AMSTERDAM – This week, advertising agency Selmore and creative production outfit The Ambassadors unveiled ‘Mona: Sjors and Jacques’, the first episode in a new TV and digital campaign from dessert brand Mona. The animated 30-second film will feature two headline ‘claymation’ style characters and represents a new direction for the leading FMCG brand.
Selmore and The Ambassadors were tasked with bringing the Mona product range and brand values to life in a fun and surprising way, and sparking excitement among a family audience.
The TVC part of the campaign, which launches in the Netherlands this week, features original animated characters Sjors and Jacques. To create the 3D, stop motion effect, the team employed a wide range of creative techniques, such as an intricate CG lighting and rendering setup, manipulation in proportions of props and the set and recreating real life lens effects.
The ambition for these characters is that audiences follow their story throughout the year, via a series of films, themed around different seasonal events and the different types of Mona pudding, such as this month’s “Feest Pudding”.
This campaign represents one of the first TV commercials that The Ambassadors has produced in entirety. The Amsterdam-based company was responsible for every stage of the creative process from initial character treatments to design, animation, sound and edit.
Vincent Lammers, Design and Animation Director, The Ambassadors, commented: “This ambitious project was only made possible thanks to two integral elements. Firstly, we were brought on board right at the start and each part of the production process was created within the walls of The Ambassadors. This meant that we could keep a very tight grip on how all the strands, such as sound, animation and edit, worked together and blended to form the final result.
“Secondly, we have had a brilliant relationship with Mona and Selmore throughout the process and the mutual trust between brand, agency and production company has allowed us to create something we are extremely proud of. And was a lot of fun to make.”
MONA-MAKING-OF 130 from The Ambassadors on Vimeo.
Poppe van Pelt, Creative Partner, Selmore, commented: “These days it’s rare to see a brand investing in a fresh, original, animated character-led TV campaign. We are hugely delighted that Mona has taken this brave step and feel that the results really speak for themselves. Our ambition for Sjors and Jacques is that they become household names as they take adults and children alike on their adventures throughout the year.”
The second film in the series will be released later in 2014.
Mona – Feestpudding 2014 from The Ambassadors on Vimeo.
Agency: Selmore
Creative: Diederick Hillenius, Poppe van Pelt, Karin Heinen, Shanta Schreuder
RTV producer: Hanneke Kampschreur
Account management: Anja Froeling, Nicole Florencio
Strategy: Gijs de Bruijn
Client management: Margreet Waterweg, Thomas Gribnau, Carola Boer
Production: The Ambassadors Design & Animation
Director: Vincent Lammers
Producer: Daphne Litjens
Design team: Vincent Lammers, Nick Groeneveld, Manuel Ferrari, Ruud Troostheide
Layout and storyboard: Vincent Lammers, Nick Groeneveld, Manuel Ferrari
Character animation: Nick Groeneveld, Patrick Chin
Additional animation: Vincent Lammers, Stephanie Swart
CG supervisor: William Jeffers Mark van Berkel, Ritchy Wattimena, Jeroen Cloosterman, William Torres, Nick Groeneveld
Compositing: Stephen Pepper, Ton Habraken
Edit: Oscar Marmelstein
Sound design and music: The Ambassadors Sound Team
