Shine Bright like a… Car?! How HERO Turned Car Parts Into Diamonds
When asked to launch a car inspired by a diamond, HERO went one step further.
HERO decided to take the car apart and turned those parts into carbon. Once carbonated, insane amounts of pressure and heat was applied to the parts and eventually diamonds were formed. These diamonds were then used in the bespoke jewellery line, created by Millie Savage, that was launched at the same time as the car itself.
It’s science meets art meets advertising. A feat that could only be done within the creative industry and one that could only be successful when a client entrusts their agencies with their brand.
LBB’s Casey Martin spoke to HERO’s Shane Geffen about this insane campaign and how one goes about turning a car into a diamond.
LBB> A car inspired by and created into a diamond, that’s not a brief that one would get everyday! What were your initial thoughts when starting on this campaign?
Shane> From the very beginning we knew this brief would result in something special. Our clients wanted an unconventional campaign to launch the all-new Toyota C-HR, one that would lean into social and have earned media potential. That was the lens we put over the work. In the initial briefing, we discovered that the vehicle designers used the angular lines of a diamond as inspiration for the design of the car. In that moment we instantly said, ‘what if we turned it back into a diamond?’ and it just stuck. We knew that it was possible to turn pet and human remains into lab grown diamonds but didn’t know if it was possible with a vehicle.
LBB> When producing the spot and the campaign itself, where did you pull inspiration from?
Shane> The actual process of turning a car into a diamond was very technical. We gave ourselves (mostly producers Roz and Sheridan) a very hard task. There’s multiple steps and processes. From the taking the vehicle apart, sending it the New York to be incinerated into carbon, using that carbon to create seeds, incubating the seeds under HPHT (High Pressure, High Temperature), waiting, waiting, waiting, cutting, polishing, GIA certification, designing, placing, etc. So, for the actual campaign we wanted to simplify this down.
We collaborated with director Micheal Hili to reimagine a world where we could follow the stylised process in a linear way. Inspired by Nigel Stanford’s Automatica, our narrative revolves around a robotic arm, normally used to assemble a vehicle but in our film, it does the opposite and takes it apart to create something new. We follow its movements as it presents the raw lab grown diamonds to an engineer who polishes and hands them to our designer Millie Savage to assemble.
LBB> Talk us through working with Millie Savage, a jewellery designer. What challenges presented themselves and how did you go about combining her creativity and the brand message?
Shane> The all-new C-HR represents the best of fringe thinking and design. When searching for a jewellery designer, we needed someone who mirrored that, and Millie just nailed it. She’s not your typical jewellery designer. Her creations are distinctly different from anything else and so is her brand. When approached on a collaboration, she was onboard as soon as we told her the concept. She collaborated on the campaign with us, all the way from the film down to each of the 13 hand crafted designs, all available on her website.
LBB> When combining technology, science, creativity and design, how do you find the balance?
Shane> It’s easy to drift into sci-fi territory with a concept like this so balance was important. You can see how we countered this throughout the piece. The music was a blend of electronic sounds and emotional instrumental strings. The robot was given fluid and beautiful movement like a dancer. There was also interplay between the robot and the engineer, which was given an affectionate pat by our engineer.
LBB> What did you learn during the creation process? What lesson will you take to your next project?
Shane> Making a lab-grown diamond from car parts is not easy. It was almost impossible. But we found a way to get over every hurdle. And if we can turn a car into a diamond, what else can we do? This project has helped us to keep pushing ourselves and our client partners in the best possible way.
LBB> What were the highlights?
Shane> Collaborating with incredibly talented humans from different disciplines along the way.
Millie Savage our jewellery designer, an unstoppable force of energy and creativity who loves to push the boundaries with her work and within her industry. Visit her Fitzroy store to see it for yourself.
Micheal Hill from Finch. I’m a big fanboy. He has an incredible mind and thought process. Experiencing it has been a privilege. Also, his treatments are a real treat. I’m looking forward to working with him again.
Lance Gurisik from Massive Music is a musical genius. He was incredible to work with. Hearing a new piece of music come through from him always got us excited. If you haven’t listened to his latest album Proffer, do yourself a favour.
LBB> Why turn a car into a diamond?
Shane> We asked ourselves the same question at the very beginning of this project and unanimously all said “Why not?” It’s led to Toyota turning their diamond-shaped car into an actual diamond and one of their rarest releases ever.
