giffgaff on Keeping Things Small to Make a Big Impact

This week giffgaff launched a striking new 60-second film created in collaboration with Rattling Stick’s Ed Morris.

The single-shot film, called Small vs Big, is beautiful in its simplicity; a young woman, stood in front of a parked car in a nondescript setting, delivers a thought-provoking monologue exploring the advantages of ‘small’ and challenging the conventional idea that ‘big’ is always better. The camera slowly zooms towards the protagonist as Siouxsie & The Banshees’ 1978 classic Hong Kong Garden gradually becomes more audible.

We spoke to giffgaff's brand director and head of advertising, Tom Rainsford [below] and Abi Pearl Ward respectively, about the change in approach from previous giffgaff campaigns and how director and creative, Ed Morris, was integral to the campaign's creation.

Above: giffgaff brand director, Tom Rainsford.

Small vs Big is different in tone and approach from previous giffgaff campaigns; why did you decide to go this route?

Tom Rainsford: giffgaff is a challenger brand and our ethos is a bit David versus Goliath, but that approach can be brought to life in lots of ways and we thought this one would be positively disruptive. The concept seems to suit the cultural conversation of the moment; there are lots of 'big' conversations involving 'big' brands and this went against that. 

Abi Pearl Ward: It was actually Ed [Morris, director] who brought the pared back nature of the film. He created a beautiful treatment that said, let's be calm, let's take a measured approach. It took us in another direction. 

"There's a fine line between being impassioned and over-bearing." 

Where did the inspiration for the words spoken in the film come from?

Pearl Ward: Ed wrote the prose. It went through some tweaks from the original version, for clearance, but it's basically the same and is a testament to his skill as a writer. We wanted a lyrical quality [to the campaign] and we wanted the actress to come across as natural but we didn't really know how to bring that idea to life. Then Ed came back to us with a recording he'd made of him speaking the words he'd written.

Above: Director, Ed Morris, on location for the giffgaff shoot. 

So, the project had a very collaborative approach?

Rainsford: Yes. We never claim to have all the answers ourselves. The brief was very broad; we were aware of the cultural conversation happening and we waned to create a campaign that said something bold but that spoke that boldness in a small way.

Pearl Ward: We wanted to have an element of protest but in a calm, considered way, with a lightness of touch. There's a fine line between being impassioned and over-bearing. 

"There are lots of 'big' conversations involving 'big' brands and this went against that."

With relatively little in the frame other than the actres, how important was the choice of car she's leaning on?

Rainsford: Elements of our visual brand are quite retro. We often use old imagery with a modern twist. We had a young, modern girl, someone you would likely see shopping in Top Shop of a weekend, but she's next to a classic car [a late 70s Chevrolet Caprice]. We talk a lot about freedom at giffgaff, and the car is a signifier of that. 

Pearl Ward: It was a creative choice; we liked the colour, liked the angles of the car, and it's like the music [Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie and the Banshees], it's old but is still cool. It brings ages and communities together. We've got something important to say but it doesn't have to feel agressive, it just needs to be engaging.

Above: giffgaff's The Big Swim, from 2017, which also featured elements of retro imagery.