barrettSF launched a TV campaign for their client Humboldt Redwood to showcase the building material as a beautiful, all-purpose wood that is superior for both indoor and outdoor usage. The work launched wide on cable networks such as ESPN, CNN, HGTV and A&E on Monday, May 30, and directs viewers to the website, GetRedwood.com.
Aimed at consumers who are building or remodeling their homes, as well as architects, contractors and landscape designers, the 15- and 30-second ads pan across homes with redwood features and minimalist fixtures that detail the beauty of the wood. Each ad is narrated by Ross Brockley, whose wooden, comic delivery makes sense once the camera stops on his character: he’s a redwood plank “dummy” resting on the builder’s knee. Each of the eight executions tags with “Real. Strong. Redwood.”
“You know, our ancestors didn’t have TV—the wall was the TV,” the dummy observes in one spot as the camera slowly pans across a room paneled in rich redwood. “And this TV would have blown their minds.”
“We wanted to show the strength and beauty redwood can bring inside and outside of the home,” said Jessica Hewitt, Director of Marketing for Humboldt Redwood, “and to inspire more innovative uses beyond just decks and fences. For the creative execution, we were looking for something more interesting than a family having dinner on their deck. We knew barrettSF would deliver that, and they have. We love the campaign.”
The campaign aims to raise the perceived value of redwood by a) positioning it as a beautiful wood that offers all the benefits of comparable materials, and b) highlighting its uses as timbers, posts, beams and a finish-grade wood. The work is a follow-up, of sorts, to a campaign barrettSF did for the company two years ago. Brockley also narrated those ads, which showed the superiority of redwood over plastic decks.
“After the last Redwood campaign, the most frequent question was ‘who’s the voice?’” commented Jamie Barrett, barrettSF ECD. “In this campaign, we provide the answer. It turns out the voice was coming from a naturally strong and beautiful–though slightly bug-eyed–redwood plank.”
More and more homeowners, architects, contractors and landscape designers are reimagining their projects with redwood. A recent homeowner study found that redwood is identified as “in style” to a significantly greater degree than competing materials, including plastic composites, PVC, cedar, and tropical hardwoods. And choosing redwood is positive for the environment as well. Humboldt Redwood is 100% Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified; FSC has earned a reputation as the most rigorous, credible forest certification system in the world.
Creative Credits:
Advertising Agency: barrettSF, San Francisco, CA USA
ECD: Jamie Barrett
ECD: Pete Harvey
Copywriter: Peter Henningsen
Art Director: Byron Wages
Managing Director: Patrick Kelly
Account Supervisor: Michael Reardon
Executive Producer: Frank Brooks
Associate Producer: Charlotte Dugoni
Advertised Brand/Client: Humboldt Redwood
Director, Marketing: Jessica Hewitt
Marketing Associate: Jessica Chandler
Marketing Associate: Amber Lucas
Production Company: MJZ
President: David Zander
Director: Mike Maguire
Sr. Executive Producer: Eriks Krumins
Line Producer: Tracy Broaddus
DP: Barry Peterson
Production Designer: Michael Broaddus
Editorial: Arcade
Editor: Sean Lagrange
Assistant Editor: Brian Meagher
Music: Tone Farmer
Audio Mix: One Union Recording
Engineer: Eben
