Why Feast Used a Series of Civilian Scenarios to Showcase a Career in the Canadian Armed Forces
How does one create an ad campaign for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)? It’s an interesting question. After all, the military is a singular, nationwide body, which means that supporting campaigns need to encompass all that, and appeal to viewers from Halifax to Vancouver.
This was a task that creative agency Feast found itself facing. Instructed to create a campaign promoting the various career opportunities available in the CAF, while also increasing awareness of the CAF as a viable career option, the possibilities were vast. Should the creative focus be on the idea of glory and serving one’s country? Should it highlight the benefits of joining? Or perhaps it needed to emphasise what life is like when in the military.
As it turned out, none of these were quite right. Instead, the solution came from placing a focus on living a regular, civilian life. Titled ‘This is For You’ and directed by Ante Kovac, the 90-second spot demonstrates how traits such as compassion and innate problem-solving skills can make someone the perfect candidate for a career in the CAF, whether they’re playing soccer late at night, or playing video games with their friends. Targeted at 18 to 34-year-old job seekers and those contemplating a job change, the work highlights the military as a career they might not have otherwise considered, demonstrating how finding one’s ‘inner spark’ can lead to a life of fulfilment, and an opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Feast chief strategy officer Lucia Mariani, and creative directors Rob Vena and Ante Kovac to learn how this campaign was built from the ground up.
LBB> What was the brief for this campaign, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Lucia> The client was in search of fresh ideas to appeal to young job seekers and career changers, with the aim of promoting the various career opportunities available at the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). In addition, the objective was to increase awareness of the CAF amongst the target audience as well as Canadians who could potentially influence their career choices, such as friends, family members, partners, and so on. We developed several potential creative approaches as part of a large-scale campaign, and after multiple rounds of presentations, extensive testing with Canadians, and collaborative insights from the client, we landed on this impactful and emotional creative that you see here.
LBB> Creating work to showcase the CAF is a pretty unique task. As such, what was the collaborative process like?
Lucia> In order to ensure the success of this creative process, it was essential to prioritise respect, trust, and communication. We were fortunate to work alongside both civilians and military members, allowing us to create a strategy that is informed by strategic insights and stays on track towards achieving our goals. This collaboration allowed us to build a strong foundation for the creative process, and enabled us to stay true to our vision throughout its development.
LBB> The spot was directed by Ante Kovac. How did you work together on the creative process, and how did the idea of showcasing an ‘inner spark’ come to pass?
Rob> Ante was brought into the project while still in its creative development stages. That allowed us to function as a singular creative team, meaning we were both on the same page regarding the emotion we wanted to pull from the film. As we conceptualised, the idea of the ‘inner spark’ grew out of a few things. One part of it was connecting with the idea of living with intention, connecting to a career that you love. The second came from meeting many wonderful members of the CAF. The idea of being part of a team that is collectively larger than oneself came from them. It came from listening to them and understanding the real people that do this day in and day out.
Ante> I was brought in early on this project to collaborate on concepts with creative director Rob Vena, and from that point on we functioned as a creative team. We discussed an ‘inner spark’ that exists in people that would lead to a successful career in the CAF, and we wanted to demonstrate that everyone has something inside of them that could make them a great fit for service.
LBB> The target audience of this campaign was 18 to 34-year-old job seekers. What was the research process like behind this decision, and why was showcasing civilian scenarios the best approach for the job?
Rob> Before deciding on a creative approach, our agency developed a robust recruitment, marketing and advertising strategy, which we used as the basis to guide creative ideation. That strategy included research on our target audiences and contained an environmental analysis, recruitment journey, and key insights for each audience. We leaned on this strategy when developing the creative. The key to the awareness portion of the campaign was to connect with people who weren’t already familiar with the CAF. We featured civilian scenarios so people could relate to these types of people and eliminate the preconceived notions of what a military member is like. We leaned on the personas from the strategy to build out scenarios that spoke to the type of people that would find a career in the armed forces interesting.
