New Spot From Rebranded DuPont Changes Depending on When and Where Consumers See It

A video ad for newly separated specialty materials giant DuPont will look different depending on whether you are watching, say, during sunset in America or at noon in China. The R/GA-helmed spot, hosted on DuPont's site, includes a host of dynamic elements meant to make it feel as current as possible, including clocks that match the time of viewing; newspapers autofilled with the current date and headlines; a mention of the viewer's device; changes in scenery and music to fit the particular time of day; and an aerial view of Earth centered over the general location of the viewer. Each of those features is sprinkled throughout a montage of innovations intended to highlight the capabilities of the newly relaunched brand. This will be DuPont's first campaign since splitting from Dow Chemical and its former agricultural unit, now Corteva Agriscience, this year following a turbulent merger plagued by controversies around animal testing of pesticides and other environmental lawsuits. The version of the video hosted on DuPont's website will also feature scenes pulled directly from a live feed all day on Monday in what the agency claims is the first integration of real-time footage into an otherwise scripted ad. The dynamism was made possible by a startup born out of one of R/GA's incubator labs called Imposium, which specializes in such video overlays. But the creative directors behind the campaign said the number and complexity of insertions at play in this particular ad surpassed that of any of the company's previous projects. [kickout id="1"] "We pushed them to push their technology," said Erin Lynch, vp and group executive creative director at R/GA. "It's about getting across the essential innovation and the fact that all of this stuff is happening now, which differentiates it from all these competitors who are talking about future innovation." R/GA group executive creative director Genevieve Hoey said the process of designing for an ad with constantly shifting content required a whole different approach to the creative process. The creators, which the agency said included an unusually large team, had to plan for every possible variable on the viewer's end. "We took the basic concept, and then we started to look at permutations, like time of day [and] location," said Hoey. "Originally, we wanted to do second and third viewing, but I think it blew out to more [variations] than we could handle." The campaign, which will also include other digital advertising and online content, represents the official debut of the rebranded DuPont company following its 2016 merger and subsequent split last month with Dow Chemical. With many of its past business operations now in the hands of Dow and Corteva, the new DuPont will focus on specialty products with sub-brands like Tyvek, a high-density polyethylene fiber used in everything from mailers to housing insulation, and Great Stuff, a foam sealant. "We've had a really interesting challenge, because we just relaunched our company," said Barbara Pandos, chief communications officer at DuPont. "So while the brand might be known, because it's a 200-year-old brand, a lot of people don't necessarily know what we're working on now, and we've really changed the portfolio over the last two years. When we thought about reintroducing the company, we wanted to make sure we were being as innovative in the way we market the company as our products and our people were." Be sure to follow all of Adweek's coverage of the Cannes Lions and sign up for our daily Cannes newsletter.

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New Spot From Rebranded DuPont Changes Depending on When and Where Consumers See It

R/GA set the spot's clocks, newspapers and skies to match the viewing date and time

Patrick Kulp

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Patrick Kulp