Entertainment

As an industry, we are not merely in competition with other ads or even with other advertisers. We are in competition with culture. Moreover, In order to advertise in the midst of the pandemic's stress and tension, we must produce something entertaining that is more than just an advertisement film.

From the script to the film technique itself, every aspect of The Trainee was used to create a piece of entertainment, not just advertising film. We used a unique and culturally relevant Wes Anderson-style art direction and blended each product key messages and entertaining storyline as one.

Background

The 1 is a department store membership program with which members can redeem points for various privileges. Now, the program is also available online through The 1 App, which allows easy access to even more members’ rewards and offers. However, despite having 19 million members, only 2 million of them are active users. The rest are unaware of the huge loss of exclusive privileges they’re missing out on the new app. We need to introduce The 1 App and establish its branding.

Creative idea

Last year, only 2 million of 19 million The 1 members redeemed their privileges. To remind non-active users just how many privileges they stand to gain – and lose – on The 1’s new online app, The 1 launched an online short film about a lost-and-found department where millions of forfeited privileges were left unredeemed.

The story follows a new trainee who is assigned to inform The 1 members about their lost privileges while introducing The 1 App and its features. Can the trainee hold true to his oath even while getting shunned and mistreated?

Strategy

The 1 has more than 19M+ members, but only 2M are active users. People don't care about their membership and don't download the app because they are unaware of their privilege and its benefits. In order to communicate those things in the midst of the pandemic's stress and tension, we must produce something entertaining that is more than just an advertisement film.

To introduce The 1's privileges, we chose to merge each key message with a storyline and communicate it through an entertaining element, which led to the idea of the Lost & Found Department. To establish its branding and differentiate The 1 from other membership platforms, we chose Wes Anderson-style art direction over digital and technological visuals like other apps.

Execution

From the script to the film technique itself, every aspect of the film was used to create a piece of entertainment, not just advertising film. Instead of using digital and CG visuals as other membership apps, we meticulously crafted every scene with Wes Anderson-like art direction. We even use 4:3 ratio to make the visual distinctive. The entertaining storyline and The 1's key messages were blended as one, unlike an advertisement film, which separates the fun part to hook the audience then another boring half that shows product demos or key messages.

Within 1 month App Download +95%Monthly Active User +41%An all-time high for The 1 App

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