What was the brief?

Ah, the age old question; is art an imitation of life or is life an imitation of art? Neither apparently, because according to the University of Northampton art is an imitation of their core characteristics.

Well… that was the approach they were looking for to promote their new brand campaign anyway.

The university came to us looking to commission a 30-second cinema, TV and online advert to coincide with the launch of their new brand. They wanted something abstract that would demonstrate their ”super-supportive and future-focused” personality and their ability to offer a “positive impact.”

One point in the brief particularly stood out for us -“Avoid evil clichés and aim to surprise where possible”. Challenge accepted.

In short, Northampton wanted something unlike any other university brand.

How did we approach the brief?

Due to such an open brief and considering that the very definition of abstract is… well… abstract, we certainly had a lot of unusual creative avenues to explore, so in order to get as artsy as possible we really had to put on our thinking berets and come up with something unique that truly fleshed out the UoN brand.

Northampton had identified that being super-supportive is central to its ethos, but we asked ourselves, what does that support lead to?

Having support allows you to progress forward more easily, recognise the different paths you can take and potentially open you up to the unexpected in ways you never thought possible.

We wanted our approach to visually represent these facts through a set-built, topsy-turvy and visually exciting world with fluid, unexpected and ever-changing scenes, constantly challenging the viewer to re-think and reassess their assumptions.

So… inspired by Northampton’s core traits of being super-supportive, future-focused and dedicated to delivering a positive impact, we created conceptual set pieces that best represented the university, with every aspect of the set design having direct correlation to the brand despite being both abstract and metaphorical.

Through careful choreography, the film tracks across ‘Rube Goldberg’-style set pieces as the set and environments are continually manipulated, with a voiceover added to give further context to the visuals.

On top of this, we also create three 15-second social media films that focused on their three core characteristics, as well as a Facebook Canvas design and build to support the campaign further.