Who: Telus, with The Greenhouse for creative, Married to Giants for production and Grayson for sound.
What: A new ad for of the wireless brand’s “Stay Connected” campaign, which was introduced for the pandemic.
When & Where: On TV and online. It launched for Mother’s Day, but will run nationally for another couple of weeks.
Why: This is important time for Telus to emphasize how it can help people stay connected at a time when there is so much isolation and physical distance between people.
This is the third iteration of Telus “Stay Connected” advertising since the pandemic hit. Early on, the message was “stay strong,” followed by “stay grateful.” The newest creative is “Stay hopeful.”
“We’re starting to see glimmers of hope, as provinces are starting to test the waters and open up a bit,” said Ngaio Potts, managing director of The Greenhouse. “Everyone’s really hopeful that we’re going to get there.” Telus had to move quickly to produce new creative that reflected this emerging moment of hopefulness, while making people feel inspired and connected.
How: A poignant, minute-long ad showing a mother and father (L.A.-based director Karl Stelter) experiencing the joy of having a newborn baby girl, Leah, juxtaposed with the reality of having a baby in the middle of the pandemic—such as mom wiping down groceries and wearing a mask as she takes Leah for a walk.
The footage captures highly personal moments of the couple and tiny Leah at home, along with the moments—sometimes bittersweet—where they use technology to share that joy with loved ones who can’t yet meet Leah in person. It closes with the line “Life is different, yet all the same.”
How did they get the footage: The Greenhouse was working on scripts around hope and resilience, when one of its creative directors, Jake Bogoch, was approached by Married to Giants.
One of the Toronto-based production company’s directors had the footage and thought it might make sense for a brand to use around Mother’s Day. “We took a look at it and were just like ‘Oh my gosh, this is this is beautiful,'” said Noreel Asuro, group creative director. “We had to act on it as quickly as we could.
We presented to clients and we said, ‘We’re going to present you a whole bunch of scripts for stay hopeful, stay resilient, but we want to show you something that we have access to.” The client liked it as much as the agency did and, moving quickly, they had it ready to air by May 8.
Quote: “It’s just really, really beautiful footage. And it’s just honest,” said Asuro. “Like that grandmother scene. It’s just heartbreak. It gets you every time, and then tying that in with Jake’s line and the welcome Leah at the end, it’s just tears. “I’ll go call my mom.'”
