Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/221535
Advertising & the Internet Targeted, entertaining and interactive — online campaigns now challenge traditional broadcast. By Christine Bunish It wasn't too long ago when Internet advertising ranked tiers below broadcast and cable spots. "There was the opinion that doing a Web spot was not as important as doing a broadcast commercial," says Sean Koriakin, a director with LA's Iron Claw. "Nowadays, it's more about what the spot is than where's it's going to be shown. Sometimes more time and energy are expended on Web spots and more people see them than they do on TV. Internet advertising will become as important or more important than broadcast in the coming years." SYMANTEC In a campaign of four Web spots, each approximately :60s, a businessman running on a treadmill in his office serves as a metaphor for how Symantec's disaster recovery, business continuity and security software keeps business running smoothly. Does the concept sound a little dull? Not in the creatively quirky hands of agency Godfrey Q & Partners/San Francisco and Iron Claw director Sean Koriakin (http://ironclaw.com). While a straightlaced spokesman talks to the camera about the benefits of using Symantec solutions, the businessman behind him is beset by all manner of metaphorical hazards: men who bring in a wind machine and a fire hose to simulate natural disasters; a stealthy hacker who drops down from the ceiling to perpetrate some cybercrime; a malfunctioning treadmill that ups the runner's pace and sends sparks flying until a back up system quickly takes over; and a klutzy employee who sets a chain of human errors in motion. All of the scenarios wind up with the businessman literally flying off the treadmill and crashing into a bookcase on the wall behind him; in the Natural Disaster spot, the wall actually collapses, revealing the stage and a crew member — played by one of the line producers — munching on a sandwich. Koriakin teamed with the agency to determine how to make the spots "funny and quirky without looking too cartoony," he says. "We had to contrast the young John Cleese-type spokesman with everything that was going on in the background." He notes that Symantec is known for being "a little irreverent and funny," but the Web campaign "was something new in design and approach" that enabled the software manufacturer to "stay branded but fresh." The first day of the two-day shoot was devoted to the stunt work, with Iron Claw VFX supervisor Timothy Ryan on the office set. A ratchet pulled the businessman off the treadmill and crashed him into the bookcase for each scenario. A cable tugged him upwards during the wind effects; rigging suspended the hacker from the ceiling during a greenscreen shoot. The treadmill fight between the hacker and the businessman was done in two takes as they both flew off the machine and crashed into the wall. 18 Post • November 2013 www.postmagazine.com