Wieden+Kennedy London and Intuit Quickbooks partner to support small Scottish businesses through five animated spots

Financial management software company Intuit Quickbooks has partnered with Wieden+Kennedy to support small businesses in a new advertising campaign. Launched yesterday (5 November 2020) the campaign shines a light on five small Scottish businesses and their respective inspirational stories through animation. The London-based branch of the advertising giant Wieden+Kennedy enacted the help of Blink Productions and its roster of animators to bring the campaign to life, with Chris Bristow directing.

Injecting the TV and social ad strategy with £300,000, Intuit Quickbooks aims to support independent animators as well as small businesses during a challenging time financially. Animators Catherine Prowse, Dan Lambert, Adeena Grubb, Pierre Plouzeu, Tom King and Andy Biddle were tasked with visualising the businesses through animation. Titled Small Business Stories and directed by Chris Bristow, the 20 second spots features a voiceover from each business owner, recorded creatively over Zoom (under duvets for that professional muffled effect) WhatsApp and email.

Hollie Walker and Cal Al-Jorani, two Wieden+Kennedy creative directors, said in a statement: “With five very different small Scottish businesses, with very different products to shout about, it was a pleasure to work closely with the owners to find out how they wanted to tell their story.” The five small businesses hand picked for the campaign include: Howe Of Torbeg, a glampsite in Cairngorms National Park; Love Your Planet, a Dundee-based zero-waste store; Fletcher Fabworks, a metal worker who offers bespoke fabrication and mobile welding; Rebel Chocolate, a chocolatiers making high protein chocolate; and last but not least, Scottish Cut Flowers specialising in locally grown flowers in Perthshire.

On supporting these establishments, Intuit Quickbooks’ marketing director Alicia Skubick said: “Small businesses are the backbone of the economy and at QuickBooks we do everything we can to help them prosper.” Each spot animates the businesses’ story in a unique style utilising techniques from stop motion, CGI and in-camera techniques to highlight each small business.

In Dam Lambert’s case, the animator hand drew then animated the peaceful retreat that is Howe of Torbeg to convey a sense of tranquility. Adeena Grubb and Andy Biddle used stop motion to demonstrate the variety of dry products available at Dundee’s Love Your Planet. Pierre Plouzeu showcased the highly skilled craftsmanship that goes into the metalwork at Fletcher Fabworks using 3D animation. At the other end of the spectrum, Tom King employed 2D animation to show the variety of chocolates on offer at Rebel Chocolate, and finally, Catherine Prowse painstakingly created paper flowers for her spot on Scottish Cut Flowers, in turn, animating the delicate props.