Netto: Netto - Easter Suprise [film]

Credits & Description:

Client: Netto
Product (Service): Supermarket
Agency: Jung Von Matt Hamburg, Germany
Entrant: Jung Von Matt Hamburg, Germany
Idea Creation: Jung Von Matt Hamburg, Germany
Idea Creation 2: The Mill London, United Kingdom
Additional Company: 2wei Music Hamburg, Germany
Additional Company 2: Netto Maxhütte-haidhof, Germany
Managing Director Creation: Dörte Spengler-Ahrens (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Managing Director: Stephan Giest (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Managing Director: Frank Apel (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Creative Director: Andreas Hilbig (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Copywriter: Adel Abouelfetouh (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Art Director: Vlad Tarziu (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Senior Art Director: Andreas Ristau (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Copywriter: Clemens Wolff (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Art Director: Michael Wilde (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Art Director: Barbara Dirscherl (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Client Service Director: Natalie Hoffmann (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Client Service Director: Natalie Martens (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Senior Project Manager: Julia Matczak (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Senior Project Manager: Alexandra Schöne (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Agency Producer: Dennis Wendt (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Agency Producer: Christopher Kehrhahn (Jung Von Matt Ag)
Managing Director: Ben Stallard (The Mill)
Director: Jimmy Kiddell (Jimmy Kiddell)
Producer: Terri Wood (Terri Wood)
Producer: Rebecca Perry (The Mill)
Executive Producer: Reece Ewing (The Mill)
Producer: Justin Stiebel (Justin Stiebel)
Head of Animation: Jorge Montiel (Jorge Montiel)
2D Lead Artist: Pete Hodsman (Pete Hodsman)
3D Lead/VFX Supervisor: Jonathan Wood (Jonathan Wood)
3D Lead Animator: Alberto Lara (Alberto Lara)
Managing Director: Simon Heeger (2wei)
Managing Director: Christian Vorländer (2wei)
Composer: Thomas Muis (Thomas Muis)
Illustrator: Melanie Climent (Melanie Climent)
Synopsys:
The Campaign
Every child in Germany knows the easter bunny: a rabbit that brings chocolate eggs on easter and hides them in your garden. The weird thing is, though: nobody knows any background for this. Who ist this bunny? Why does he do that? It’s a big part of German and European culture. And oddly enough: a mystery. That’s why in our film we finally reveal the origin story oft he easter bunny. A rabbit, born as the child of a hen and a hare – and gifted with the ability to lay eggs. Quickly he becomes an outcast in the animal world, mocked for his special abilities. He chooses to run away, conquers the human world, becomes a star and returns home on easter as he realizes, that even fame and popularity is nothing compared to the true value of family.
Creative Execution
We produced a 2 minute animated movie with live plates shot in a massive 2 day studio shoot. To do that we built a set that mainly consisted of a live forest, various locations within that forest and a great amount of handcrafted and lovingly detailed props. We refined the script to work without any dialogue – to maximize the impact of the original song we composed. Sung by a child, this song set the mood of the film so much, and worked so well, that it was greeted with a massive audience reaction from day 1 after relase of the film. Animation took about 3 months and included rendering several images that we used as stills fort he point of sale. The campaign was then launched in Netto markets across Germany, while the film soon reached a global audience!
The film was viewed over 24 million times across yotube and facebook and garnered enthusiastic international press coverage. It was such a success, that Netto decided to air the whole 2 minute film on TV – across multiple channels simultaneously at prime time. It was even shown in soccer stadiums before the game. Interaction rates on facebook were high – over 13 mio views, over 180.000 reactions and over 144.000 shares. Youtube views ammounted to over 11 mio. in just a few weeks. The children’s book we printed was sold out within days –over 1,3 mio. copies. And best of all: Netto dominated the supermarket communication during the Easter period – competing with bigger brands with a way bigger organic reach and way bigger media budgets!
We created a touching film built on a simple but effective and powerful premise: telling a story that talks to millions while putting the branding second – on purpose. The result: a piece of work that hopefully feels way more like branded entertainment than an average ad. And way more like a short film than a short TV spot. It’s not a supermarket ad made for easter. It’s truly an easter gift to anyone who cares to watch.
Our film mainly targeted women of all ages who do the grocery shopping for their respective households. To counquer their hearts we told a touching story revolving around childhood, parenting, social norms, individuality and love. In order to not diminish the effect oft he storytelling we put branding and selling second – and only closed the ad with a subtle brand message wishing everyone a happy easter with Netto. The film was published on facebook and youtube, additional posters were placed at the POS. A version of the story was also published as an illustrated children’s book – so Netto was not only part oft he easter holidays, but also a daily read in all the days leading up to them.