In what is possibly a first for an Irish retail brand, Kildare Village has rolled out a clever video-led content campaign that was created by the award-winning Dublin-based agency Vocal as part of its seasonal promotional activity.
Called “The Red Shoes” the video has been released on Instagram as well as a range of other social media platforms and has reached over 1m people so far.
According to Vocal’s creative director Niall O’Driscoll, the agency took its inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Red Shoes’ and the 1950s Pressburger film of the same name based around a ballet company, as well as other classic fairy tales.
“Creatively, Vocal began with this single, big idea, written as a simple fairy-tale and produced as a limited edition, hardback book. The story not only created a whole new, parallel ‘Kildare Village, within which the story was set, but also created an emotional bond between the characters and the reader. Creating that emotional connection with the brand was counterpointed with an interweaving of the new brand positioning and brand values – a celebration of craft, art and the Irish arts. This all fitted neatly into Kildare Village’s overall Christmas campaign concept – the art of gifting,” says O’Driscoll.
“Instagram as a platform is one of the key areas through which the brand engages with their target demographic. Video as content has highest emotional impact, message retention and overall depth of engagement. Boldly creating the longer form content for YouTube, then, allows the brand to bypass the obvious and noisy world of ‘advertising’ and enter the newer worlds of online content and storytelling,” he adds. The film was shot entirely on Blue Screen using many advanced visual effects, he adds.
“The Red Shoes fairy-tale created by Vocal is set in a ‘dream sequence’ within Kildare Village. Ensuring that viewers get a look at the actual village and the offering before being brought into this wondrous story. The story Vocal created tells a tale of multiple types of gift giving – from the shoemaker to his son (to help him find his true love), from Dylan to Marla (experiencing love for the first time) to hiding the gift in the snow under the tree -all expressing a simple, traditional message of sharing with loved ones,” says O’Driscoll.
Shot in a classic, cinematic style, with the village square in Kildare Village being central to all scenes, the story is told through dance, choreographed and performed by Junk Ensemble to a unique soundtrack composed by Irish composer Michael Fleming which was recorded in Windmill Lane with a twenty-piece orchestra.
“The Red Shoes campaign comes alive at Kildare Village through innovative retail installations and aesthetically beautiful visual merchandising. Vocal has created a series of leading visual and innovative features in-Village to continue the story. Not only creating a truly unique retail environment, but also allow for many more photo and video opportunities which shoppers can share across their own and our social media channels,” says O’Driscoll.
View the full length version below:
