How The Farmer's Dog took the lead thanks to its Emmy-nominated commercial
For the team at The Farmer's Dog, the objective of their debut Super Bowl ad was simple to make people cry.
"There was a phrase in the brief which was essentially like, if we don't make the audience cry that's a failure," says filmmaker Goh Iromoto who adapted The Farmer's Dog now-iconic (and Emmy-nominated!) advertisement "Forever" to life. "I'll forever remember that line. That was a really big motivational factor, both creatively and to me."
We wanted to know more about the spot Staff-Picked -- which was the highest-rated advertisement of the 2023 Super Bowl and has received the Emmy nod (!) So we talked to Goh as well as the team of creatives of The Farmer's Dog to find out more about their fantastic collaborative process, their super-detailed brief, and the dogs that were the inspiration for the campaign. Find out more about the episode's major takeaways. Or, you can watch the entire conversation below.
| Project name | "Forever" The Farmer's Dog |
| Stakeholders |
Teressa Iezzi, Director of Content/Creative
Sophie Forman, Director of Brand Design |
| Goals of the campaign |
Teressa and Sophie were looking to develop an ad that embodied their company rallying cry, "Long Live Dogs."
In the past, the company been focusing its ads on the small specifics of its products. But Teressa and Sophie were aware that the Q1 campaign should be more clear in its approach to bring its mission that is to assist dogs live longer and happier and healthier lives into focus in a unique method. |
| Goals |
* Recreate the Farmer's Dog goal and rallying call in an artful, impactful method
* Tell an emotional story that goes beyond the specifics of the product. |
| Timeline |
The entire campaign took four months from start to finish to complete, with the structure of the campaign looking similar to this:
October | Short stage November | Goh is sharing his pitch with the team December | Shoot January | Post-production February |
| Resources | The Farmer's Dog team worked incredibly close with Goh in the creation of the final result. Goh was the creative genius and director for the project and Teressa and Sophie played a key role in shaping the project. The trio worked closely throughout the entire project, from beginning to finish. |
| The most important lessons |
* Invest in your brief
The story is the most important thing to focus on, not the product * Great work deserves great promotion |