The award-winning campaign, which has captivated the brand’s audiences in major global markets for over twenty years, brings Canadians in on the inside joke with TV ads, out-of-home, radio, digital and transit ads.
Specsavers debuts its iconic 20-year tagline, “Should’ve Gone to Specsavers,” in Canada on April 24, 2023, in a new integrated multi-channel campaign.
Succeeding “That’s Specsavers Love,” the inaugural campaign that supported the brand’s Canadian launch, “Should’ve Gone to Specsavers” takes the humour a step further, blending its signature wit and purpose of changing lives through better sight with sophisticated cinematography and understated drama.
The ads tell stories of vision-related mishaps in various outdoor adventures on the backdrop of stunning nature landscapes, while working in a world of suspended disbelief and presenting the implausible as entirely plausible.
“With the successful establishment of Specsavers in Canada, this new generation of marketing aims to delight audiences and inspire Canadians to be as excited about eye health as we are,” said Catherine Walsh, Director of Marketing, Specsavers Canada. “The strength of Should’ve Gone to Specsavers is the gentle reminder it gives Canadians of all ages to look after their eye health while also making them smile.”
Specsavers light-hearted marketing has been an effective tool in supporting its goal to improve eye health by keeping vision care top of mind. Specsavers is determined to make eye health and eyewear accessible to everyone. By providing optical coherence tomography (OCT), which is a digital 3D eye scan, as part of the standard eye exam, Specsavers is committed to providing expert eyecare for all.
The centrepiece of the campaign is a 30-second ad that features a father and son on a fishing adventure – the two of them settled on a boat in the middle of a lake among beautiful mountains. The story introduces us to a young man with a worried look on his face, asking his dad if he has seen the boat keys. “Nope,” his father responds, cluelessly, as the spot shows him casting his fishing rod with the keys attached to it instead of a fishing lure. “I could stay out here forever,” the viewer hears the father remark as the iconic tagline appears on screen.
Created by Specsavers’ in-house creative team, The Agency, the campaign includes a total of four TV spots, with various cuts following familiar characters on different parts of their outdoor adventures, in addition to out-of-home, radio, digital and transit ads all to be rolled out in spring 2023. Externally, Media Experts manages media planning, strategy and buys across all channels, while FleishmanHillard HighRoad provides strategic communication support including public relations and social media.
“These spots called for sophistication in the execution by tonally and visually maintaining a level of restraint,” says Richard James, Creative Director, The Agency. “Nothing in the filmmaking overtly alludes to comedy – we approach the comedy in an underplayed manner through authentic settings and characters, effortless performances and observed cinematic style.”
Holly Pirou, Art Director and Lucy Weetman, Copywriter from The Agency teamed up to bring the campaign to life.
“Should’ve gone to Specsavers is a highly established campaign in different regions around the world, so it’s been a real privilege to write and create the first one for Canada,” said Lucy Weetman, Copywriter, The Agency. “This peaceful day out between a father and son is flipped completely on its head, all because the father ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’. We’re excited to see how it’s received, and we hope it can bring a smile to people’s faces.”
The campaign will be on TV, out-of-home, radio, digital and transit ads in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
Credits:
Client
Specsavers Canada
Matt Armitage – Trading Director
Catherine Walsh – Marketing Director
Lauren Mills – Creative Brand Manager
Agency
The Agency
· Richard James – Creative Director
· Angus Smith – Broadcast Producer
· Holly Pirou – Art Director
· Lucy Weetman – Copywriter
· Lyndsey Brown – Head of Client Partnership
· Tasha Thirlby – Lead Client Partner
· Kitty Hall – Client Partner
· Liz Baines – Head of Planning
· Sid Tomkins – Head of Creative Design
· Craig Le Lerre – Campaign Design Lead
· Ash Durrant – Sr. Integrated Producer (Model Photography)
· Clair Carter – Sr. Integrated Producer (Product Photography)
· Jack Finn – Senior Creative (Radio, Photography)
· James Hearn – Senior Creative (Radio, Photography)
Production Company – TV
Scoundrel
· Director – Tim Bullock
· Producer – Tony Whyman
· Executive Producer – Kate Gooden
Post production – Fin Design and effects
Sound Design- Rumble
Photographers – Model
Raina + Wilson
Photographer – Product
Karl Taylor
Production Company – Radio
Hadron Sound
Media Planning
Media Experts
SPECSAVERS BRINGS ICONIC “SHOULD’VE GONE TO SPECSAVERS” TO CANADA added by newsroom on
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