1. Canada Protection Plan TV campaign (2018-2021)
Dancing Line really enjoyed working with the creative Jake Fine on this fun campaign for Canada Protection Plan.
We were asked to come up with a new mascot for the brand who would feel friendly, approachable and engaging, and after a whole bunch of design options we offered, the client decided on this little guy.
So far we have produced five TV commercials with this little yellow mascot character. The commercials have been aired nationwide and became extremely popular, especially with small kids. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from delighted parents describing their kids’ fascination with the ads. Here are just some of these comments:
“My kids couldn’t stop laughing at this commercial”
“Please bring this cool commercials back lol”
“This is my daughters favourite commercial! Every time it comes on, she stops what she’s doing and stares at the tv. I have it recorded so anytime she’s throwing a tantrum, I play this and it catches her full attention. Best commercial ever – even though it’s for retirement hahah!”
“Iol, my baby as well. He’s 8 months. He comes crawling whenever he hears the beginning of the whistling. His two favourite parts are when they throw the paper up in the air and when they are holding hands. Too cute.”
“I thought my baby was the only one. He is 11 months old and loves this commercial. If he’s crying he stops immediately. Fascinated with it”
“My 1 year old loves this commercial, he says “yayy!” Every time the guy in the wheelchair goes down the hill lol! They stopped showing it on tv so I looked it up on YouTube, I am pleasantly surprised at all the parents commenting.”
“My 10 month old niece is completely mesmerized with this. She will stop what she is doing and watch this. We need stuffed dolls Canada Protection Plan! :)”
“Lol! Because our 9 mo loves it so much, we always stop what we’re doing for your whistling commercials! Great way to cut through the advertising noise!”
“Omfg I totally came here bc my 6 month old will stop whatever he’s doing when this commercial comes on!! Including eat. So weird so many babies are doing the same thing! Maybe you guys should start a cartoon for children! You’ve found something special!”
Many parents were thanking us for being able to use these animated spots for allowing to feed their little darlings or helping them to calm down, and many ended up even actively seeking out the online version for their kids. Some even asked for a “stuffy” toy version of the character. Although small kids were not necessarily our target audience for life insurance services, their parents definitely were an important part of it, and the client was really happy with the TV spots grabbing their attention.
Our mascot character even “made it big” this year by participating in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade as a giant float, seen by the attending crowd of 1 Mln (not mentioning the TV audience)!
Our character continues his life in print, digital media, corporate events and company’s website, embodying the brand’s tagline “Simply Peace of Mind”.
The warm audience feedback and the great working relationships with the client has made this project truly rewarding. It was a great pleasure to work with the company’s (former) marketing director Grace Cale, who was kind enough to submit a review of her experience of working with us. Here are some of her points:
The commercials have been successfully received and aided in raising brand awareness. Over the course of the engagement, Dancing Line Productions has been a steady, creative partner. Their expertise and open approach enable efficient collaboration between the teams.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Because of the recognizable animations, awareness about our company has significantly increased. Also, the videos look unique and capture the attention of our viewers.
How did Dancing Line Productions perform from a project management standpoint?
They were extremely organized and met every deadline. Whenever an issue arose, Anik would inform us immediately and find a solution. They’d let us know our options and how it would affect our progress. Working with them simplified the process because they had a keen attention to detail and managed the project well.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their work ethic and talent were valuable to us—we knew the project was in good hands. Their team is full of professionals, and they make the work look easy.
3. The Physics of the Hardest Move in Ballet – TED-Ed (2016)
“In the third act of “Swan Lake”, the Black Swan pulls off a seemingly endless series of turns, bobbing up and down on one pointed foot and spinning around and around and around … thirty-two times. How is this move — which is called a fouetté — even possible? Arleen Sugano unravels the physics of this famous ballet move.”
TED-Ed approached Dancing Line with this video concept. What attracted us to this script was its focus on the dancer’s movement, something that we particularly enjoy doing in animation. Graceful and lively with a hint of personality – this is our forte!
Inspired by Tchaikovsky’s powerful music and after watching several ballerinas performances we tried to represent the technical material of the lesson in a lighthearted playful manner. We focused on illustrating the points made in the narration in a clear, easy to follow way without being too realistic about all the performance details not covered in this study. The idea was to make it entertaining and as broadly appealing as possible.
The video was very enthusiastically received, with over 15 million views on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TEDEducation, 9K likes and reactions, 7K shares and 2.5 Mln views on Youtube, becoming one of the most popular TED-Ed animated videos.
4. Active Is What You Make It! – Animated PSA for the Heart and Stroke Foundation (2015)
We really had fun producing this PSA about the importance of being active.
Aimed at middle aged demographics with largely sedentary lifestyle, this was a fun reminder that there are many ways to be active, and you are most likely to stick with it when choosing a fulfilling activity best suited for your personality.
Rather than being perceived as nagging, we wanted to communicate this in a lighthearted humorous way, showing a relatable average-looking character engaged in various activities in his own personal non-athletic way.
5. Virginia Hospital Center TV campaign (2013-2015)
Working with the ad agency Williams Whittle, we have produced five TV spots for Virginia Hospital Center.
The creative brief was to come up with an appealing linear animation style to tell the stories of a different more personable hospital experience.
The campaign included five animated TV spots and a number of illustrations for print advertisements.
Design and animation by Anik Rosenblum
From print campaign – designed by Anik Rosenblum
Designed by Norm Bendell
For a couple of these spots Dancing Line decided to reach out to the renown illustrator Norm Bendell to help us to define the character look. Norm’s unique style felt like a particularly good fit with this project.
Although for most of our projects we produce everything in-house from concept development and design, we are also happy to bring on board great illustrators and designers whenever we feel that a project would benefit from a particular look, and we enjoy bringing these characters to life in ways that feel true to them and complement the design.
