This is a fantastic little doco and an incredibly fresh way to approach selling toilet cleaner. There’s some great lessons about the power of ‘real stories’ and how to consciously frame them to make powerful, meaningful and relevant statements about what it is your trying to promote.

The team at ad agency Droga5 have made a film communicating that the product is strong and powerful through the metaphor of a body-builder. This isn’t particularly special. It’s the kind of thing you might expect to see as a cartoon character mascot in a traditional cleaning product ad. But, by making it a short-form documentary (micro-doc) they open up the humanity, and dare we say reality of the character.

Body builders are fascinating freaks that the rest of us are intrigued by, but the creators brilliantly overcome this disconnection by telling the story from his girlfriend’s perspective. This not only humanises him, it gives the film the point-of-view of the target demographic. Suddenly women who buy the household cleaning products can empathise and perhaps even feel love towards him. Because he represents the cleaning product the target audience are experiencing empathy and love toward the product.

The ‘reality’ aspect of this story also pulls opens up interesting twists on the cliche. This isn’t a cartoon superhero bodybuilder who spends his day fighting germs. He’s a hard-working regular 9-to-5 guy who pursues strength as a passion. It doesn’t come easy. He really wants it. Who doesn’t want those attributes from products and services they invest in. We don’t know if the creators intended this, but the documentary frame for this story is subconsciously reframing a commoditised product, into a service. We start to see product in the same light as the hard-working cleaner we might be lucky enough to hire to help with the housework. This is clever salesmanship as we’re more likely to perceive additional value in a service than a commodity.

The other cliche buster is addressing the amount of food it takes to fuel this passion. This great in terms of the story because it’s deepening the connection between the hero/product and the toilet bowl.  But, it’s dangerous territory and could in fact alienate the target audience rather tan wooing them to generate more sales. Here’s why. It’s disgusting. Plain and simple. From a doco storytelling perspective it’s gold, because its intimate and real and behind-the-curtain of usual human facades. But, I’m not sure whether women who buy the household cleaning products want to connect to that ‘reality’ of, well… shit.

It also positions the female character (representing the target audience) as having to work really hard in the kitchen for him (representing the product). And he doesn’t even seem to appreciate it as he silently and with complete self-absorbtion disappears into the bathroom. Again, whilst this seems to be a wonderfully insightful representation of the universal relationship between men and women, it could repulse the very audience they’re trying to win over.

Will this ‘reality’ be something they embrace or shun? Is it a story about themselves that they would want to share with friends? Time will tell.

Either way, kudos must go to the agency and client for such a bold and engaging approach.

We had an amazing shoot in Papua New Guinea this week.

We were commissioned by East West Transport to create a safety induction film for local Papuans as they come on board to work in the transport depots. Big trucks carting containers all over the country. And what a crazy, wonderful, extraordinary country it is. Very challenging for the drivers and mechanics who need to keep the whole thing moving.

The video was ‘endorsed’ by local celebrity Mae Koime, who is a 2-time Olympian in the 100-metre sprint. But, the voice of the film was Ben, a 25-yo assistant workshop manager who did an incredible job interpreting our English script off the autocue and into Pidgin that the local fellas would understand.

Stay tuned for the edit. Here’s some happy snaps…

Kylie Minogue – SNYE 2012 Creative Ambassador

Kylie Minogue was today announced as the Creative Ambassador for the 2012 Sydney New Years Eve. Imagination, the creative agency behind the celebrations for 2011, 2012 and 2013, engaged Siberg to film her announcement.

Check out the promo we created for our friends at Future Thread. Their Shiftkicker conference is taking place on Thursday 29th March in Sydney.

Last year SIBERG created the video content for a fantastic digital campaign called Community Seeds. Our work alongside Commonwealth Bank and Imagination has been awarded an inaugural Facebook Studio Award – one of only 10 campaigns around the world to receive the honour. Other winners included Nike, AMEX and Intel.

Our work on the CBA Community Seeds project was recognised with a ‘Best Non-Profit’ AIMIA Award nomination last week.

Unfortunately, we missed out to a great campaign by Lava Web Creations, but we had a great evening non-the-less.

Thank you to the CBA team and Imagination for involving us on such a great project.

Commonwealth Bank Centenary TVC (behind-the-scenes)

Late last year Siberg was sent along to document the recording of CBA’s landmark television commercial to commemorate their 100th year.

It was spectacular to say the least. We’re incredibly proud of the result. In many shots we think it’s difficult to tell the difference between the TVC and the behind-the-scenes footage.

We are the Light

Siberg was recently commissioned to create this great little film about the Australian World Orchestra. The film accompanies a written article in the iPad mag Australia Unlimited. A very slick publication – well worth a look.

SIBERG LOVE – TRUE LOVE STORIES

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new part of our video storytelling business.

The concept came from a gorgeous video we put together for our friends Mike & Kate Hill. The film was made shortly before their wedding and sent out to wedding guests all around the world to get them excited and aligned with the spirit of the upcoming wedding.

When we saw the result we knew we were onto something special. A simple, elegant formula for capturing and sharing the stories of love at the heart of relationships. The essence of love that fuels weddings, anniversaries, and newborn babies.

love@siberg.net