The Reed Group , the UK’s leading recruitment and careers provider, has launched a brand-new TV ad as part of its long standing ‘Love Mondays’ campaign to help Brits find a job they’ll love in 2023.
The cheerful ad depicts a young man singing and dancing on his way to work, repeating the line ‘Mondays are working for me’ within the jingle. Over 30 employees from Reed feature in the campaign, including Group chairman, James Reed, who appears on his moped at the start of the ad.
To learn more, we spoke to Jack Stanton, Creative Director & Gregory Nice, Director, from the London-based production company behind the campaign, NICE Productions.
What was the brief?
As we are all aware, the years prior to this campaign have been tumultuous. We were asked to create a marketing campaign that looks to the future - rather than dwelling on the past.
The mission was to communicate Reed’s brand message as optimistic, diverse, vibrant and self-empowering - so we presented a campaign that encompassed all those feelings. Centering their established tagline, ‘Love Mondays’, the brand wanted to launch into the new year with a robust, multi-channel campaign, riding the ‘New Year - New You’ feeling of positivity.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
The team at Reed were especially excited about our idea to use original music to build a distinctive and memorable campaign. We wanted to create something catchy, memorable and fun - a song that would encapsulate, in a totally outlandish way, the cartoonish peak of what it would feel like to ‘Love Mondays’.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
We developed multiple demos, all with ‘Love Mondays’ at the core of the lyrics. Each song was in a different genre, lending its own take on the ‘Love Mondays’ message. After talking through the various options, the consensus was that the song should be pure positivity - so we settled on the song with that sentiment.
This was what ultimately informed the ‘technicolor movie musical’ aesthetic of the TVC - the unbridled joy synonymous with the most upbeat songs of classics like ‘Singin in the Rain’ or ‘The Young Girls of Rochefort’
What was the production process like?
With a highly skilled core team at Nice Productions, we developed a portfolio of brilliant freelancers to support the variety of expertise required to deliver a multi-channel campaign of this magnitude.
We were able to set up a dynamic team who mobilised quickly to deliver against tight timelines. The great pleasure of filmmaking is the huge variety of talented individuals that the medium can bring together - and this project was a fantastic example of that.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
The weather! The second of the two shoot days for the TVC was our exterior day. The date was chosen for its statistical dryness, but we were also in the middle of a serious heatwave, so we couldn’t believe it when the rain started pouring that morning. With some patience, a few shifts in the shooting schedule - and sheer luck - we were able to get what we needed.
For the ambitious crane shot featuring full cast choreography, this meant holding on until the absolute last minute our schedule allowed. The indispensable element that made this possible was the positivity and persistence of our amazing cast as they squeezed in back-to-back takes between downpours!
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
Charlotte Wilmott, the actor playing the colleague who sits opposite our leading man, Lee Bridgman, had a particularly funny (and demanding!) acting challenge. For the final shot, we wanted to catch a range of looks from her, to give us plenty of latitude in the personality of the edit.
We kept the camera rolling as we gave her dozens of prompts - everything from ‘Who is this madman?’ to ‘There’s my best friend!’. It was like some sort of particularly challenging acting exercise or improv game - and her ability to deliver on-the-spot was a marvel to behold!
We also can’t miss this opportunity to mention the magnificent, breath-takingly beautiful, consummate professional - Polly the Pomeranian. Whoever said don’t work with animals clearly never met her!
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
The objective of the project was to continue to develop Reed’s ‘Love Mondays’ tagline - along with their CTA ‘Find a job you’ll love.’ Typically seen as the last day worthy of love, the tagline’s potency lies in the tension between its two words. It’s message: with the right job, you don’t have to dread Mondays.
At a time when a sense of optimism is particularly important, the Brand wanted something unapologetically cheerful. Delivering this message with an ecstatic song-and-dance number felt like the perfect way to communicate this idea, in keeping with the sense of humor that Reed has established over the years. Love it or hate it - Reed wanted a statement that would cut through.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
Once the concept was settled - the TVC, digital, radio and OOH campaigns were produced and delivered within 6 months.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
We hope the campaign’s standout visuals and earworm tune launch Reed to the front of the public’s mind for UK recruiters. We would love to continue to make music-based campaigns for the brand - and for them to carve out a music-orientated niche in the UK’s marketing landscape.
Credit list for the work?
Directors: Gregory Nice & Jack Stanton
Choreographer: Johnny White
DOP: Annika Summerson
Music: Dom Kirtley
Executive Producer: Gregory Nice
Producer: Lucy Vince
Production Manager: Ella Taylor-Palfrey
Production Coordinator: John Mouratis
1st AD: Freddie Wright
Gaffer: Lee Parfitt
Art Director: Fred Alsopp
Costume Designer: Katherine Aspinall
Makeup Artist: Jess Kell
Grade: Jateen Patel
Cast: Lee Bridgeman Charlotte Wilmott Luke Field-Wright Nicole Valverde Lisa Hoang Gary O Brian Claudia Roe Maybury Courtney Brady Emily Barnett Tommy Franzen Zoe Purpuri Leon Herbert Trina Nicole Lorraine Jukes Alejandro Ortega Aisling Tara Alseshia Williams Jess Khan Lee Emily Yuen Daniel Page Jamie Mason Mari Mackenzie Tommy Franzen Philip Thomas Emmanuel Kome Prabhleen Oberoi Steven Pascua
