With creative concepts from Drummond Central, production by re:Production in Newcastle, animation from Manchester’s MightyGiant, and an iconic Queen song, re-recorded by Media City’s Gas Music, the new Dreams campaign is a true Northern collaboration.
The TV Ads were shot in virtual studios in January of this year, however the designs and creativity behind the stars of the Ad started a long time before: “We were approached last summer to pitch for this cute but slightly bonkers idea of faces singing in mattresses. Knowing that we have both great character designers AND great 3D technicians in our team made this a challenge we had to accept,” said MightyGiant’s Jonny Ashworth.
“The character design was necessarily lengthy. These characters are designed to become characters that will live as Dreams assets for a long time. They even have cuddly toys already. We sketched dozens and dozens of versions to get this right before we even got into the 3D modelling. We were delighted with how the characters came out, but it was only once we started to blend it with the shots and the music that these Adverts truly came to life.”
Using an artist as iconic as Queen helps, but it wasn’t a simple case of sticking a track on the ad: “For Dreams, our goal was to create a musical experience that felt both cinematic and deeply human, using a fresh recording of Somebody to Love to support the campaign’s emotional weight,” said Greg Owens, of music agency Gas Music.
“Rather than treating it as a simple cover, we rebuilt the arrangement from the ground up, carefully layering harmonies and dynamics to retain the soul and grandeur of the original.
We began by breaking down Somebody to Love into its core elements, focusing on the vocal harmonies that define its power. Every detail, from dynamic swells to intimate vocal moments, was crafted with cinematic storytelling in mind, ensuring the music could drive the emotional arc of the campaign.”
“There’s a lot of noise made about Manchester being a creative powerhouse and about the talent that exists outside London. It’s incredibly gratifying to have worked on a campaign of this scale with some of the best production and agency partners in the North.”
The Commercial aired for the first time on Friday 14th March during Gogglebox, and is currently rolling out across TV and socials.
