It's a real buzzword in the advertising industry. It's something people use to "pitch" other people. Clients use it to pitch agencies. Agencies use it to pitch employees, and employees end up complaining regularly about not getting it.
It takes on a new meaning, however, at Spectrum Communications. At Spectrum, it means people are free to act outside the boundaries defined by their title. Spectrum's philosophy is "We won't hold you back." It has a noticeable impact on the agency's work, and the Morven Gold "Rhythm of Unity" campaign truly exemplifies this philosophy at work.
It was in 1993 when Spectrum received the brief from Takson tobacco on Morven Gold. They wanted to go on TV in a big way.
The objective: Create a TV campaign to air on primetime television that is culturally significant, entertaining and creates strong brand recognition...without showing the product.
It was definitely a challenge, but by no means impossible. Shahnoor and Creative Director, Zohra Yusuf, quickly assembled a team, which included Creative Group Head Asad-ul Haq and Co-ordinator Khalid Ali, and began having brainstorming sessions to put together a trailblazing concept.
It was during one of those sessions that inspiration struck. A concept was quickly born - choreographed dancing to the music of the 4 provinces of Pakistan, which ended with the dancers creating the Morven Gold logo (a chevron). There was talk at that time in Pakistan about doing something, making some kind of statement encouraging national unity. It was the right time to have an inspirational piece of film in the major media. It was the right time for a concept like this.
The concept was immediately shared with the client and promptly approved. They didn't need options; they knew this was it, and they were 100% on board. So much so, that they put complete trust in the agency giving Spectrum an open-ended budget to work with. After that point, there were regular agency-client meetings every week. There was a lot of work to be done and a lot of hurdles to overcome, and Spectrum made sure Lakson was in the loop every step of the way.
One such challenge was the music. It had been composed by Farrukh Abid, but it was proving difficult to take 4 culturally different musical compositions and combine them successfully. The solution was found in London with Sound Recordist Keith Miller.
Miller used a technique in which he had additional musical tracks running in the background to fill in the gaps and effectively blend the 4 original compositions, without losing any of the cultural flavour. By the end of it, Miller had over 40 musical tracks running simultaneously and flawlessly together.
Another challenge came when it was time to shoot. Spectrum had hired London Director/Cameraman Rimas Vainorius and was securing several sites for the shoot, including Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens and a horse farm in Jhang. There was still the matter of the dancers, however. The approved storyboard for the film required around 200 different dancers that needed to be trained and choreographed. This matter was left to a theatre company in Lahore. The theatre company found, transported by train and choreographed 200 male dancers. The dancers came from all 4 provinces, adding to the authenticity of the grand film.
The exhaustive 15-day shoot also had several lighter moments. There was the line of barbers shaving 200 men every day in the dark during the twilight hours before daybreak. There was also the look of panic on Shahnoor Ahmed's face when he saw his British director nonchalantly sampling the local paya, which was incredibly foreign to his digestive system, and joyfully shouting "This soup is so good!"
The shoot ended, there was post-production, and then it was done. Six months of creating, planning, arranging and executing had finally come to fruition. Spectrum and Lakson released the campaign and waited to see the reaction. They didn't have to wait long.
Soon after it aired, the phones started ringing, people started talking, and once it all started, it didn't stop. The 3-minute film was in great demand - from the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto showing it at the World Economic Forum, to a barrage of couples asking for the music track to play at their weddings. The press coverage alone was astounding. To this day, Shahnoor has a 6-inch-thick folder filled with press clippings.
All in all, the campaign was bigger than anyone could have dreamed. Rhythm of Unity did wonders for Morven Gold, going far beyond their campaign objective. It became a benchmark for the advertising industry in Pakistan - something they could all be proud of.
It propelled Spectrum Communications into the forefront of the industry, and they have never looked back.
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