LBB> Building on this, how did you decide on which civilian scenarios to showcase? And as a whole, what was the writing process like?
Rob> This campaign aimed to build an emotional connection with the audience. We wanted to get away from what is typically seen in military recruitment ads. When writing the script for this campaign, it started with the intention first. It began with maybe 30 or 40 scenarios that could work to get the feeling across, then narrowed it down to the seven you see in the final spots.
The civilian scenarios hit on a couple of things; there’s a place in the forces for many types of people with various interests, and the CAF can provide a place where you can continue to grow those skills.
LBB> With all this in mind, Ante, did you have a clear vision for what the spot should look like right off the bat?
Ante> I’ve been a director for years, so the visualisation/production side was the easy part. It was an eye opening and amazing experience to help develop creative from a client brief, and to be client-facing from day one. Knowing the client’s needs and concerns allowed me to really streamline what I wanted to communicate visually. This approach led to an extremely positive pre-production, production and post production process. The efficiencies gained by having everyone on the same page were incredible. There was no broken telephone effect - I was able to communicate my ideas directly to the client and then worked with the agency producer, Margaret John, and the production producer, Jeff Pangman, in order to accomplish what was needed.
LBB> The spot features a large variety of locations. Where all did you shoot, and as a whole, what was the experience like?
Rob> We shot everything in BC, within a few hours of Vancouver in various directions. It was an incredible experience with the greatest group of people you could ever meet. The crew was fantastic from start to finish. The client made it out as well and was wonderful to work with. All in all, we were able to create something magical with a crew that was invested and cared. Can’t ask for more than that!
Ante> We shot for six days. It was one of the most incredible filming experiences of my career - it felt like everyone, from the client down to the production associates and drivers, were all on board to make something great.
I flew out with my line producer, Jeff Pangman, six weeks before production to scout locations. The Vancouver locations team had already been working on finding us a variety of looks ahead of time, but when we landed, it was an intense schedule to get out to some of the more remote spots. To be more efficient with our time, we had a drone team join us on the scout. This allowed us to cover more ground and pinpoint exact camera setups ahead of time.
LBB> The action shots of civilian activities are standout. How did you approach filming this, what type of gear did you use, and were there any challenges that came with it?
Ante> I worked with a stunt team to plan out what I had boarded. We also worked with an amazing water team and RVRD’s specialty camera team. We were able to be a little loose on set with some of the setups, but for the most part, everything was carefully planned. The great thing about being involved early on was that when the creative went to testing, it was my director boards that were being tested, so ‘shooting the boards’ couldn’t have been a better experience.
In terms of gear, we shot with an Alexa Mini LF with Leica Summilux lenses. I wanted to work quickly, and was after a natural, contemporary look that felt warm and cinematic. After discussing it with my DP, John Houtman, we settled on the Summilux lenses. The Mini LF is a fantastic camera and allowed us to go handheld when necessary, although a ton was shot on an Easyrig. Besides the VFX of the uniform transitions, we were able to play with framings and movement on the fly.
LBB> When it came to aesthetics and the look and feel, what were your main aims and ambitions and how did you achieve them through lighting and colour?
Ante> I wanted to create something beautiful that also spoke to the audience and felt authentic. We had a document that outlined colours, tones and references for each scene, so that each vignette had its own look and feel. This document was shared between all departments and allowed us to make consistent decisions when choosing production design elements and wardrobe. When we went to colour, we continued to stick to this document.
LBB> The narration is super important. Who provided the voices, and what made them the perfect people for the job?
Rob> Our english voice talent was Kim Stockwood, and our French voice talent was Isabelle Lemme. We actually started using Kim’s voice from her original casting call and it just had the right amount of experience, empathy, and authority behind it, while connecting to the emotional notes we were looking for.
LBB> And the actors are equally great. What was the casting process like?
