Lyft Travels Back to 1836 With Jeff Bridges in First Brand Work From Wieden + Kennedy

Man invents the wheel. Man walks on the moon. Man calls a car to the East Village on a Friday night, when you can't flag a yellow cab to save your life. These are some of the major developments in the history of human transportation, according to Lyft, whose big new brand campaign is set to debut during NFL games this Sunday. It's the first 360-degree, fully integrated campaign in the history of the 5-year-old company, which gained significant market share in recent months as its chief rival Uber suffered through a series of painful, largely self-inflicted crises. It's also the first broadcast work for Lyft from Wieden + Kennedy New York, which won the business earlier this year. W+K made a splash with a summer activation in which Lyft "took over" an Los Angeles car wash, but the new work is even more ambitious. In the first spot, "Riding West," Jeff Bridges relays a few lessons about the importance of choice that are as relevant today as they were to the wagon trains of the early 19th century. [kickout id="3"] The purpose of the new effort is twofold, as Lyft aims to both expand its audience and encourage some customers to reconsider the service they thought they knew. "We are reintroducing ourselves to people who may have only known us years ago as an early startup and new folks who have not tried ridesharing or Lyft," said vp of marketing Melissa Waters, who joined Lyft from Pandora last year. "We started 2017 only operating in major U.S. markets, and now we have expanded to over 40 states; we currently cover 94 percent of the U.S. population." In explaining the campaign's historic references, she described the ridesharing industry as "the third transportation revolution." And while the act of following the Oregon Trail might at first seem unrelated to a decidedly modern business like Lyft, "we liked the creative device of the iconic ride," she added. "It is really helpful to us because it speaks to the relationship between passenger and driver." Additional spots in the campaign, which will be distributed via digital and social channels, elaborate on the theme. [kickout id="1"] [kickout id="2"] One of the Bridges-free Western-themed ads continues in the same lighthearted vein with an 1830s take on texting. [kickout id="4"] Viewers may note that, unlike the "Undercover Lyft" series of viral spots, which the brand has been releasing for some time, this campaign doesn't directly address the brand's all-important customer experience. "This is really about articulating our ethos," said Waters. "We will have plenty of opportunities to communicate more about our product features and differentiation and reinforce our commitment to treating people better." In the meantime, future ads will add new historical touchpoints. A forthcoming follow-up to "Riding West" stars Tilda Swinton and Jordan Peele as astronauts aboard Apollo 14, orbiting the moon in 1971. [kickout id="5"] "We were trying to think about important moments in transportation ... to contrast against your mundane ride to brunch or your trip to pick up a loofah," said W+K creative director Stuart Jennings when asked how his team arrived at the underlying concept. "Whether you're going to the moon, settling the West or just going to Target, it matters who you choose." Jennings added that the creatives chose "people who had a purpose and a goal that was big, ambitious and honorable" and cast actors known for both their dramatic and comedic roles in order to best "exude the personality of the brand." He declined to name Uber as the target of some jabs in the copywriting (Bridges warns viewers not to "choose poorly" and "end up stranded"), instead describing this sort of casual messaging strategy as "something [Lyft] has always done, not in retort to what others have done." Beyond the video work, the out-of-home portion of the campaign gets a little more specific about the benefits of ridesharing generally, addressing problems like overcrowding, parallel parking and the inconvenience of making your way back to the car after a show. [kickout id="7"] [kickout id="8"] "We had a lot of good writing that we liked for out-of-home," Jennings said. "Lots of people will be viewing these from a car while commuting to work or trying to park at a stadium or