COW & GATE 'FEED THEIR PERSONALITIES'
Iconic baby feeding brand Cow & Gate launches its new advertising campaign, spearheaded by TV ad, “Supergroup” which features babies and toddlers experimenting in a recording studio.
Created by BETC, London, it is a bold move for the brand as the ad features minimal branding and no explanation of the product. It instead depicts a group of curious and undeniably cute babies and toddlers let loose in a recording studio - ending with the strapline: "feed their personalities". The brand’s new philosophy is set to run throughout its ongoing campaign and services.
This is the first ad bearing the ‘Feed their Personalities’ line that we have created for Cow & Gate,” says BETC copywriter, Clive Pickering.
“It’s all about Cow & Gate’s interest in the way babies develop into toddlers, and toddlers develop into children, forming their different personalities along the way.”
“We wanted a simple and interesting way to show the personalities of the children; showing how they approached a studio full of instruments, playing with them in their own unique and individual way, seemed like a good plan.
“Then it was just luck that, as they played, a pretty decent version of Come On Eileen happened to emerge from the cacophony (ahem).”
In the full two-minute spot, the little ones do what you would expect them to: bang instruments, press buttons, dance and cry. The miracles of the editing suite turn this cacophony into a familiar sound and it eventually becomes clear that the band of toddlers is playing a cover of Dexys Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen”.
“Supergroup” was directed by Jim Field Smith from RSA who described it as being like “a wildlife documentary”. The shoot involved two cameras rolling in a studio, capturing the musical antics of the mini actors.
“Obviously you can’t exactly tell kids of that age what you want them to do, let alone ask them to repeat a performance until it’s perfect,” says Pickering.
“To be honest I hid in a separate room staring at a monitor. I left Jim and art director ‘Small’ Paul Copeland to wrangle the kids. Paul, in particular, was much more on their level - both physically and mentally.
“Licensing rules meant that the children could only be on the set for 20 minutes at a time so there was a constant flow of new kids in and out of the studio.”
The formula of cute babies in advertising has been tried and tested, with the likes of Evian having taken a myriad of awards in the past for their CG skating bundles of joy. More relevant to its product, Cow & Gate’s spot doesn’t use any CGI and is all the more charming for it.
Shorter versions of the ad will run and the two-minute film will run in cinemas and through YouTube.
Supporting activity will include further TV, print and digital work rolling out in late October.
Cow & Gate "Supergroup" by BETC, London.
