Agency:
AMV BBDO
In a UK first, global super-brands Doritos and Pepsi Max have teamed up to bring fans the very latest in digital entertainment with a uniquely interactive online comic book which follows the adventures of two new superheroes, FireFingers and IceFist. The classic style comic book is inspired by the launch of the brands' exclusive complementary products, Doritos JalapeƱo Fire and Pepsi MAX Citrus Freeze, which together create super-powerful combination of spicy hot and cooling lime.
AMV BBDO wanted us to creatively develop and lead this integrated project including an online comic, TVC and print work to create a campaign that had never been seen before. We all agreed from the outset that we needed to stay authentic to the comic book world and we needed to create unique characters and tell a compelling story that would excite the audience wherever they are.
The first task for us was the development of character and story. The Mill's illustrators and animators, Jonathan Vuillemin and Carlos Nieto, began designing the superheroes, the baddies and secondary characters. Mill digital creatives, Haydn Kerr and Nick Morland, began work developing the storyline with a well-known comic book writer. The third strand of work saw our digital team design the online experience - interactions, user journey, soundtrack and so on.
Once AMV BBDO were happy with the characters and story for both episodes (yes there are two episodes folks) the comic book storyboard artist began work drawing up the pencilled frames. As he set to work, Jonathan and the Motion Design team, headed by Nils Kloth, began the animatic for the TVC. Lots of simultaneous workstreams to juggle!
With pencilled frames signed off, they were then inked by hand and digitally coloured. This method was pretty time-consuming but follows the exact principals of creating a printed comic book. There were lots of late nights, but it had to be authentic.
Once all the inked and coloured frames were supplied, we could replace pencilled frames in both the online comic and the TVC whilst at the same time prepping assets for print. The motion design and Flash animation team worked wonders bringing simple, compelling animation alive for both principal executions.
All of the myriad workstreams finally came together to deliver a fantastic integrated campaign, putting great character and storytelling at the heart of the experience.
Click here to check out the interactive online comic book experience:
TVC
Lead by The Mill's digital creative team and by director Jonathan Vuillemin, we directed, illustrated and animated the commercial and creatively developed, designed and built the full digital campaign, working closely with AMV BBDO.
The 30 second launch spot, 'A Superpowerful Combination', completed over an eight-week period, acts as a trailer and traffic-driver to the campaign's digital centrepiece. The spot aired on Saturday 1 October during The X Factor on ITV1.
We think AMV BBDO and The Mill make a 'Superpowerful Combination too! So check out the two new superheroes, FireFingers and IceFist and join in the adventure.
Agency: AMV BBDO
Producers: Suzanne Melia, Abbie McLean
Creatives: Scott Andrews, Prabs Wignarajah, Leigh Gilbert, Jez Tribe
Production Company: The Mill
Digital Development Director: Andy Orrick
Project Director: Joel Godfrey
Senior Digital PM: Tim Johnson
Creative Director: Rodrigo Sobral
Creative/Art Director/Story: Nick Morland
Creative/Copy Lead/Story: Haydn Kerr
Digital Design Director: Nick Morland
Senior Digital Designer: Dhani Sutanto
Character Design & Concept Artist: Carlos Nieto, Jonathan Vuillemin
Lead Storyboard Artist: Russell Hossain
Illustrator Ink/Colour: Reed Bond, Drew Green
Illustrators: Conor Ryan, Adam Willis, Carlos Neito, Arthur Larsen, Sam Taylor, Matt Patridge
2D and 3D Lead Animators: Jonathan Vuillemin, Nils Kloth, Kwok Fung Lam, Stephen Vuillemin, Dominic Burgess
Tech lead: Tony Volpe
User Experience Architect: Kieran Weir
Senior Flash Animator: Roly Edwards
Flash Animator: Matt Partridge, Linda Kalcov, Bali Engel
AFX Compositor: Klaudia Dragowska
Lead Flash Developer: Jim Boswell
Flash Developer: John Cotterell
Digital Coordinator: Jenny Clifton