ONLYCH1LD, the San Francisco and Paris-based production company, creates an infectiously joyous campaign for telecommunications company Genesys. The new commercial puts the brand’s key differentiator front and center: what Genesys provides goes beyond customer experience and call center technology, beyond cloud-based and on-premises software. What Genesys brings to its customers is Super Human Service.
ONLYCH1LD also served as the creative agency, working directly with the brand on the concept. Infused with cheeky humor, the 30-second spot “Happy Customers” illustrates the Genesys difference: a focus on people, not just their problems.
Samuel Miller, ONLYCH1LD co-owner and director, took a fun approach to represent this visually. In the spot, the sunny pastoral setting serves as an unexpected backdrop to present customer care vignettes. Set against the sun-spangled background, Miller utilizes a hyper-colour palette and slow-mo pacing to bring a sparkly energy to the scenes. Lingering on over-the-top reactions of unbridled joy, Miller brings the element of human understanding to the forefront in a humorous way.
“Genesys is an incredibly trusting and supportive client,” says Miller. “The company is trying to bring not only humanity to the experience, but empathy. Those private victories of customer service actually bring people a profound sense of satisfaction, so the concept was to have some fun with that and celebrate it, in extreme. By making it a romantic send-up, it strikes the balance, especially by featuring our very sensible but wry customer service spokeswoman.”
A sense of raucous joie de vivre infuses each frame, yet the production process was not without its challenges. Weather considerations meant Miller and the crew adhered to a rigorous schedule, wrapping the entire shoot in one day. Among the other logistical factors, Miller recounts, “A full on business class airline seat careening across a grassy field in the rainy California winter was complicated, I’ll admit. Getting the sheep in the background to play ball with us. Trucks got stuck in mud. And the wind was threatening to blow our confetti scene.”
“But to be honest, I love those challenges,” he says. “And the crew enjoyed the idea and threw their hearts into solving problems as they came up. The production Gods smiled on us for 10 hours that day.”
John Munyan, Vice President, Brand Messaging at Genesys, speaks to the ongoing collaboration with ONLYCH1LD, having previously worked with Miller and the team on the first instalment of the campaign, a holiday spot highlighting the everyday intimacy of the agents who provide Super Human Service:
“Working with ONLYCH1LD, we’ve found some fun ways to show our vision of empathy in action, and how a great interaction can make customers smile. We can all relate to the people in the commercial because we’ve all been in situations where a customer service experience made our day. Across all our collaborations, the ONLYCH1LD team has really brought to life the positive impact Genesys technology has on customers.”
Brand: Genesys
Joyce Kim :: Chief Marketing Officer
Melanie Salvatierra :: VP, Brand and Audience Marketing
John Munyan :: VP, Brand Messaging
Jill Hundley :: Director, Brand Campaign Manager
Daniel Morales :: Creative Design Lead
Agency: ONLYCH1LD
ECDs :: Samuel Miller and Spencer Kehe
Mike Yagi :: Creative Director
Craig Miller :: Copywriter
Production Company: ONLYCH1LD
Samuel Miller :: Director
Spencer Kehe :: Producer
Steve Peixotto :: Line Producer
Starr Whitesides :: Director of Photography
Donavan Sell :: 2nd Unit DP
Sterling Storm :: Production Designer
Teresa Smith :: Wardrobe Stylist
Marty Martin :: Colorist
Chris Konovaliv :: Audio Mixer
Daniel Toman :: Assistant Editor
Sin Cohen :: Post Supervisor
Music : APM Music
Hal David & John Cacavas :: Composers