Following the highly successful ‘I Spy Maynards’ campaign which grabbed the public’s attention last summer, Maynards Bassetts and agency of record, VCCP London have launched another bold and playful OOH campaign to remind the nation just how juicy their favourite Maynards Bassetts Wine Gums and Jelly Babies really are.
Continuing with the iconic and award-winning Maynards Bassetts brand campaign ‘Set the juice loose’, VCCP London is once again re-energising the playful line with a modern twist for a new audience. Targeting lapsed fans, the campaign aims to tap into the nostalgia of the original and much loved sweet brand, Maynards Bassetts.
We spoke to Elias Torres and Daniel Glover-James, Associate Creative Directors at VCCP London, to learn more.
What was the brief?
Make a series of great posters that continue VCCPs award winning campaign of ‘Set The Juice Loose’
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
When the brief is as simple as this, the thinking and working it out part is a helluva lot of fun. After not too long we had a number of campaigns we liked, and the tricky part was choosing which one we wanted to make the most.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
The usual note pad, pen and a dark room.
What was the production process like?
A little more complicated than usual. We knew fairly early on that we wanted these posters to be a mix of CGI (the sweets) and photography (the models) but on a fairly (ahem) challenging budget this wasn’t super straightforward.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
We wanted to keep the beautifully well-crafted and premium concept but had to do it within the budget. This was probably the biggest challenge alongside painting tiny miniature collectable items!
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
For the models they were sculpted in Zbrush, then 3D printed on an Elegoo Saturn resin printer, then back to traditional methods to clean up and hand paint! Then the models were photographed using a Fujifilm GFX 100 Camera with Fujifilm GF 63mm f2.8 R WR lens.
And the CGI sweets were created using a mixture of Cinema4d and Houdini and then textured and rendered in Redshift. The ads were then composed on Adobe Suite using the latest Mac technology and displays then finalized in Adobe Photoshop and InDesign for final delivery.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
An abiding memory of this project will always be the pre-prod zoom call we did the day before the shoot.
With our Maynards client, photographer and all us agency bods dialling in from your typical trendy offices, it was wonderful to see Ben Millar, our model maker, dialling in from a little corner of what can only be described as an absolute Aladdin’s cave.
He was hemmed in all sides, surrounded by these incredible models of all shapes and sizes, some fully finished, some only half-painted or half-completed. And there, in his hands, and still being given a final coat of paint with the finest brush you’ve ever seen, was one of the models he was making for us. He was just sitting there, calmly painting this incredibly detailed model whilst also talking to us about finishes and drying times - which of course we were particularly interested in, the shoot being at 8am the next day!
I’d have been a bag of nerves, worried that the slightest slip with the brush would derail the whole project, but he clearly had the steadiest hands in the business… which is I suppose is just one of the reasons why he’s a model maker at the very top of his game, and I’m not.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
‘SET THE JUICE LOOSE’. This has been the Maynards campaign line since it was first uttered by a Scotsman in a Maynards TV ad in 1993. It matters because we want to lean on the nostalgia people have for these sweets, and this iconic line. On top of that, it helps convey the fact that the sweets are made with real fruit juice.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
5 months – ish. It was a bit of a slow burn, but in fairness most of that time was getting certain ducks to sit in a row before we pushed ahead with production.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
We hope it makes the brand more sought after than a front row Taylor Swift ticket, and creates a whole new generation who fall in love with the line ‘Set the juice loose’. But failing that we’ll settle for someone just looking up at the poster and smiling.
Credit list for the work
Campaign title: Set the juice loose
Client: Maynards Bassetts
Advertising agency: VCCP
Deputy executive creative director: David Masterman
Associate creative director: Daniel Glover-James
Associate creative director: Elias Torres
Head of art: Ali Augur
Managing partner: Matt Smith
Senior account director: Izi Hutchinson
Account executive: Lily Hubbard
Global planning director: Ollie Latham
Planner: Priscilla Britton
Agency senior integrated creative producer: Diana Turchi
Agency junior integrated creative producer: Emily Dunn
Media buying agency: Publicis Media
Production company: Girl&Bear
Photographer: Franck Allais
Photo assistant: Oliver Clyde
Digi op: Nathan Perkins
Model makers: Ben Millar, Christopher Peacey
Green steward: Bongani Munatsi
CGI artist: David Mcleod
CGI agent: Bernstein & Andruli
Retouchers: Peter Stedman, Alex Stout at Stanley’s Post
Designer: Rohit Sharma
Artworkers: James Perry, Adam Cook
