When The Ask is
Quick and Dirty,
We Clean Up
Client: Seventh Generation
Project: Freaky Clean Campaign _ Out Of Home Billboards
Services: Creative Direction, Art Direction, Studio Photography, Brand Campaign, Graphic Design, Design Production
Some projects are a marathon, some are a sprint. And when a quick-turn opportunity lands in our client’s lap, we lace up our running shoes and get ready for a sprint to the finish line. Seventh Generation came to us looking for a series of billboard designs to support their Freaky Clean campaign, a sudsy-and-spicy ode to getting dirty while getting clean. The timeline was aggressive, the deliverables were in the double-digits, and the work had to strike just the right tone — but we were up to the challenge. An opportunity for our clients is an opportunity for us, so we got right to work.
THE CHALLENGE
The project didn’t start with a brief, it started with an email (and a brief one at that). The timeline was tight — they needed final assets in less than 3 weeks in order to hit their deadline. But creative collaboration is in our DNA, so we aligned with the client as quickly as possible and got to work on our first steps: exploring design layouts, scheduling the photoshoot, and identifying the perfect talent and props.
THE OBJECTIVE
The Freaky Clean campaign needed to strike a difficult balance, showing the unexpected intimacy of household cleaning tasks without being overly sexual or salacious. We needed to create the feeling of an organic moment of human connection, reminding viewers that cleaning can be the ultimate turn-on. We knew we had to use visual storytelling, body language, and facial expressions to make cleaning feel intimate and exciting.
THE APPROACH
We knew that we needed 11 unique assets, all with different dimensions and design builds. The client wanted to shoot three new photo concepts that would work in a variety of crops, in several different design layouts, and be eyecatching and comprehensible from a distance. Because of this complexity, our initial design mockups were essential for ensuring that each photo we captured could work across so many different orientations and dimensions. Solving for that at the onset was essential to executing such a quick turnaround.
THE EXPLORATION
So we started exploring. Working with such a short timeline, there was no room for error — no reshoots, minimal review rounds, and only the bare minimum of prep time. Luckily the client’s feedback was quick and collaborative every step of the way, so we were able to keep to our aggressive production schedule. We started with design mock-ups, sometimes even shooting sample shots using our own team as stand-in talent. We realized that one of the keys to success was going to be the chemistry between the models. Could two people who have never met have enough chemistry to land the feeling of impromptu intimacy? With the right direction and the right talent, we found that the answer is yes.
THE EXECUTION
A lot of our success with the photoshoot came down to direction. Our Senior Art Director worked closely with the models to make them feel at ease so that their body language and facial expressions would draw the viewer into their intimate moment. Once the client was happy with the new shots, we composed the designs, made final tweaks, and delivered the final assets in time to make their deadline — with two days to spare!
We also found out that one of the creatives was going to be used for a high-impact ad placement, a hand-painted mural on the side of a building. Wow! So we provided the CMYK breakdown of every color used in the design so they could hand paint every section. The result was breathtaking!
THE END RESULT
In the end, the client was extremely satisfied with the results. They even shouted us out on LinkedIn, saying, “There are so few partners you can call on a Monday and land creative strategy, a photoshoot, and breakthrough creative within two weeks. So grateful for our VT partners!” The 400 billboards went live throughout New York City and Chicago, garnering 162.2 million impressions and 3.8 million in projected incremental sales. With our sprint complete and the finish line in our rear-view mirror, we’re proud of our team’s easy collaboration, creative problem-solving, and ability to confidently take on such an aggressive timeline. That’s the magic of a small, people-driven agency that thrives on a cheeky challenge.
