make sure they are not lost along the way.”
Second in the September/October Thinkboxes was "Death isn’t the opposite of life. It’s part of it" by CPB London for Marie Curie. “Mad about the bread” by Joyful & Triumphant and Freud Communications for Warburtons was third.
Also shortlisted was “First-timers – Love it. Hate it. Get it on” by Adam & Eve/DDB for Marmite.
WINNING AD
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London
Creative team: Ben Mooge, chief creative office, Publicis Groupe; William John, executive creative director; George Coyle, senior creative; Sam Simmonds, senior creative
Client: Pete Jeavons, group brand & consumer marketing director
Production company: Love Song
Director: Daniel Wolfe
The Thinkboxes, in association with Campaign, are the only bi-monthly awards that celebrate the UK’s world-beating TV ad creativity, in all its forms. They are judged by the Thinkbox Academy – advertising and marketing luminaries who have been involved in award-winning creative work for TV.
Want to see more great work? Head to the Thinkboxes hub
Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media and UKTV. Thinkbox works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV.
