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Bulmers – No17 Experimenters Wanted!

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Bulmers approached Taylor James to create an exciting cross-platform campaign spanning TV, outdoor, interactive and social media. The idea centered on launching Bulmers No17 cider as a permanent member of the Bulmers family and to create the ‘ultimate cider drinking experience’ that would go hand in hand with summertime festivals.

The finished results were a beautifully crafted and slightly eccentric campaign drawing inspiration from Victorian science and laboratories with intricate and diverse character design. The digital platforms were adorned in intertwining brass and copper pipes and steel cogs referencing the rich and diverse history of cider brewing but still managing to keep it firmly modern and contemporary. Taylor James worked closely with the creative team at Exposure to fully maximize its potential, which resulted in Facebook fans growing from 5,000 to over 61,000 during and after the campaign.

Concept

CGI

animation

Concept

Bulmers’ aim for ‘Experimenters Wanted’ was to create the perfect interactive cider experience digitally that would work seamlessly with the creation of an installation on the South Bank.

They required digital materials for social media, outside digital advertising, TV and interactive.  The feel would promote the contemporary brand but always hinted and referenced the traditional methods of cider making.

Using our in-house design and CGI team we developed the concept and it was our job to fully flesh out and realize the idea. The character design was an important factor. Using the tag line ‘Experimenters wanted’ we anchored the idea to a Victorian science lab experiment cementing both contemporary and traditional methods of cider brewing together.

We developed the plan for a ‘toolkit’ so that each design was flexible in both its functionality and also how it would fit in a modular web structure. The individual stories and elements could then be run in different configurations to best suit the medium and to be updated alongside the live events held around the UK.

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Pre-Production

Character design process was integral to the look and feel of the overall aesthetic.  Coupled with the organic natural elements such as grass, vines and leaves alongside the bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds give off a nostalgic feeling that also, again, ties in with the Victorian theme.

The Bulmers ‘sociologists’ had to be styled to their real life counter parts hosting the events over summer. All of which really helped build a connection with Bulmers core audience and injected more fun into the campaign.

During the design process, we created a diverse set of parts that allowed the website to change and grow organically and easily. The parts consisted of various connectors; pipes and stands that allowed the experiments to adapt and build as required.

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We followed a unique workflow. We guide the client through the seemingly impossible and complex CGI process, making it easily digestible and much easier to understand for the client. All the way from sculpting and modelling to texturing and lighting to the final compositing and colour grading that achieves our beautifully crafted finished results.

CGI Animation

The entire campaign was created in CGI and followed our advanced and meticulous pipeline allowing us to be both thorough and cost effective at the same time.  This pipeline allowed the creative team to simultaneously share common assets and run multiple deliveries in parallel to each other so that we could meet tight press schedules.

This allowed each Experiment to change and evolve after the lighting and look had been signed off.  We created a rigorous pre-lighting set-up that freed us up to place the Experiment in our pipeline and keep them feeling as if they were lit and considered at the same time.

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Digital Tool Kit

The turn around was relatively quick due to the fact we had created templates that allowed it to change and evolve at a moments notice. This foresight, and due to the nature of live projects allowed it to be extremely easy to adapt and change. We individually created and integrated the assets as well, These spilled out into the ‘real world’, with many of the digital assets being used as inspiration for the physical set at Bulmers ultimate cider drinking experience.

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Results

Overall, the campaign ‘Experimenters Wanted’ helped bolster Bulmers existing Facebook fans from 5,000 to over 61,000 by the end of the campaign and other 3.75 million bottles of No17 were sold in the first 3 months alone. This had an incremental value of £12min the same period of time.

 Finally, The Experiments generated over 165,000 scans of the QR codes and the Bulmers Cider Garden generated PR worth over £600,000.

 Not to mention we’re extremely proud of this beautiful and eccentric piece of CGI!

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Testimonial

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From our initial concept art, we were able to show the client a clear vision as to the detail of each design, colour palettes and mood boards for the look development. The entire campaign was created in CGI, and followed an advanced pipeline which allowed the team to simultaneously share common assets and run multiple deliveries in parallel in order to meet the tight press schedules. Using CGI to re-purpose assets is always a cost effective method for our clients, keeping a consistent quality with great flexibility and ensuring a cohesive brand styling across the whole campaign.

Brendan Haley, Creative Director