Brothers & Sisters' ECD on Bringing In Big Phil for WBAC

Will Flack, ECD, Brothers & Sisters 

This campaign is a departure from previous WBAC commercials; why did you/the client decide to change creative strategy?

Previous campaigns have made them recognisable, everyone knows the people-sat-on-car-shaped-sofas ads and that famous jingle, but the guys at webuyanycar.com asked us to create a campaign that gets people to think differently about their brand (or ‘reappraise' in ad speak) and develop a creative franchise that could run for years to come. They also wanted something funny and self-deprecating.

What were the discussions and creative conversations you had up to the point of landing on the idea you eventually went with?

The original idea was simply ‘The most Phillip Schofield way to sell your car.’ The idea that Webuyanycar.com strive to be more like the most loved man in Britain in a bid to make selling your car a nicer experience is just funny and unexpected. It wasn’t our first idea, but it was an early front runner. We did explore other creative routes, like the diligent agency we are, but nothing could beat Big Phil. And rightly so. To be fair our clients championed Phil the whole way.

What stood out about the Phillip Schofield premise and what convinced you (and, indeed, the client) that this was the way to go?

I’ve never seen a brand that compares itself to a human being and their character traits. It felt fresh and original and a completely different way of using a celeb or brand spokesperson. That and the fact it was a completely absurd and surprising way to talk about selling cars. Luckily our clients agreed.

Were there any other candidates for ‘the most loved man in Britain’?

Of course not. There was only ever Phil, just check out his instagram. There’s a very deep love for the man. We may have considered a certain red-headed musician, but he quickly paled into insignificance next to the silver fox.

What was Schofield’s reaction when you initially approached him?

Phil and his agents really loved it, a little surprised maybe. I think it was the fact he wasn’t just another brand spokesperson, the conceit that  Phil would appear unaware WBAC were using him in their advertising campaign was a big draw. That and the fact we wanted it to be very tongue-in-cheek, it allows Phil to have a laugh and take the mick out of himself.

Some of the executions (notably the kitten one) are amazingly odd; did it take much convincing to get the client to agree to some of the ideas?

Not really no, the clients have been great the whole way and actually pushed us to be weirder and funnier, which is refreshing from a creative’s POV.

Why was Andrew Gaynord the best person to direct this campaign?

He was just the only person who wanted to direct it in the end. No, he’s great. We’ve always loved Andrew's work and style of comedy and have just been waiting for the right job to work with him on. We wanted this campaign to be more like a TV series than just a bunch of ads. We also didn’t want it to look too set-up and ‘addy', we wanted it to look as if we were secretly observing Phil, stalking him basically and Andrew was the perfect stalker director. We immediately got on too, which is a massive part of working with a director for me. Andrew completely got what was in our heads, no matter how silly, and the clients quite liked him too. It was probably one of the best shoots I’ve worked on. I hope he’s not reading this otherwise it'll go straight to his head.

What was the most difficult aspect of bringing the campaign to fruition?

Working with a celeb like Phil adds another layer of creative approval, so it requires everyone getting on and working together and being open to the ideas presented. Luckily we had a great team, lots of trust, both on the client side and Big Phil himself of course who was obviously up for anything and even insisted on doing his own stunts, like Tom Cruise. What a pro.

What else can we expect from the WBAC campaign?

Funnier and weirder films. Once people have got used to Big Phil in Webuy’s ads we want to push the humour for what Phil does next even further.