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Creative Director’s Choice: Desmond LaVelle of Peter Mayer on Amazon Prime’s ‘Great Stories’ campaign

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By Kyle O'Brien, Creative Works Editor

November 1, 2018 | 4 min read

Creative Director’s Choice gives creative directors a chance to highlight the work they think is the best out in the ad world — the ads and campaigns they believe are making a difference.

Amazon Prime's Great Shows

Amazon Prime's Great Shows Stay With You campaign

This week, Desmond LaVelle, vice president, executive creative director, at New Orleans agency Peter Mayer, states how the ‘Great Shows Stay With You for Amazon Prime Video,’ by Droga5 London creates personal connections.

Desmond LaVelle

When I was seven years old, I would tuck my jeans into my moon boots to (unsuccessfully) emulate Han Solo and his sleek pants-in-boots look. Consciously trying to be more like the lovable scoundrel from Star Wars helped me, an introverted grade school kid, develop my own brand of smuggler swagger. It may have even led to me making the occasional friend.

Great stories and characters have the power to change people. But this isn’t just about movies. The way people have been consuming television in recent years is equally, if not more, of an immersive experience than features. Throughout the course of the average binge watch, we can spend anywhere from 10 to 20 hours with our favorite characters. That can change you.

‘Great Shows Stay With You’ for Amazon Prime Video by Droga5 London demonstrates this phenomenon. There are five videos, and each one is a story about the personal impact of a Prime Video series seeping into the lives of real people. I’m drawn to some over others, but the campaign overall is a humorous dramatization of a powerful insight and is impeccably produced.

The story of a dad becoming more like Jack Ryan particularly resonated with me. Episode after episode, he mirrors Jack Ryan’s character arc. But instead of a CIA analyst being thrust into the center of international intrigue, he’s a dad doing dad things with increasing amounts of action hero savvy and focus — mending a fence, assembling Swedish furniture, and preventing orange juice from being spilled, thereby saving breakfast.

The crafty part about this campaign is that you don’t necessarily need to be familiar with the Prime Video characters to understand the ad. I have never heard of Outlander, but watching how the sexually charged main character ignites a sweltering passion in a mild-mannered suburban couple makes me want to learn more.

Like the shows themselves, these are videos I enjoy consuming. They feel like content rather than commercials. That’s critical in on-demand video environments. And the insight is a human truth. As I type this, I’m concurrently shopping for a black Han Solo vest and a white shirt, preferably something with a plunging v-neck.

Desmond LaVelle is vice president, executive creative director, at longtime New Orleans creative agency Peter Mayer.

See the work by clicking on the Creative Works box below.

To see the latest creative ads and campaigns, visit The Drum’s Creative Works section. If you would like to feature a creative director in our Creative Director’s Choice, please contact Creative Works editor Kyle O’Brien.

Amazon Prime: advert-body-1 by Droga5 London

By Amazon Prime

Overall Rating 5/5

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