BRUCE LEE’S MARTIAL ARTS LIKENESS IN BOOST ENERGY’S CAMPAIGN
LICENSING WITH A CELEBRITY ESTATE FOR COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING
BACKGROUND:
Boost, a pay-as-you-go energy supplier and an arm of OVO Energy, exists to bring freedom to energy consumers, allowing them to top-up their energy whenever and wherever they like. For their new advertising campaign, they were looking for an effective way of highlighting their flexibility as well as showing how pre-pay customers can have more control and a better experience.
THE CALL TO BORN:
To achieve Boost’s campaign vision, their creative agency Snap LDN came up with an initial idea to produce a script featuring a character inspired by and paying homage to the martial arts legend Bruce Lee. Born Licensing were brought in at an early stage to explore the feasibility of using this iconic character in Boost’s advertising campaign.
WHERE BORN LICENSING ADDED VALUE:
Born Licensing took the creative idea to Bruce Lee Enterprises to scope out the feasibility of the project. Using over a decade of industry experience and having worked with the estates of celebrity icons on a number of past projects, we knew how to present the creative in order to generate keen interest from the Bruce Lee team in the early stages. After gaining initial buy-in, we handled the commercial negotiations for the licensing terms as well as beginning the brand assurance and approval processes for all involved.
THE APPROVAL PROCESS:
Bruce Lee Enterprises were heavily involved throughout the creative development, and had the final approval on the choice of actor, scripts, storyboards, static poses, edits and final material. We worked closely with Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s daughter, to keep her in the loop and make sure everyone was happy with the final result. Born Licensing managed all aspects of communication between Bruce Lee Enterprises, Boost and Snap LDN to keep the project on track.
THE LAUNCH:
The character ‘Boost Lee’ came to life in Boost’s campaign, inspired by Bruce Lee’s appearance, mannerisms and attitude. The campaign consisted of two 30-second TV spots and two 15-second TV spots, and was supported by 15 social videos, direct mail material and online advertising assets.
THE EXPERIENCE:
Throughout the production of the campaign, Born Licensing’s primary focus was on ensuring all parties’ objectives could be met, while honouring the legacy of Bruce Lee. We managed the entire licensing process from start to finish, including research and development, negotiation of commercial terms, the contractual process, invoicing, the brand assurance and approval processes and everything else that came up relating to the use of Bruce Lee’s likeness.
MMXVIII Bruce Lee Rights © / TM Bruce Lee Enterprises
THE EXPERIENCE
Throughout the production of the campaign, Born Licensing’s primary focus was on ensuring all parties’ objectives could be met, while honouring the legacy of Bruce Lee. We managed the entire licensing process from start to finish, including research and development, negotiation of commercial terms, the contractual process, invoicing, the brand assurance and approval processes and everything else that came up relating to the use of Bruce Lee’s likeness.
“This was one of those ideas that just worked on every level. What better way to launch a bold, disruptive brand focussed on helping people master their energy, than with the ultimate master of control – Boost Lee. We’ve had a huge amount of fun working with the team at Boost and the Bruce Lee Estate to create this campaign and character. We can’t wait for the world to meet him too.”
“When we learned that the Boost proposition was about controlling your energy and customizing your experience, we felt the alignment with the Bruce Lee message and philosophy were really pretty parallel. We hope that everyone will recognize the lighthearted fun with which the campaign was created while at the same time hitting some pretty deep messaging points!”
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