Jordan Brady, director and founder of production company True Gentleman Industries, gets a kick out of finding the funny in everyday scenarios. His proclivity for observational comedy has resulted in a unique ability to locate the funny bone of almost any creative brief. It makes sense, then, that the world's largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot®, would come knocking on True Gent’s door for help executing their comedic vision for the latest Blinds.com campaign.
The brand has always embraced humour – in fact, "Enjoying the Ride" is one of Blinds.com’s core values and has been for over 20 years. While incorporating humour in advertising and marketing has long been considered one of the most persuasive ways of engaging consumers and improving brand attitudes, it’s not always easy for brands to nail the pitch.
Through True Gent’s contributions to the commercial production world, Jordan has become known for his comedy chops – a reputation perfectly exemplified by his 18 year-long partnership with automotive giant, Toyota. For “Ditch the Old Way”, Blinds.com called on Jordan and his team to channel the humour at the heart of the brand’s latest spot.
LBB’s April Summers got the gang back together to tell the story of how agency, brand and production company aligned creative visions to curate the perfect comic performance. Joining Jordan to discuss the hilarious spot is Ashley Pitts, senior manager of omnichannel marketing for Blinds.com, and Stew Redwine, VP of creative services at Oxford Road agency.
LBB> At what point in the process did you decide to incorporate comedy?
Stew> Right from the start. We figure if it’s fun to make, it’s fun to watch – but it also goes deeper than that. Comedy can be very persuasive, and that’s borne out of many peer-reviewed studies from the field of Behavioural Science.
LBB> Why did you want to collaborate with Jordan and True Gent for this spot?
Ashley> Jordan had made a few pitches to Blinds.com over the years, so he was already on our radar and came highly recommended by Stew. Once we had a clear vision of the creative direction we wanted to take, collaborating with Jordan was a no-brainer. We admired the work he had produced for other brands, and his tasteful use of humour aligned perfectly with the direction we envisioned for the spots.
Stew> Collaborating with Jordan and True Gent on this project was the natural evolution of a relationship we’ve had for years. I started as a fan of his
Respect the Process podcast, I attended his
Commercial Directing Bootcamp, and hired him as a creative consultant on our in-house TV productions. He’s an amazing creative force and was perfect for this opportunity.
LBB> Jordan, what kind of ideas came to you when you first saw the Blinds.com brief and how closely do they resemble the finished spot?
Jordan> Well, I’m a sucker for flashbacks so that part of the script instantly stood out. Instinctually, I thought the character who had had a horrific time needed to break the fourth wall during her flashbacks. Our hero, who shopped online with Blinds.com, would need to remain unaware of our camera. I was so excited by this idea that I texted Stew right away. Our DP, Ben Brady, wanted to commit to a very different, much cooler look for the flashbacks – all this shows in the final spots.
LBB> How was humour used to elevate the message of this spot?
Stew> Since 2004 there's been a decline in the use of humour in ads, though we're seeing a bounce back in comedic content post-pandemic. And there's a reason, humour is powerful - it elevates a message by increasing its ability to persuade, in a very delightful way. Humour helps improve attitudes towards the ad itself and the brand behind it, recall, attention, positive emotions, and reduces negative emotions, as well as purchase intent.
Jordan> In this era of content-overload, you'd better entertain or your spot is white noise. Comedy gets attention. It’s all about getting the performers dialled into the tone of the spot. And.... timing.
LBB> In what ways did this project help you hone your craft?
Jordan> A motto we have at True Gent is "minimise logistics so we can maximise performance time" which I know doesn’t fit on a coffee mug. We dressed one home as two, which we all do, but then we made a design studio out of a kitchen, with foam core and Ikea shelves. "Kallak" I believe is the Swedish name.
LBB> Can you describe the collaborative process of working with the client and agency?
Jordan> Fluid and fun: we had constant, direct communication which I value. Stew is naturally funny and so on point with what the spot needed to communicate. We did check ins with Ashley and her Blinds.com team - which I love - during scouting and casting. Very transparent prep. And why not?
LBB> Ashley, how does this spot differ from previous Blinds.com commercials?
Ashley> With this spot, our aim was to reframe Blinds.com as the innovative and better way to shop for custom window treatments, positioning Blinds.com in contrast to the conventional methods our competitors have relied on for years. What set our approach apart was our deliberate emphasis on showcasing the limitations of our competitors in a more direct way, utilising humour as a tool to connect with our audience in a way we hope will resonate and make a lasting impression. The humour of the spot is authentic to who we are as a brand which you wouldn’t have seen in one of our spots in several years, so it was exciting to get back to our roots with this project.
LBB> How did you react to the final cut? And what do you hope the reaction to this spot will be?
Jordan> I love the cut! The editor, Rob Jaeger, crushed it, using all our favourite takes. And his sound design touches add a dark theme to the flashbacks that lean into the spirit of the spot!
Ashley> Our team was super pumped to check out the final cut and we couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. The real icing on the cake was the reaction from over 500 of our colleagues during our in-house screening of the spots. The room was buzzing with genuine laughter and there was this incredible energy in the air.
I'm hopeful that our audience will be just as impressed with the spots and that will translate into meaningful growth for Blinds.com. I also hope this will allow us to create even more work with Jordan and Stew – personally, I would love to produce a series of spots with the outstanding cast that we had. Blinds.com truly is the best way to buy custom window treatments and there are so many fun ways we can continue to tell that story – I hope we get the chance to!
Stew> With satisfaction and gratitude! This is one of those campaigns where the original strategy and concepts we pitched are exactly what came to life on the screen. And it’s part of an entire communications system that is expandable: it’s more about seeing one way in which the campaign came to life and recognising from the finished ad all the way back to the strategy how it all fits together. I am so grateful to Hannah and Ashley and the rest of the team at Blinds.com for trusting Oxford Road with this process and I couldn’t be prouder of our internal team, and Jordan and his team at True Gent in how this all came together.
As for what reaction I hope for this spot, I hope our audience can see themselves in the characters and choose Blinds.com because it is, without a doubt, the best way to buy window treatments online!
