Behind the Blend with J2O & TH_NK

J2O’s latest campaign through digital agency TH_NK to promote the blending of two fruits in the ingredients of the soft drink is an ambitious one. Over the course of 20 days through February a new film will be uploaded to YouTube showcasing the contrasting talents of young spoken word artist James Massiah (below) and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as their respective genres merge on screen.

It’s the second day of shooting on set at South London’s Rivoli Ballroom and it’s clear that Massiah is a natural. But the young poet has had his work cut out: “I write something most days of the year and the standard varies, but for this, they told me we have a deadline and said we need quality,” he reveals.

The artist is still pumped from the previous scene he’s just shot as we stand in a side room off the main ballroom: “This was 20 pieces, so it was a challenge but one I’ve risen to and I think it’s definitely enabled me to step my game up as a poet, writer and as an artist all round.”

Massiah missed most of Christmas to devote himself to the massive task and his talent and commitment to the campaign has impressed TH_NK creative director Phil Wilce (below).

“The schedule has been intense. James has been through choreography and performance coaching so that when he turns up on the day and we have our tight window of shooting he nails it every time. He’s turned it on like he’s been doing it for years,” says the CD.

“He’s a bit of a hidden gem; an up and coming star but still very much underground. When we first met him and explained the idea to him we could see from the spark in his eyes that he totally got it and even though the classical music world was completely out of his comfort zone, he was excited by the potential of what it could be.”

The campaign concept sees spoken word clash with classical music to form a new mash-up and TH_NK was charged with the task of transcending the idea of blending things into the digital realm. Today the team, along with director on the project Zaiba Jabbar of Partizan, are shooting the final 10 films of 20 and surprisingly, there’s time to tell us about the idea and shoot.

“We arrived at this concept through lots of rigorous brainstorming and trying different things. It’s one of those where you don’t know if it’s going to work until you really start putting it together,” says Wilce. “First we took a piece of YouTube footage of a poet and put it together with some classical music on Spotify. That’s what we sold to the client but then it took leaps of imagination for them to buy into it and we’re so grateful they got it and saw the potential.”

The brand has been plugging the campaign’s original clips all month via YouTube and so far they’ve been well received by fans and online viewers with a recent BAFTA cut notching over 90,000 hits over the weekend of the event.

“If we were going to create 20 films over 20 days, the campaign needed to feel fresh and we had to give people a reason to want to watch the next one. There are lots of roads into the campaign so if they join us halfway through our run, they’ve got a whole back catalogue to look at,” he continues.

“We’ve been aiming for a mass appeal, like talking to Hull City Football Club for one video; there’s a poem for Valentine’s Day, the BRITS, BAFTAs and London Fashion Week. We’ve also got key pieces written for celebrities like Derren Brown and Professor Green.”

From the Orchestra’s point of view, it was another collaborative opportunity they couldn’t pass up. Having worked with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli in the past and flexing their musical muscle in a range of environments, the J2O job came as a sweet gig.

“I think all sorts of collaborations are really valuable and I love the idea of working with a spoken word artist,” says Orchestra conductor Benjamin Pope. “The stuff I’d seen of his really appealed and was something that was totally different for me and for the Orchestra. My father was a poet so I was kind of tuned into that world but when I saw James’ stuff online I was really wowed by it.”

Massiah, 24, was shortlisted for the young Poet Lauriete prize in 2013 and has worked with the Orchestra to adjust their arrangements and come up with the original pieces to fit nicely with their music. In terms of the message behind it, he says the blend idea also comes through in his jacket of choice:

“I tend to wear all black but if we’re going to get that blend across you need to add some colour. It’s been good to escape the clutches of the darkness on this shoot with a yellowy leather getup – my mum thinks I look like a bumble bee,” he states.

With half of the films already online, Wilce says there’s been a good vibe on set during this second day of shooting as the artists and production team can see the fruits of their labour emerging each day on screen: “We’re shooting the final 10 films and because we’ve seen the successes of the first week, we’re starting to see what the results look like and what it all means.”

To see the whole series of videos from the campaign you can visit J2O’s YouTube Channel and stay tuned to shots for behind the scenes footage from TH_NK to follow soon.