How Will Ferrell Brought ‘The Will Power’ to Scandinavian Bank Lunar
Managing money is no longer boring says a new campaign from Scandanavian bank Lunar. Collaborating with agency Åkestam Holst, the forward-thinking company wants to change the way in which traditional banks are seen as ‘boring’ and ‘limiting’, showing how they’re a breath of fresh air with both ease and a sense of humour.
Featuring actor and comedian Will Ferrell, who plays ‘Will Power’, we’re taken on a journey with the life coach and money guru as he navigates through a helicopter ride, karate studio and even climbs a mountain. While Will Power goes through these situations, he explains how his life is easy and ours could be too, if only we downloaded the Lunar app and got on board with its modern and convenient methods. Rivalling existing banks and their practices, Lunar’s light-hearted campaign encourages the audience to live by the motto, “Carpe money, baby!”
To talk about creating giant hands that have no real reason for being there and injecting the ad with all kinds of ‘silliness’, Åkestam Holst’s creative directors Magnus Jakobsson and Joakim Khoury speak to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.
LBB> What was Lunar’s initial vision for their new campaign and how did ‘The Will Power’ come up?
Magnus> Lunar wanted to be a visible contender in an industry dominated by traditional players. To do so they needed to set a new tone of voice in the grey, streamlined sector of competing banks. One way to do so is to collaborate with a celebrity, and let him/her become the spokesperson for the brand. In this case, Will Ferrell is the crazed money guru Will Power.
LBB> What was the process of getting Will Ferrell involved and why was he the perfect fit?
Joakim> We discussed a variety of potential actors to represent Lunar. Will Ferrell was on the top of our list all the way through, and finally, with help from Talent Republic, we got him interested. We believe he is the perfect fit because of his indisputable comic timing and ability to make pure silliness funny.
LBB> Talk us through the ideation process. How did you land on all of the different scenarios that the money guru ends up in?
Magnus> First of all, our aim with this campaign is basically only to communicate that Lunar and the Lunar app exist and that there’s an alternative to the old dinosaurs. That’s why the campaign is sort of built around repeating the fact that Lunar can help you with various banking matters. To make it more entertaining we invented Will Power, who gets this message across by using cliché-like financial ‘wisdom’. Initially, we had about 30-40 scenarios created in close collaboration with Jake Szymanski and Ferrell himself. We chose the best ones (and some of the worst ones).
LBB> How did you create the feeling of ‘silliness’ within this campaign?
Joakim> We wanted to be different from other new players in the banking industry as well. The dinosaurs of banks are one thing, but there are also many modern challengers. Often these brands try to be ‘cool’ and sometimes they use celebrities, self-proclaimed experts and influencers in various lifestyle testimonials and so on. In a way, this campaign is a parody of that type of celebrity endorsement. It dares to be silly to the core.
LBB> We need to know about Will’s giant hands, how did you decide to incorporate them?
Magnus> The hands have no logical reason whatsoever, and are never explained. However, they make you wonder. And that is exactly the point. Also, it adds to the bottomless pit of ridiculousness that is at the heart of this campaign.
LBB> Were there any challenges you faced while creating the campaign and how did you overcome them?
Joakim> A big campaign like this has so many challenges to overcome that it could generate an entire book about challenges. However, considering that, we think the end result was more than satisfactory, or rather in this case, sillyfactory.
LBB> What has the response to the campaign been like so far?
Magnus> So far, the campaign has been successful and greatly appreciated by the target audience.
LBB> Anything else you would like to tell us?
Magnus & Joakim> We want to praise everyone involved in this project, but maybe above all our creative colleagues, Folke Kühlhorn and Henrik Billing. And our business director, Jesper Ander and agency producer, Petur Mogensen. The dream team.
