And just like that, the endless summer of 2018 finally came to a close. The team at Tracks & Fields have a bumper crop of news to share from their busy autumnal months. Read on below for a round up on some of the parties, pictures, collaborations and industry events that accompanied this year’s fall into fall. Also featuring work from a Czech grocery giant, everybody’s favourite golden arches and finger-lickin’ goodness, cinematic sounds Japanese-style, Italian alfresco scenes and the great Polish outdoors.
Tracks & Fields Housewarming Party
The fall season began with our annual end-of-summer party, which this year doubled as a housewarming bash for our new office space in Berlin Mitte. Our new larger premises were suitably warmed up by our friends and industry partners, who joined us for a superb sundown session of BBQ food, cocktails and music.
We welcomed guests from thjnk, Bigfish Film, boldbreed, Iconoclast, McCann NY, embassy of dreams, DDB and many more agencies and music companies. Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page for regular updates and you see the full gallery of our summer party photos.
AD STARS 2018
At the end of August we headed to Busan, South Korea, for Asia’s fastest-growing advertising awards show and festival, Ad Stars.
Ad Stars’ three-day program featured keynote talks and presentations across three streams: Creativity, AD Tech and Open Stage. Our CEO Christian Mix-Linzer’s presentation – ‘Getting to the Core of Your Brand’s Music Identity’ – consisted of detailed case studies and expert insight into the process of building a signature brand sound. The session was part of the festival’s Creativity track, alongside talks by some of the world’s top creative talents.
On the award front there was good news as well, along with some impressive statistics: Ad Stars 2018 received more than 20,000 entries from 57 countries this year, and 229 advertising executives from 74 countries were given the task of determining this year’s shortlist. 1,719 entries making that final cut, and we were thrilled that our acclaimed Nike FORCE campaign was awarded two bronze and one silver in the Film Craft categories.
Music Pool Berlin x T&F = #SoundItUp
Due to the huge response for our August #SoundItUp sound logo competition with Music Pool Berlin, the competition was expanded and extended through September. After entries closed, 15 semi-finalists were selected to participate in a masterclass about sound branding with our CEO Christian; with the insights gained through that session they re-worked their compositions. The top five arrangements were then selected by Christian and the Music Pool Berlin team.
During a special Music Pool Berlin night dedicated to Sound Branding earlier this month, the winner was announced and awarded their €300 prize. The rest of the night featured a panel of communications professionals – including TRO‘s music supervision veteran Niko Flossand singer/songwriter academic Queen Alaska – examining the essential ideas and elements of sound branding, as well as a DJ set by Juba Music. Thank you to all of the talented entrants for making this competition such a success!
Clio Awards Shortlist
In more Nike Force news, the film was shortlisted in the Film Technique (Editing) category of this year’s prestigious Clio Awards. Congratulations to the team!
T&F Joins the Comm Awards Jury
With autumn coming to a close we’re now looking towards our winter calendar, which is showing no signs of slowing down. Bavarian association Comm Clubs recently announced the Jury participants of their forthcoming CommAwards 2018, taking place in November.
The awards celebrate the most extraordinary production and creative work across film, sound, print, outdoor, space, digital and PR in German-speaking territories. We are thrilled to share that Christian is a member of the Awards’ key jury panellists. Covering the categories Sound and Film, the Jury 1 panel features talented colleagues from organisations such as Check24 Vergleichsportal, Sky Deutschland Fernsehen and thjnk Berlin; other jury members from the entire award programme include Kolle Rebbe, Grabarz & Partner Werbeagentur, Grey Düsseldorf, Kaufland, Amazon EU and more.
Tesco
European supermarket brand Tesco employed a simple and effective strategy for their Czech market, with a campaign focused on red peppers grown and hand-picked by Czech farmers.
The ad’s lingering close-up shots on the produce, full of vibrant colour, are mouth-wateringly appealing. Paired with the sultry sounds of a reworked version of Al Green‘s romantic classic, “Let’s Stay Together” the effect is irresistible.
McDonald's
Also in Eastern Europe, McDonald's Poland‘s campaign connects their youth audience to the evergreen popularity of the McFlurry dessert. Closing out the dialogue-heavy spot is a clip from the mysterious American EDM artists GRVRBBRS, and their debut breakthrough single from 2011, 'Close To You'.
Vintense
Belgian beverage brand Vintense is known for its range of de-alcoholised wines, which are showcased in their new campaign film dubbed with the tagline “Get a taste for carefree.”
The ad’s scenes of spirited -yet-sober celebrations are reinforced by the accompanying song: a cover version of dance-pop hit with an interesting backstory. “Come And Get It“ blew up the blogosphere a few years ago when it appeared in the Netflix series Hemlock Grove and in the trailer for the film Best Night Ever. After being incorrectly attributed to Swedish dance-pop duo Icona Pop, the true artist was revealed to be the pop-tastic work of shadowy producer Problem Child.
Nitto
Nitto is a large Japanese organisation which produces more than 1,500 different products from electronics to automotive, housing to life sciences, and has over 70 business fields worldwide.
The company’s new campaign is part of its 100th anniversary year celebration, and required a suitably uplifting piece of music. Our production team took care of with an orchestral piece that is truly cinematic in its scope.
KFC
Although this campaign’s title, focus and look is centred around the idea of ‘Bella Italia‘ this campaign from McCann is for KFC’s Polish market!
The song featured within is “Amore Mio” by veteran ad composer Brice Davoli, and it accompanies scenes of an archetypal Italian piazza with its vintage pop sound.
Santander
Producer and songwriter MagnusTheMagnus is a Swedish Grammy Award winner, and his song 'Calling' – a modern fusion of reggae vocals and electronic production – takes the feature placement position in this campaign spot for the banking brand Santander.