Chapman’s Ice Cream is sending up high-end perfume and fashion ads as it tries to get the word out about its super-premium line.
The campaign’s hero spot features an influencer on horseback and all the trappings of glam, including paparazzi, Afghan hounds, bodyguards and poolside photoshoots.
According to Jeffrey Caruk, SVP of client strategy for Agency 5S, which created the work, the imagery speaks to luxury life and invoking desire and aspiration, designed to reflect the exquisite nature of Chapman’s super premium ice cream. And while the campaign shares similarities to prominent work for the likes of Dior, it is an obvious parody, Caruk stresses.
“The campaign taps into the consumer’s emotional connections with indulgence, self-expression and pleasure to create a sense of exclusivity,” Caruk says.
With this particular super premium line, the brand is going after foodies and young urban professionals who are seeking uniqueness. “They’re indulgent and enjoy culinary experiences and have some discretionary income,” Caruk says. “There has to be an extreme point of distinction, and you have to drive awareness. This is testing and evolving who [Chapman’s] is.”
Some of the other premium ice creams in the category, he says, are not Canadian. In the Chapman’s spot, there are nods to its roots, which have long been a cornerstone of the brand, with shots of Humber Bridge and Casa Loma but also cows to ladder back to its small town Ontario home.
There are several cutdowns for social and a “massive photography shoot” to create several more assets.
After a large casting call, the agency selected Keysi Sayago, a former Miss Venezuela, to star in the campaign, a prominent influencer who plays an influencer in a case of art imitating life. The brand is using that angle to amplify the campaign, with the actress posting about the photoshoot and her experience.
“Unknowingly, we had an influencer platform live in studio,” Caruk jokes.
The campaign is a national buy for Chapman’s. The media buy is National, including Quebec, on screen and digital with a widespread mix across all major players: Corus, Bell, Rogers.
Agency 5S has worked with Chapman’s since 2015.
