I most definitely have regrets like getting blacklisted from Instagram for showing the Marvel fanfare opening… for 3 days… a possible drunk pee into a garbage can in a Wrigley Field men’s room that led to my expulsion. There are others I won’t get into. Enough about me. How about you? Any regrets? One regret I don’t have is watching (multiple times) the new ridiculously funny campaign from The Martin Agency for mortgage company Amerisave.
AmeriSave is one of the largest mortgage companies you’ve never heard of. And yet, it goes toe-to-toe with the big banks and a certain lender (who you may see in the #1 and #2 spots on USA Today’s Ad Meter)—and beats them both on savings every time. AmeriSave is licensed in 49 states and has financed over 325,000 homes since 2002.
Directed by Biscuit’s Jeff Low, a new trio of spots from AmeriSave (its first broadcast work as a brand—and first work with The Martin Agency) is all about flexing “No Regrets” living through the eyes of three down-on-their-luck humans:
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The campaign is about those little missteps we make that continually nag at us,” shares Martin Agency Creative Director Dave Gibson. He noted, “We felt like telling stories of people who fail is actually much more powerful than telling stories of impossible winners. In truth, it’s a lot easier to identify with.”
Gibson adds that these spots rely on a language we all speak: humor. “The ease of savings you get from AmeriSave is undeniable—and with that comes some freeing confidence. So, we wanted to assure people that they’re making the right move refinancing with AmeriSave.”
Making Funny during COVID
The new Amerisave campaign was filmed during COVID. So, the Martin Agency took pandemic precautions in order to create the great new campaign. Martin Agency Associate Creative Director Mauricio Mazzariol took Reel 360 through the process.
“From a COVID standpoint, we were deep into lockdown protocols when the campaign came about, so it was intentional that each spot revolves around a single character and is VO-driven. Then, as we explored new ways to safely involve peripheral talent, we added vignettes for a bit of scale. There’s no dialogue or direct interaction between characters—and that made it easier to keep safe distances between the actors. Our goal was to make the spots look like they weren’t made in COVID times, and our director Jeff Lowe did a fantastic job of that.”
Mazzariol described the most challenging scene was wrangling the uncooperative cats for our ‘Mike’ spot, where we used an excessive amount of tuna oil in Mike’s wig to maintain their interest.
“Let’s just say our crew members couldn’t have been happier about wearing their masks that day…”
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CREDITS:
CLIENT: Amerisave
AGENCY: The Martin Agency
Executive:
- Chris Mumford – EVP, President
- Danny Robinson – EVP, Chief Creative Officer
Account:
- Allison Hensley – Account Director
- Steve Johnson III – Account Director
- Chuka Schneider – SVP, Group Account Director
- Erin Shepherd – Sr. Account Executive
- Sandra Snead – VP, Director of Account Leadership
Comms Planning/CIL
- Lauren Prociv – VP, Strategic Planning Director
- Taylor Carnard – Strategic Planner
- Greg Fischer – SVP, Director of Communications Planning
- Jaclyn Ruelle – SVP, Managing Director, Cultural Impact and Brand Communications
- Alice Norcia – Cultural Impact Communications Director
- Keith Gordan – Group Director, CIL
Creative:
- Cliff Sorah – SVP, Group Creative Director
- Kevin Ragland – VP, Creative Director
- Mauricio Mazzariol – Associate Creative Director
- David Gibson – VP, Creative Director
- Brandon Willingham – Copywriter
Production:
- Kim Slowik – Sr. Content Producer
- Katie Morgan – Jr Producer
- Brett Alexander – SVP, Executive Content Producer
- Dusty Slowik – SVP, Director Business, Legal, Financial Affairs
- Sam Katz – Business Affairs Manager
- Kelly Clow – Associate Director, Financial Affairs
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Biscuit
- DIRECTOR: Jeff Low
- DP: Jallo Faber
- LINE PRODUCER: Kwok Yau
- LOCATION: London
- EP: Holly Vega
EDIT: Arcade Edit
- EDITOR: Dave Anderson
- PRODUCER: Ellen Lavery
MIX COMPANY: HeardCity
- MIXER: Evan Mangaiamele
- COLORIST: Tim-Company 3
ONLINE/VFS: The Mill
- Mike Shirley
- Producer: Valentina Cokonis
VO: Jake Hart
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
