When disaster strikes
Creating a campaign for a home construction and repair firm meant finding a creative way to tell stories in short form. Usually when a homeowner encounters a disaster, googling a contractor is the first line of attack. So our campaign looked to seed the market with awareness for our client based on the most common customer home disasters. We created a mascot-based animated series that tackled these use cases head on by not just telling, but showing.
We brought the client’s mascot to life through innovative animation techniques and an engaging and quick 'fix it' storyline. The production was a combination of creating multiple toy-like environments, animating the octopus and other characters, and changing the time of day half way through each spot.
The Octopus character was arrived at by modifying an illustration from the concept phase. In order to avoid getting caught up in the character animation of a fully articulated octopus, a truck was introduced as a solve to be able move our hero though the sequences quickly.
}Going to market
Both video and static executions were part of the campaign; promoting the website and phone number. These assets were launched on Meta and Next Door to reach home owners where they were. We also deployed a broad keyword strategy around our trigger events to drive the client’s Google Search paid efforts as well.
Ads for Meta and Nextdoor.
}Touching a nerve
Hitting the different use cases meant conceiving different ad stories for each. For restoration, we used roof damage. For water and mold, a flooded basement. And fire damage was a kitchen appliance fire. All ads had the same story arch of problem setup, followed by an animated character "fix", and then the CTA, all spanning only 15 seconds.
'Tis the seasonal
The farmhouse setting with the accompanying chicken reached a residential audience from autumn into winter of 2024. The fall season was the most active for Octopus, and it was important that the ads felt like the Pacific Northwest at that time of year, with the right vegetation and weather.
Relatability is key
Important to making this series work for this client was making sure the right end customer examples were featured. The Northwest is home to its fair share of flooded basements and falling trees, but kitchen fires, and electrical failures are also growing customer segments.