Stendahls creatives on sending someone to live in a remote lighthouse for 7 days
The Drum, in partnership with Twitch, is revealing who has topped our 2022 World Creative Rankings – the definitive guide to advertising’s most creative brands, agencies and people. Earlier this week, we unveiled the 200 most awarded ad campaigns of the last 12 months. Here we shine a light on one of those campaigns, catching up with Stendahls creatives Alexander Skoglund and Mikael Andersson about ’The Isolated Cinema’.
Gothenburg’s annual film festival’s promotional efforts notoriously push creative boundaries, but its 2021 campaign truly took the meaning of unconventional advertising to extreme measures.
With a distinct lack of parties, crowds and sold-out film premiers, the creatives at Stendhals began questioning what films really mean to people when we are so secluded from each other and the idea for ’The Isolated Cinema’ began to develop.
“We were forced to think a little differently be able to carry out the experience at all,” says art director Alexander Skoglund. “Even though in Sweden did not have a lockdown like many other countries, there was a constant ongoing debate on the subject.
“So we decided to make it our strength and make a film festival exclusively for one at a super isolated location. The result was ’The Isolated Cinema’, where one ’lucky’ winner got to spend a week all alone on a small lighthouse island with only film as company.“
After receiving more than 12,000 applicants from over 45 countries, the team selected Lisa to travel to the deserted island where she would live in solitude in a cold lighthouse with her only entertainment coming from films.
Promoting the project was intense, with the team having to travel across the choppy unpredictable sea to one of Sweden’s most barren and windswept locations to film the ad.
“Being in the middle of the North Sea during the coldest days of the year was, to say the least, a challenge,” notes Skoglund. “But at the same time it was a fantastic nature experience. We were a small crew that had to work hard during the few hours of daylight offered.”
During Lisa’s intense time on the island, she had no in-person company and no means to contact the outside world.
“Bold ideas demand brave clients,” says copywriter Mikael Andersson about getting such an out-of-the-box idea signed off. “Gothenburg Film Festival immediately saw the potential in this idea where we found a way to still manage to realize a physical event when everyone else was shutting down and canceling.”
During the seven-day stint in the lighthouse, Lisa watched, reviewed and found escapism in 60 different movies, which she then reflected on in her daily video diary.
“The opportunity to escape into the world of film from the couch has saved me from going completely crazy during this time,” says Skoglund. “When all this madness is over, I believe it can be a fresh start for cinemas. To experience film at the cinema is something I think everyone will appreciate more.”