Outdoor Footwear Leader Merrell Invites Holiday Gift Givers to Hike Into Merrellville
By thelaegotist / /
Now through December 26, global leader in outdoor active footwear, Merrell is raising awareness with a campaign designed to highlight holiday gift-giving.
Seeking a fun and clever way to play off holiday tropes and traditions, Merrell‘s in-house team collaborated with multi-faceted global production company 1stAveMachine to create a festive campaign with scenes centered on Merrell shoes.
Two 15-second videos are running socially on Snapchat, Pinterest, TikTok, Meta and YouTube, featuring Merrellville, population 2,500.
In “Sledding,” viewers see an animated snow-packed village with holiday gifts under an evergreen tree. Kids gleefully slide down a hill, hit a bump and go flying as the bump is revealed to be a hibernating bear. The kids are safely caught by mom and dad as the ursine creature (in stocking cap) gets its, um, bearings. The snowpack cracks and gives way to reveal that it is a Merrell boot to appreciative laughter from the crowd. Copy is superimposed: “Merrell all the way.”
In “Townsquare,” a moose peeks out from behind a signpost that declares, “Welcome to Merrellville, population 2500 mini people.” Said people bring ladders and boxes of lights into the town square on which sits a giant boot. They decorate the footwear with lights and a giant ape plugs the lights into an extension cord as the crowd roars, and the boot is lit up for the holidays.
“This season, we put a Merrell spin on those all-too-familiar holiday phrases and traditions as a joyful reminder that there’s no place like the outdoors for the holidays,” said Kelly Warkentien, Merrell senior creative director at Merrell. “Our creative team brought Merrellville to life through a world of miniatures with the team at 1stAveMachine.”
Both :15s are being executed across digital sales channels, including social, search and display, in email, on Merrell.com, out of home, in the retailer’s stores and in the stores of several retail partners.
“One of the greatest challenges when shooting a :15 with such a creative script is leaving things out, so we were laser-focused on the details of the illustrations,” said Mariano Bergara, director of the spots. “We wanted each character to wear the exact right Merrell gear, down to the correct colors. We 3D-modeled every tiny human, animal and mystical being, printed them out, hand-painted them and voila.”
CLIENT
Agency: Merrell
Creative Services Manager: Patrick Gietzen
Creatives: Kelly Warkentien, Erin Reily, Burke di Piazza, Kelsey Webster, Tucker Friend, Derrick Trotman
Chief Marketing Officer: Janice Tennant
Senior Digital Marketing Director: Jane Smith
PRODUCTION COMPANY
1stAveMachiineBA
Executive Producer(s): Sabrina Elizondo / Florencia Bardas
Director: Becho & Mab
Line Producer: Mercedes Serrano / Ines Palmas
POST Coordinator; Manuel Silva
Colorist: The Lobos Bros LLC / AnahÍ Piccinin
Conform & Online: Vargas Pozo David
ART TEAM
Art Director: Leonor Garcia Vercillo
Production Chief: Robles Gabriela Analia
1st Production Assist: Brugues Saavedra Camila
Character Designer: Bayugar Marcos / Bruno Hernan Gustavo
Background Designer: Victoria Farelli
Background Designer / Art Direction: Barabani Juan Ignacio
Director of Photography: Isern Lautaro
Boardomatic / Animatic: Sebastian Conen Sacheri
Storyboard Artist: Santos Martin Manuel
CAMERA & PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM
Gaffer: Lionel Seilhan
Electrician: Adrián Fernando Martinez
VFX Supervisor: Gambarotta Diego
Composition Sr Artist: Feo Rocks S.A. de C.V.
Rotoscopy: Javier Gustavo Marin
Photoshoper: Pablo Koutsovitis / Gabriel Sebastián Alomar
Editor Animation & Conformer: Vargas Pozo David
Colorist: The Lobos Bros LLC / AnahÍ Piccinin
STOMPO CREW
Senior Realization / Set:
Stefanini Paula Carolina
Maria Eugenia Tome
Fernanda Maglione
Ortt Maria Florencia
Carlos Adrian Diaz / Zancolli Quintana Maria
Virginia Mariela Zaccagnini
Pittaro Gabriela Elian
3D Character Realization Modeler 3d:
Leandro Marino
Facundo De La Vega
Eusebi Franco David
Gustavo Federico”
Illustrator / Set: Rosina Golaz
Carpenter / Set: Sebastian Hojnadel
Characters Realization Senior:
Simanauskas Battistoni Indiana
Analia Rodriquez / Lopez Natalia Belen
Virginia Mariela Zaccagnini
Tamara Gomez
Paula Marcaccio
Characters Realization Coordinator / Sculptor: Canosa Maximiliano Atilio
Animation Acommoder: Sebastian Conen Sacheri
Utilero Sebastian Hojnadel
MUSIC
Original Music: BAMBA LLC
