Cannes Lions
FREENJOY, Los Angeles / COLUMBIA RECORDS / 2020
Awards:
Overview
Entries
Credits
Background
Harry Styles approached Dave Meyers to speak on the most important thing he stands for: optimism. Meyers took this idea and ran with it, crafting a unique story that speaks to "optimism" in a daring way. It's not often music videos are treated as events, and thats what Meyers set out to do with this piece, creating an entire backstory, fake island, characters, and lore of a place that doesn't even exist.
Idea
"Adore You" is about an boy who loves to smile in a town where everyone frowns. He feels like an outcast in this made-up fishing town of Eroda, but upon forming an unlikely friendship with a fellow outcast who just so happens to be a fish, Harry learns the true meaning of self acceptance, living your truth, and ultimately that love and optimism conquer all.
Strategy
By implementing a narrative, cinema like technique to this video, Meyers and Styles elevated the typical music video to be an emotional experience where viewers take something positive away from it. It's peculiar, but gettable, and takes viewers on a 7 minute journey nothing like any other music video they've seen. By taking such a simple feeling of optimism and framing it as a tale about friendship and love, the art form of music videos gets pushed forward.
Execution
Adore You was shot over four days in the Scottish fishing village of St Abbs. The video's success was built not on just the execution of shots to the song, but rather the entire backstory included in the video. Meyers chose to have a 3 minute intro to the video, with narration by Rosalia, to explore the history and lore of this made up island, making viewers yearn for a place that isn't even real. Before we even enter the video, we're already welcomed into an entirely new world.
Outcome
"Adore You" was rolled out in a strategic marketing campaign that was built around the fictional island of Eroda where the story takes place. Weeks leading up to the release, fans were treated to fictional tourism twitter accounts, imploring them to check out this unique town. Upon release, it all became clear that this fictional land was the setting for the video and was widely covered by publications such as Billboard, Elle, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and more. Upon release it was welcomed to millions of views and praise for its innovation in pushing music videos from surface level to deeper meaning.
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