BLACK ICE

TitleBLACK ICE
BrandPROCTER & GAMBLE
Product / ServicePANTENE
CategoryA02. Creative Innovation (incl. business solutions in association with a brand or creative campaign)
EntrantGREY GROUP Singapore, SINGAPORE
Entrant Company GREY GROUP Singapore, SINGAPORE
Advertising Agency GREY GROUP Singapore, SINGAPORE
Advertising Agency 2 GREY KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Production Company ASIA PACIFIC VIDEOLAB (APV) Selangor, MALAYSIA
Production Company 2 PROVILL Makati City, THE PHILIPPINES
Production Company 3 FUSE ADVENTURES IN AUDIO Selangor, MALAYSIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Javier Bonilla Grey Singapore Regional Executive Creative Director
I-van Policarpo Grey Kuala Lumpur Regional Associate Creative Director
I-van Policarpo Grey Kuala Lumpur Copywriter
Elson Effendy Grey Kuala Lumpur Senior Art Director
Don Michael De Leon Grey Kuala Lumpur Regional Senior Account Manager
Renee Lim Grey Kuala Lumpur Production Executive
Anjali Jain Grey Singapore Regional Business Director
Siddika Dehlvi Grey Singapore Group Account Director
Syamin Arif Grey Kuala Lumpur Executive Producer
Shahvez Afridi Grey Singapore Head of Strategy
Dennis Chen Asia-Pacific Video Lab, Kuala Lumpur Executive Producer
Chen Yoke Wah Asia-Pacific Video Lab, Kuala Lumpur Executive Producer
Daz Kalidass SO Candra Asia-Pacific Video Lab, Kuala Lumpur Editor
Cris Dy-Liacco Just Add Water, Philippines Broadcast Producer
Ina Lagman Provill Studios, Philippines Managing Director
Toby Concepcion Provill Studios, Philippines Film Director
Michelle Robles Provill Studios Production Manager

The Brief

For a large piece of blank space, no brand in the world has ever harnessed the potential of ice rinks. The farthest that brands have gone is to embed their logos as tiny media placements in the centre of ice-hockey rinks, much like any sponsor or institution would do it on basketball courts. We thought maybe if we could maximise the potential of ice rinks, we will be able to break the ice with the jaded hair care category audience. So went ahead with this project regardless of whether or not we have the learning or experience of others before us.

Hair care advertising is a saturated category. It is littered with claims and promises that consumers hardly ever listen to. On top of that, it seems that practically everything has already been done--no campaign execution really stands out enough for consumers to remember. Our challenge was to promote Pantene’s hair transformation story in a way that our consumers, or the world for that matter, will engage with and won’t forget. We took this challenge by heart and decided that the only way we could break the ice with our audience is skate on thin ice—literally and figuratively. We rented an Olympic-size ice rink and dug a hole 5 centimetres deep. Then we printed a billboard-size image of hair on special material. This material had to withstand days of getting soaked in water and weeks being frozen under ice so we opted for a perforated type of paper that was water- and ice-proof. We installed it under ice, manually dousing the it with water, building the ice inch by inch, layer by layer. We utilised over 2,500 gallons of water, which we froze for 30 days in -5 degrees Celsius. Being the first in the world, creating the floor installation was a painstaking process that took 8 weeks to complete from start to finish.

After Black Ice, the world will never look at ice rinks, or floor installations for that matter, the same way again. Black Ice found a way to maximize the potential of a sleeping giant of a medium to its advantage. Black Ice showed the world that it is possible to make two medium placements (vehicle wrap and floor installation) interact to deliver a product’s proposition. Black Ice proved that daring to go where no other brands go will always be relevant, compelling and impactful.