While it was once fashionable to snub the non-alcoholic booze market, the last few years have seen the sector revolutionised by brands that actually know what they’re doing and who their target audience is.
Seedlip, one such brand, recently partnered with HarrimanSteel for a new campaign challenging what people think they know about distilled non-alcoholic drinks. Appealing to inquisitive free-thinkers, the spot focuses on the British brand’s connection to nature showcased via its beautiful, natural flavours.
This campaign kick-starts the beginning of the Seedlip and HarrimanSteel partnership, with the creative agency looking to help the drink-maker celebrate and grow the alcohol-free category.
This film, directed by multi Emmy award-winning director Jonathan Jones – whose past work includes BBC’s Planet Earth II – focuses on the brand’s connection to nature, as well as its premium quality, taste, and unique position as category leader.
The result is a film that takes viewers into a visceral world of intricate shapes and intertwining organic textures, the journey ending by revealing one of the famous Seedlip hand-painted animals that have adorned bottles since the brand’s founding in 2015.
We caught up with HarrimanSteel designer director Nathan Dytor this week to go #BehindTheIdea and explore how his team approached the work with an air of sophistication and reverence.
What was the brief?
Initially the brief was overcomplicated and trying to say too many things for a 20s film.
The first part of the process was to extract the true task through pulling the brief apart and rewriting it from a creative and strategic perspective. Ultimately it centred around driving Seedlip’s awareness & distinctiveness, in turn becoming the first choice for people choosing to moderate.
To do this we needed to hammer home the basics – the product, what it is and how to drink it whilst powerfully communicating taste. It’s a huge market with a lot of confusing options. For example, Seedlip is an alcohol-free spirit. That position is very different to a 0% gin.
It’s not a non alcoholic version of an existing product. So the decision making around choosing it is more complex. It is unique and 100% natural, we knew we wanted to communicate this through its flavour and inherent ‘naturalness’.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
The ideating phase was collaborative from the start. Within the HS team but also bringing the client along on every key point of the journey. Together we got to the creative solution of using their most valuable, recognisable but under used asset as the vehicle for the film.
The characters provided us with the window into the natural flavour experience. From there we explored the literal flavour moments alongside the more abstract emotive experience moments. Ultimately resolving on the character as a representation of a journey through the product.
What was the production process like?
The production was really exciting. We wanted to keep the shoot as authentic as possible, this meant we wanted to shoot as much in camera to have everything genuine and natural like Seedlip itself.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
The scene where you see fruit and water colliding in the film, This was extremely difficult to capture. Getting fruit and water to collide can only be done by keeping the camera rolling and throwing fruit and water together until it all came together just right!
They say never work with Children and animals, we would extend this to fruit and water. They can be tricky customers!
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
Simply— make Seedlip the ultimate positive drinking choice. We wanted to help Seedlip change perceptions around a lack of alcohol-free choice. No longer do you need to pretend there is alcohol in your 7th diet coke of the night silently burping your way through your evening. Now there is a very real, sophisticated and delicious alternative that you can proudly drink and discuss.
Deciding to moderate your alcohol intake isn’t something to be ashamed of. Seedlip allows people to proudly moderate or abstain, regardless of why you chose to do so.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
From the moment we began dissecting the brief it was 8 weeks to delivery. A real sprint.
So many different creatives touched this project at different points resulting in a really rich visceral result. A true collaboration from start to finish.
Credit list for the work?
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Julian Harriman-Dickinson
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Guillaume Furminger
ART DIRECTOR: Ben Ireland
DESIGN DIRECTOR: Nathan Dytor
DESIGNER: Lydia Barba
PRODUCER: Paul Van Lierop
ACCOUNT MANAGER: Nicola Hodgson
PROJECT MANAGER: Julia Lima
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Jones
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Park Village
