Navigating the world of borrowing, Freedom Finance wanted to create something that will show that it doesn’t need to be so complicated.
When McCann Central came to use with this script, we knew director James Clancy was the man to bring their creative to life. We collaborated with Mackinnon and Saunders to produce a campaign, which introduces the Baffles - creatures responsible for all the chaos and confusion in peoples’ lives – and hero Clarence, representing Freedom Finance, who will stop at nothing to thwart their antics. Using puppets and stop motion animation, the campaign comprises a TV ad and digital activity.
Freedom Finance are highly rated experts in personal loans, they earn trust through their straightforward approach to help customers find the right loan for them. This new campaign is aimed to take this message to a wider audience to drive consideration of the brand and response by clearly explaining how they can help customers navigate the world of borrowing.
The financial lending landscape is an unnecessarily complex one, and it sometimes feels like there are mischievous forces going out of their way to confuse consumers. The creation of the Baffles perfectly sums this up feeling. Luckily, the campaign also features our helpful hero, Clarence, whose sole aim is to provide clarity and impede the Baffles at every turn.
Our director James Clancy worked closely with the team at Mackinnon and Saunders to bring the vision to life. Mackinnon and Saunders, who created puppets for “Wes Anderson’s: The Fantastic Mr Fox” and “Tim Burton’s: The Corpse Bride” to name a few, brought the characters of Clarence and the Baffles to life using stop frame animation.
The characters were developed over a number of months, and the puppets built with full skeletons to allow them to move in a number of creative ways.
After finding our human with the help of casting director Lee Mountjoy, The Gate then shot the live footage on location in Stockport. All post production was handled by our internal team. The music and sound design was by Gas Music in media city.
Crew & Agency
Agency - Mccann Central
Director - James Clancy
Producer - Rhiannon Lewis
DOP - Paul Mortlock
MUA - Emma Rozenbroek
Art Director - Bryony Wolfendale
Grader - Mike Nixon
Editors - Harley Spence & Natalie Meziani & Mike Nixon
Stop Motion - Mackinnon and Saunders
