Summary
Venables Bell Taps The Mill L.A.’s Design & Creative Direction Arm for eBay’s New Integrated Campaign
If the notion of frenzied crowds, long lines and unpredictable
service associated with holiday shopping make you cringe, rest
assured, a better option is at your fingertips. eBay, the company
that revolutionized online shopping, and its agency Venables Bell
& Partners have created an integrated branding campaign about
shopping in the mobile space-using smartphones, tablets and other
connected devices. "When it's on your mind, it's on eBay," conveys
the ease of shopping on eBay and debuted this Fall with TV spots,
an App, an extensive Print and OOH campaign that continues to roll
out through the holidays and an upcoming experiential
experience.
The eBay campaign marks an evolution of The Mill's traditional
VFX work with Venables Bell that has included Audi's "Release the
Hounds", a popular Super Bowl spot this year out of The Mill L.A.,
and Barclays "Fake," a recent Clio-winning effort out of The Mill
NY. "The trust we built up with Venables Bell gave us a great
opportunity to pitch the design and print work for eBay against
some very established players," says Stephen Venning, Executive
Producer of The Mill L.A.'s Design and Creative Direction
division. "In truth, winning these aspects of the project
made us very mindful we had to deliver our best work to repay their
faith in us!"
The agency asked The Mill to collaborate for content across
several platforms, including the extensive Print and OOH images now
appearing on billboards, bus shelters and building walls all across
California. The print was photographed by The Mill L.A.'s Andrew
Proctor and Robert Sethi, with live-action elements shot by Tom
O'Neill. "Perhaps the highlight of our involvement in the eBay
campaign was realizing the CGI billboard requirements," Venning
offers. "With deadlines being tight we ran The Mill
round-the-clock, hhaving a team in L.A. shooting the print and
doing the CGI, a NY EP on the print and live-action production, and
an expert team in London led by The Mill's Print specialist Ross
Urien leading all the retouching and compositing. The fantastic
results drew on The Mill's creative synergy across the group
24/7."
The Mill also designed and produced the popular TV campaign's
end-frame mnemonics. The mnemonics-contemporary carousel graphic
stings that rotate different products to ultimately reveal the eBay
logo-perfectly punctuate spots such as "Mom Jeans". Featured
in a well-received comedic campaign directed by Matt Aselton, "Mom
Jeans" depicts a daughter narrowly escaping her mother's offer to
borrow a pair of baggy high-waisted "Mom" jeans, by using her
tablet to make a quick purchase of skinny jeans on eBay.
Venning explains, "There is a practical advantage when one shop
works on all aspects of the campaign because we can repurpose
thematic assets and make sure the campaign is truly integrated
through design and thought process. It sounds obvious, but having
the ability to help the agency connect those creative elements may
have been missed with varied suppliers and ultimately allowed eBay,
Venables Bell and The Mill the chance to make a more memorable and
successful integrated campaign.
"We're proud to say that eBay was our biggest VFX Print campaign
to date and it really has opened up our eyes to the creative
potential of Print, whether static or digital. We're excited about
our blossoming Design capabilities and undertaking more
opportunities to create title and end graphics for integrated
campaigns very soon!" Venning says.
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