Neutro Roberts' sign of the times

The Italian personal care brand Neutro Roberts has launched a new campaign which focuses on the brand's heritage and Italian roots rather than its products and their features.

The Story of Henry Roberts features the eponymous chemist who, in 1843, travelled to Florence from London to begin a new life and, eventually, start a new brand. 

Florence was, at that time, considered the cultural capital of Italy and a centre of excellence for pharmaceutical knowledge and the stylish four-minute film, created by Ogilvy Milan, shows Roberts leaving his home city and founding his pharmacy, with him employing the services of a callous-skinned carpenter to carve his shop sign. 

Director Xavier Mairesse, of Movie Magic International, cuts between the carpenter's labours on the sign and those of Roberts, as he aims to create an ointment that will help the carpenter's skin. Mairesse and his team recreated 19th century Florence in 21st century Budapest, and the pharmacy scenes were filmed inside a Jesuit pharmacy built in the first half of the 18th century

Roberts eventually launched his first bar of soap much later, in 1904, seeing the creation of Neutro Roberts, which now celebrates its 120th anniversary.