adam&eve's ECD on Working With Robins for Waitrose

Earlier this week, adam&eveDDB unveiled its Christmas offering for Waitrose and what a delight it was! Picturesque landscapes, a cute little robin and its unlikely relationship with a human family...

shots caught up with the agency's ECD Richard Brim to find out what inspired the seasonal spot.

Why did you decide on a robin as the protagonist for the spot?

Robins are strongly associated with Christmas, so it’s a great iconic shorthand for Waitrose, and they’ve been voted the nation’s favourite bird. It’s something simple that can be deployed in all sorts of places, from digital to on the back of a store receipt, which creates a really deep experience for customers, all the way back to their kitchens.  

How did you find working with a CGI lead character – was there anything in particular that you had to consider differently before production?  

We spent a huge amount of time with Sam and The Mill reviewing footage of different robins in order to find a bird that we could ‘cast’ as our lead character and to base the CGI build on. We knew we wanted a young male bird, quite lean, plucky and courageous enough make the epic journey against the odds.

What were the biggest challenges in bringing the spot to life and how did you overcome them?

It was clear from day one that making the robin and his story both absolutely accurate and believable was critical to bringing this spot to life. The more we looked into it, the more we realised that would be our biggest challenge, as birds are extremely hard to create in CGI - probably harder than any other creature due to their tiny, rapid movements and the detail in their feathers. Given this, we knew that we had to work with The Mill and it was the best decision we could have made - what they have created is amazing.

How long have you been working on this spot and what was the production process like?

We have been working on it since March. We shot in August and The Mill began working on the CGI of the Robin with Sam in June. A huge team worked intensively on this right up until the week it was aired.

Why was Sam Brown the right man for the job?

His big heart and his amazing eye for detail. There are very few directors who could create a film which is so visually stunning and packed with so much emotion.

The sound design in this ad is spot on, particularly as there aren’t any lines. What was the process for choosing the music?

The choice of music on an ad is often the most contentious bit, but on this it was remarkably simple. We always knew that we needed a track that was as beautiful and inspiring as the scenery and story, and that we didn’t want a typical Christmas ad track. When Sam was making developing his storyboards he heard this - which is part of a film score - and fell in love with it. When we heard it we knew it was absolutely perfect and the client agreed. It was our first and only choice.

Last year, the Make It with Waitrose spot was full of all things xmassy, whereas this year’s spot feels more subtle. Was this an intentional change in tone and why did you feel it was more suited for 2016’s audience?

Absolutely – we wanted to create something that not only connected emotionally at an even deeper level but had a quality and confidence that was superior to any other supermarket, and which had a lasting feel-good factor. 

To achieve that we elevated our story from the domestic to the symbolic – the Robin’s epic homecoming journey is a magical way of demonstrating how much food means to us at this time of year and the effort people go to make it a special and successful occasion. We’re rooting for him as much as the girl who’s carefully selected the best mince pie! 

At the end of a topsy-turvy year, there’s something incredibly powerful about his plight and something very reassuring that it all comes good in the end, thanks to Waitrose.

How many mince pies do you plan on eating this season?

As a Waitrose aficionado, I care more about quality over quantity. So one brilliant Waitrose mince pie will do just fine.