Page 8 - ADNews magazine March-April 2022

Behind the Cover
www.adnews.com.au |
March - April 2022
8
The creative contingent of adland is the beating heart of the industry. AdNews, with a mission to create high impact and inspiring covers, hand picks an agency to work magic. This time it’s Showpony.
TALENT WAR • BOYS DO CRY • AUSTRALIAN OPEN • EMERGING LEADER • THE RISE OF NUNN MEDIA
ANALOGFOLK • CARAT ADELAIDE’S CHIEF • THE YAHOO TEAM • ANDREW FYFE CARTOON
Mastering the metaverse
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March - April 2022
15/3/22
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Thoughts on the brief?
It’s rare you get a topic this publicly hyped but equally myste- rious. How do you tackle that? Once we completed that initial, critical insight mining such as googling ‘what is the metaverse?’, ‘who created the metaverse?’ and ‘what does Keanu Reeves think of the metaverse?’, we were suitably informed to tackle it.
How did you know you landed on the best concept? We developed 7 territories ini- tially, but the fact that an early ‘80s cartoon reference resonated with so many was a promising start. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]The metaverse and all its key early players are also perfectly ripe for parody, so as soon as we knew we were under the impenetrable protection of edi- torial privilege, it was a goer.
Who from the team was largely involved?
All the usual creative suspects across our Adelaide and Melbourne offices got together on early concepting, then it was open to everyone to contribute as many
Credits
Managing Director - Melbourne Jamie Scott
Group Creative Director Parris Mesidis
Creative Director - Melbourne Nic Maumill
Creative Director - Adelaide Rory Kennett-Lister
Senior Art Director Chico Zuccato Illustrator Ryan Smallman Junior Art Director Laura Marcus Finished Artist Jonathan Gibb
easter eggs and meta-references as the masthead could hold.
Biggest challenges with
the whole process?
Getting Zuckerberg to look like He-Man.
Managing our unexpected attraction to the result
What were the biggest hurdles to making this
a reality?
Making the finished product as rich and striking as we had envi- sioned in the time available was quite the hurdle, but we attacked it like a 6-year-old at their first Little Athletics.
Tell us about the shoot/ production. Who shot this and how did it come together?
On getting the nod from the gra- cious folk at AdNews, we needed someone to help bring the illustra- tion to life. This is where world- class illustrator and comic book artist, Ryan Smallman came in. Not only was his artistic prowess and finish second to none, he was also based in Brazil and working
in the opposite time zone. We could always sleep soundly know- ing Ryan would have gold waiting for us the next morning.
Best bit about the process/ any funny stories?
It was an incredibly unique oppor- tunity to apply our creative process and delve into a new world that’s fast becoming a reality for our industry. Along the way we thought – what better way to explore advertising in the metaverse than to advertise in the metaverse? So we’re run- ning our cover as a full scale vir- tual billboard in the metaverse and minting it as a limited number of NFTs. Bored Apes – we’re coming for a slice of that cash.
Plus, as a result of this project, we’re all off to buy some prime metaverse real estate. Stop by for a virtual vermouth some time.
Showpony has created 100 NFTs of the AdNews cover. Scan the QR code to get your hands on one.
Thinking. Insights. Ideas.
adnews.com.au
A limited edition bespoke AdNews ‘A’ trophy is also up for grabs for the winner.
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