airport, and this gave us context to speak to use cases." Lyft's vp and in-house creative director, Jesse McMillin, described its ongoing relationship with the agency as such: "When we started our work with Wieden + Kennedy, we wanted to take all of that great history that we had built at Lyft and really hit the turbo-boost. We tapped W+K to help us bottle up all of the amazing spirit and commitment to doing right by our passengers and drivers in a way that would be fun and entertaining." He added, "One of their superpowers seems to be finding that inherent truth that has always existed at a company and to focus and refine it into something groundbreaking and memorable, and I think that this body of work is an exciting first expression of all of that magic." The Swinton/Peele ad "Riding Shotgun" will break later this month. CREDITSClient: LyftAgency: Wieden + Kennedy New YorkCampaign: "It Matters How You Get There" Executive Creative Director: Karl LiebermanCreative Directors: Stuart Jennings, Laddie PetersonCopywriter: Matt Simpson, Pepe HernandezArt Director: Alison Joseph, Blair WarrenHead of Integrated Production: Nick SetounskiCreative Services Director: Chris WhalleyHead of Art Production: Deb RosenBroadcast Producers: Alison Hill, Alexey NovikovArt Producers: Deb Rosen, Yukino MooreHead of Strategy: Dan HillStrategy Director: Tass TsitsopoulousAccount Team: Samantha Wagner, Jasmine Cogdell, Lee FordCommunications Planners: Karlo Cordova, Neil SawhneyProject Manager: Kristin DalyInterns: Alex McClelland, Maddy Baldwin, Rodrigo NinoTraffic Director: Sonia BisonoHead of Business Affairs: Patrick O’DonoghueBusiness Affairs: Michael Moronez, Carla Curry Production Company: BiscuitDirector: Noam MurroExecutive Producer/COO: Shawn LacyExecutive Producer: Holly VegaLine Producer: Jay VealProduction Supervisor: Jen BerryDirector of Photography: Phedon Papamichael Editorial Company: Arcade Edit NYEditor: Jeff FerruzzoEditor (Social Videos): Laurel SmoliarSr. Post Producer: Gavin CarrollAssistant Post Producer: Arlene PerezExecutive Producer: Sila SoyerEditorial Assistant: Samuel Barden VFX Company ("Riding West"): Arcade Edit NYVFX Flame: Tristian WakeProducer: Gavin CarrollGFX Artist: Paul Daniel VFX Company ("Riding Shotgun"): The MillVFX Flame Lead: Keith SullivanVFX Flame Assist: Kevan LeeNuke: James Cudahy, Ting Jung-HsuExecutive Producer: Chris KiserProducer: La-Râ HinckeldeynProduction Coordinator: Ashley GoodwinCG Lead: Ajit MenonCG: Modeling/Texturing - Constance Bensen, Ivan JoyCG: Animation - Hannah LeeCG: FX - Yimo XuCG: Lighting/Rendering - Billy Dangyoon Jang Telecine Company: Company 3Colorist: Tom Poole Mix Company: Sonic UnionMixer: David Papa Music House: Future PerfectExecutive Producer/Partner: Maxwell GoslingComposer/Partner: John ConnollyProducer: Nargis Sheerazie Photographer: Joao CanzianiPhotographer’s Agent: Jen Jenkins Mix Company: Sonic UnionMixer: Steve Rosen Out of home/DigitalExecutive Creative Director: Karl LiebermanCreative Directors: Stuart Jennings, Laddie PetersonCopywriter: Matt Simpson, Pepe HernandezArt Director: Alison Joseph, Blair WarrenCreative Services Director: Chris WhalleyHead of Art Production: Deb RosenArt Producers: Deb Rosen, Yukino MooreDigital Producer: Laura PaulinoLead Print Producer: Stephen BradyAccount Team: Samantha Wagner, Jasmine Cogdell, Lee FordCommunications Planners: Karlo Cordova, Neil SawhneyProject Manager: Kristin DalyHead of Business Affairs: Patrick O’DonoghueBusiness Affairs: Michael Moronez, Carla CurryStudio Manager: Jill KeartonLead Studio Designer: Mike NesiPrint Producer: Heather KehoeRetouching: Chris McClellandStudio Designers: Alessandro Echevarria, Francisco Gutierrez, Harim Pines, Darlene Nashed, Sean Clancy, Napoleon NicdaoPrint Traffic: Addis Fouche-Channer Production Company: JointSenior Producer: Michelle CarmanAssistant Producer: Brian SchimpfProducer: Francess Tom-SahrLead Motion Designer / Animator: Dustin Bailey3D Designer: Sam Feske, Will Decker, Patrick McAvena, Lee JunAnimator : Natalia Serrano Animation House: Made by RadioDirector: Byron Meiring

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Lyft Travels Back to 1836 With Jeff Bridges in First Brand Work From Wieden + Kennedy

Period pieces herald the third transportation revolution

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