Americans have been cooking Johnsonville sausages since 1945. As the company approaches its 80th birthday, they’ve launched a new campaign titled “Keep It Juicy” to get more Americans spending quality time with friends and loved ones over a shared meal, especially in the midst of today’s tense social climate. Johnsonville doesn’t think a sausage company can or should solve world problems, but it can certainly nudge you to enjoy a meal and turn down the temperature a bit — which happens to be the best way to cook a sausage…by turning down the temperature.
Johnsonville approached advertising agency Hold Fast to help them execute a few spots for the campaign. The original spots were written to showcase some contention, ending with resolve. One of the first creative concepts they discussed was the scenario of a parent yelling at a Little League umpire. They followed that idea of poor behavior and wondered if they could find actual footage of it, or of similar situations where people are getting riled up.
The Hold Fast Team Knows How to “Search Before You Shoot”
The team set out to find the right partner to help them find and license UGC. They reached out to colleagues and did some online research. The clear recommendation was Catch+Release. For such a simple concept, what they needed was fairly nuanced. They were trying to show bad behavior without making fun of or pointing fingers at any particular individual, and so they were intentionally picky.
In total, Hold Fast received 6 curation deliveries from the Catch+Release team, and the curation requests evolved over time. That’s because they started out by casting a wide net, knowing they needed a variety of options. As they began to narrow down their selections and license them, only a few gaps remained in the final production. During the last few curation deliveries, the Hold Fast team homed in on specific requests, scenes they felt would complete the narrative.
Timm Gable is a freelance Executive Producer for Hold Fast. He appreciated having the luxury of time for this project. They had about 6 months of scripting, and the total production time was about one year. While acknowledging that privilege, Timm recommends that creative and production teams start curating very early on if they can help it. When you have a better grasp of the shots you think you’ll end up licensing for your spot, you’ll be able to conduct your original production shoots with a better understanding of how the final piece will look and feel. His director appreciated being able to know what shots were getting licensed in advance of shooting so that it informed his style of direction.
Catch+Release Makes the Licensing Part Fast and Easy
Getting started on the project, Timm worked closely with his Catch+Release account director, Ross Dabrow, who helped the Hold Fast team get set up on the platform and kick off curation. Ross gave them a high level overview of how the curation and licensing process typically goes so that he could share tips for making it a smooth experience and they would be able to account for lead times.
Additionally, Hold Fast received support from their Catch+Release Customer Success Manager, Anelka Shulkitas. Says Timm, “Anelka was fantastic. She really had the project’s best interest in mind. She probably checked in with us more than we checked in with her. She kept us on track to meet our deadlines, knowing how much lead time we would need.”
Ross and Anelka gave Hold Fast the advice to clear shots in advance, and to clear backups in addition to their first choice options. Clearance is the process of reaching out to the copyright owner(s) of and model(s) in a piece of content to ask for permission to license the content and to work out the details. As it turned out, following the advice put the team in a good position to have creative flexibility while keeping on track with their timeline and budget.
Another helpful part of working with Catch+Release was the ability to manage the curation and licensing process via the online platform. “I love the platform,” says Timm. “It was great being able to add contributors because we all work remotely. I also liked having the ability to add hearts and comments to shots as a way to share feedback with each other. And then being able to download comps in large batches was great so we could test out different options with our edit. As we got into clearance and licensing, it was also nice to see shot statuses at-a-glance.”
In total, the team licensed 13 shots through Catch+Release to produce a 60-second brand anthem, a 30-second block party spot, and a few other short clips. The spots, narrated by actor Vince Vaughn, are a fun and a genuine expression of Johnsonville’s message to Americans to “Keep It Juicy” by turning down the temperature and sharing a meal with those around you…with their delicious sausages, of course!
Learn more about the “Keep It Juicy” campaign from the official Johnsonville press release.
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