Lucia> In order to create an emotional connection with Canadians, we knew that it was important to work with talented actors who could deliver powerful performances. We carefully cast the actors based on their ability to convey emotion and connect with audiences. Through their performances, we aimed to evoke empathy, inspiration, and a sense of pride in the CAF. The contributions of our talented actors were instrumental in bringing our vision to life and creating a powerful emotional connection with our audience. They were all fantastic to work with.
LBB> The outfit transformations are super memorable. What went into bringing this aspect to life?
Rob> Alter Ego handled the VFX. There was a long process of exploration on how to best accomplish this effect, but we brought them in early during pre-production and worked with them to discuss the various ways we could pull off this idea. Once we got into post, we explored several ways we could make the motion and texture work. It was a long process, but the dedication to making it great from all teams involved is what ultimately brought it to life.
The idea behind the uniform transformation was a play on the idea of already being ‘military material’, with the ‘inner spark’ being what initiates the transformation. The growth of our heroes builds as the camera moves into the DNA of the fabric build, ultimately climaxing with a full uniform as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
LBB> The music fits the spot perfectly. How did you go about finding the right soundtrack to reflect the idea of embracing one’s ‘inner spark’?
Rob> Collaboration was essential throughout this project. The music track you hear was a custom score created by BoomBox Sound. We started working with them early in the process so they understood the emotion we needed from the music. After exploring a few options, it was clear that this was the right direction. From there, it was about finding the proper emotional builds. Recording real instruments was also key to the sound, giving it that human touch. It’s a really beautiful piece of music.
LBB> What challenges did you face in the making of this campaign? And how did you overcome them?
Lucia> Our biggest challenge was creating a campaign that would resonate with the audience and instil a sense of pride in the CAF. We wanted to create something that would connect with viewers on a personal level and make them feel emotionally invested in the stories of the individuals featured in the piece. By working with talented people, crafting a powerful message, and focusing on emotional connection, we created a piece that we hope stays with viewers and opens their minds to a possible career in the CAF.
Ante> Even though we had six days to shoot, one of them was a studio to capture greenscreen elements for the matte paintings. So, we effectively had five days to shoot seven pretty elaborate vignettes, on location. Day four was particularly tough because we had to shoot the sandbags scene and the soccer scene - both of which had some pretty major challenges.
We chose Hatzic Lake for the flooding scene because the water levels were super high, but when we showed up for the tech survey, the lake had been drained to prepare for winter flooding. We decided to shoot it anyway and recreate the high water levels we had witnessed in post-production.
The soccer injury scene was designed to be shot at night, and we were only able to get onto the fields after 10:30 pm. I needed to shoot that entire sequence in three and a half hours, so that turnaround wouldn’t kill our next day. After all this, I would say that day four was the only time we were really sweating to get things done.
LBB> Do you have any memorable lessons learned or points of pride from this process?
Lucia> I think the best work comes when all sides genuinely work together, listen to each other, and adapt and form thoughts and ideas in the same direction. This process focused on achieving the objectives in the best possible way. People definitely had differing opinions along the development stages, but all thoughts were listened to and respected. It’s the only way to get the best work!
Ante> I’m proud of the crew and the production partners. It was an incredible team of professionals. Suneeva, Nimiopere, Alter Ego and BoomBox all felt as invested in the creative as we were, and I think it really shows in the work.
LBB> Since launch, what has the initial response been like?
Rob> Initial feedback has been very positive. Before launch, the spot went through a series of focus groups, and the feedback from those groups was outstanding. This wasn’t just because they liked the campaign as a whole, but because participants could succinctly articulate the meaning behind the stories. They understood the idea that everyone has something great inside of them waiting to come out, and the ad got them thinking about how they could fit into a career at the CAF.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to add?
Lucia> We believe that this campaign has the potential to make a significant impact, and are honoured to have been a part of this important project.
Ante> I know it’s not always feasible from a financial standpoint, but if advertising agencies were able to involve their production partners earlier in the process on jobs of this scale, it would make everyone so much more accountable. After all, the process on this one made for a truly amazing work environment.
