Cactus Reimagines CommunityAmerica Credit Union Campaign Featuring Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes
The spot, entitled “Rising Into Something Greater,” breaks on September 10 during the NFL season-opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans. Watch it on YouTube here.
Inspired by the look of the Academy Award-winning short “Dear Basketball,” directed by Kobe Bryant, the 30-second black and white 2D, pencil sketch animation style, imbued only with red (the Chiefs’ color) and the CommunityAmerica logo, communicates elegance, beauty and power all at once. The copy, voiced by Mahomes, connects the narrative dots between his rise with the Chiefs to the rise of the people and community of Kansas City.
The shift in strategy, however unscheduled it was, actually helped make the work better, says Brian Watson, Cactus’ Executive Creative Director. “We were already at the point where we had our original batch of live-action concepts ready to present the client when Covid-19 shutdown hit,” Watson says. “At that point, no one knew what the next few months would hold, but we knew we needed to develop a contingency plan. We created an entirely new batch of concepts but ultimately ended up going with the same script from our original idea, but with a completely reimagined way to bring it to life visually. As much as we liked the original vision for the spot, we ended up feeling like the animated version of the spot was even stronger.”
Watson adds, “It’s about the power of what can happen when people come together and support one another through life’s changes and challenges because that’s exactly what CommunityAmerica exists to do for their members and their community. I can’t imagine a more powerful and important message to be putting out into the world right now.”
Cactus is a Denver-based creative agency that’s dedicated to growing the brands that help people thrive. With a staff of 50, Cactus is built on the belief that small agency creativity and ingenuity can actually help solve the world’s biggest problems. Our size gives us the freedom to work only with the companies, causes and products we truly believe in – the ones that make the world a better place to live, work and play. Celebrating 30 years in June 2020, Cactus has developed deep expertise in the area of shaping consumer belief & behavior – combining principles of behavioral psychology with creativity and innovation to design for clients’ desired business outcomes.