Page 8 - AdNews Magazine Jul-Aug 2020

Behind the Cover
www.adnews.com.au | July-August2020
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The creative contingent of adland is the beating heart
of the industry. To fully embrace this, and with a mission to create awesome and inspiring covers, each month AdNews hand-picks an agency to work its magic.
A frozen sports fanatic
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EF • A GARAGE WITH AN ART DIRECTOR • BOGGED DOWN IN LOCKDOWN
M&C SAATCHI’S NEW LOCAL CHI
ONE EYE ON THE ZOOM IMAGE • TBWA’S FURNANCIAL BOSS • PROGRAMMATIC’S TEENAGE YEARS
Thinking. Insights. Ideas.
adnews.com.au
Passions
On Pause
How sport will bounce back post COVID-19.
AdNews – Since 1928
July-August 2020
For the July-August edition, AdNews called on M&C Saatchi to create a cover that reflects our investigation into the world of sports rights and the resurrection of live sport.
What were your initial thoughts on the sports rights brief at hand?
Our first thoughts were what an amazing opportunity at such a unique point in time. Working in sport day in and day out is about riffing on culture, and there’s nothing bigger and more univer- sal to riff on than COVID-19.
Post first brief chat, what went through your mind(s) and what were the next steps you took as a team?
We’re always looking for an insight. A truth. The hardest thing was timing and the unpredictabil- ity of daily life. Things were chang- ing so much by the day — what was true one day, wasn’t the next. The thing we kept coming back to was just how strange this situation was. For sports fans, it’s probably the longest we’ve gone without live sport since we were in the womb, and we only really know how much something means to us
WORDS BY
PAIGE MURPHY
when it’s taken away. Freezing the moment of passion and trapping a fan in ice felt like an appropriate way to bring this oddness to life.
How did you know you’d landed on the best concept? We loved the surprising, unusual- ness of the image. I’d always loved George Lois’s Muhammad Ali cover of Esquire back in the day. It’s an image that draws you in and then tells a bigger story.
Who from the team was largely involved and what were their roles?
Steve Martin is the CEO of Sport & Entertainment globally; Jon Kelly is the executive creative director; Cam Blackley is M&C Saatchi’s CCO; the retoucher was Richard Hughes; the photogra- pher was Billy Plummer; hair and make-up was Gavin Ainesbury. We shot it at Pix on Location in Alexandria [Sydney].
What were the biggest hurdles to making this
a reality? Any challenges? Shooting during/post-COVID-19 obviously comes with challenges. The whole execution relies on the brilliance of Rich’s retouching.
Tell us about the actual creation techniques
— how did it come together? Working with Billy Plummer, you know he’ll bring his own lighting ideas to the mix. Such a simple decision of shooting on a red sur- face added so much to it visually. We wanted a graphic image that would pop off the cover, and the red and black is such a simple but important part of that. It was a labour of love for Rich, and the execution comes to life in the little details of the ice, the pie and the liquid exploding out of the cup. That moment of unbri- dled joy that all fans have been denied for so long.
Biggest challenges with the whole process? Did anything keep you up at night?
The biggest challenge was what to focus on with sport at this point in time. There are so many big things happening that have never happened in our lifetime. Keeping single-minded focus and brutal simplicity on such a massive topic is why we call it brutal.
Best bit about the process?
Getting back out and making things again. We’ve all been trapped in ice.
Credits
Jon Kelly, Executive Creative Director M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
Cam Blackley, Chief Creative Officer M&C Saatchi
Steve Martin, Global CEO M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
Richard Hughes, Retoucher M&C Saatchi
Billy Plummer, Photographer
Gavin Ainesbury, Hair and make-up Billie Gurr, Wardrobe
Location: Pix on Location, Alexandria
A limited edition bespoke AdNews ‘A’ trophy is also up for grabs for the winner.
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