Having just launched operations in Brazil, Energy BBDO unveils its first major campaign, a film titled “Condemnations” for the CBN news radio station.
Referencing various kinds of present-day controversial topics, the film puts forward a metaphor for the polarization that’s rampant both within and outside of social media. Where people who express an opinion, whatever it is, are summarily condemned by those who profess the opposite viewpoint.
The message urges a strong yet necessary reflection on hatred. Making it clear that CBN is in favor of dialogue, of openness to ideas and respect for the diversity of opinions, because it covers various points of view in its programming.
Tell us about your role in the creation of this work.
We began our participation in this project a long time before it became a creative brief. We’ve been in workshops with clients to define CBN’s positioning, planning and, of course, the creative process. The work was created by only one team - Raphael Quatrocci and Yan Esteves. We did the creative direction, discussing the tone of the message and how it should come across to the media platforms, as well as setting the bar, selecting ideas and helping to improve them, with little tweaks here and there. But all credit must go to them.
Give us an overview of the campaign, what is it about?
The whole world is experiencing a dark moment, with widespread intolerance. People don’t listen, they just wait for their turn to speak (if they even wait). To show that CBN supports open dialogue, we showed a metaphor of what happens today, mainly on social media, where people with differing opinions are summarily condemned. The film ends with the phrase: It’s time to learn how to disagree. We need to highlight the important role of our production partners, Delicatessen Films and its amazing director Nobre, and music production company Antfood. They managed to convey the tension we wanted to.
Tell us about the creative brief, what did it ask?
CBN is synonymous with impartial, quality journalism. Their programming stimulates dialogue. It builds bridges through credible information, so the listeners can form their own opinion. We needed to make it clear that CBN is always in favor of a plurality of opinions. That was what our client asked for, without a specific format.
Which insight led to the creation of this piece of work?
Despite being fully connected by technology, if we aren’t able to listen to each other and engage in dialogue, we will continue to behave as though we were in the dark ages.
Can you share with us any alternative ideas (if any) for this campaign? Why was this idea chosen?
The other options? Well, there were some, but we prefer to focus on what actually saw the light of day, which was our favorite idea from day one. This idea was chosen because it exposes a shocking and inconvenient truth. In showing the world how we are behaving, the idea clearly communicates the brand’s positioning.
How did the client initially react to this idea?
It may sound cliché, but without brave clients there would be no great ideas. It couldn’t be any truer in this case. The client’s initial reaction was a mix of excitement for the idea’s power and reticence at the possible repercussions it could have. But they were brave, they trusted the idea, in the agency and in the fact that the piece portrays exactly what CBN stands for.
What was the greatest challenge that you and your team faced during development.
There were several challenges. First of all, the idea could have been killed at any moment of the process. We are in an election year, and you can imagine the pressure that a news radio station feels coming from everywhere.
Another challenge was directly related to the fact of our being in an election year: this message, like CBN, doesn’t have a side. The only side it takes is that of truth and credibility. We had to be careful throughout production to make sure that the piece wouldn’t be interpreted as biased towards one side or the other. We were also careful not to sound chauvinistic, racist, liberal, conservative or whatever else.
Finally, a further challenge we went through was in the editing process: how long should the film be? Some people might think it should be shorter, that the concept was grasped quickly and after you’ve understood it, it loses its surprise. But for us, the film wasn’t about the surprise. We opted for a longer length to make people feel harrowed while watching the film, and that this would make them see how ridiculous the environment we live in has become, condemning others just for thinking differently than we do.
What did you enjoy most about seeing this campaign through? Did you learn anything new from the experience?
People with no connection to the advertising industry began sharing the film with us. Family members, friends, schoolmates. As you may be aware, Whatsapp is very popular here. In addition, many celebrities and influencers in Brazil shared the film. Even Deltan Dallagnol, Federal Prosecutor on the Operation Car Wash Task Force, an important figure in the recent history of Brazil, tweeted it. The film really spread and became part of the conversation taking place in the country in recent weeks. What did we learn? That we really need to engage in dialogue.
Where do you see this campaign going in the future?
As much as you know when you have quality material in hand, it is very difficult to predict what its future will be. Being fairly optimistic, it would be wonderful if this campaign could help to bring the country together. Now if you want to know what direction Brazil is going in, well, do you have about 20 hours to talk about it?