Tile's First Major Ad Campaign Tells the Epic Story of a Beloved Lost Panda

If your beloved anthropomorphic plush panda bear ever goes missing, don't sweat it. Tile's got you covered. In "Lost Panda," a moody two-minute tear-jerker by Deutsch and Smuggler director Mark Molloy, the titular toy, named Ernie, treks far and wide in search of his owner, a little girl who's bereft without her fuzzy friend. Can Tile, the Bluetooth-enabled tracking system, help reunite the pair? (If it can't, this really isn't much of a campaign, now is it?) [kickout id="1"] "When we lose something and then find it, it's an indescribably good feeling," Deutsch executive creative director Guto Araki tells AdFreak. "But how could we tell that story so that the lost thing is compelling to everyone? That was the challenge. So, we realized that by transforming something into someone, we could end up with a beautiful love story." As it turns out, the resulting tale took it cues from real life. "The 'Lost Panda' story was inspired by an actual Tile customer, a young girl who lost her stuffed animal in a busy city, only to be reunited later with the help of the Tile community," says Tile CMO Simon Fleming-Wood. "Our creative team thought it'd be powerful to tell the story from the perspective of Ernie, a stuffed panda, and to bring to life what his owner, Lucy, might have imagined her 'best friend' going through in trying to find his way back to her. In her imagination, Ernie gets more and more lost while looking for her, only to be helped home by the 'good neighbors' he meets—a metaphor for the Tile community. Of course, in reality, Ernie stays in the exact place he was likely dropped by Lucy, only to be found by a loving father who had the foresight to put a Tile in Ernie's pocket." So, what's this about a "Tile community"? Working on iOS or Android, the app helps users find items attached to a Tile dongle within a range of about 200 feet. If your stuff gets really lost—which can happen when a plush Panda hops a freight train to the middle of nowhere—you can receive location info from the phones of other Tile users. (When these folks approach your missing items, their own apps generate an anonymous update for you to follow.) That handy feature, one of Tile's biggest selling points, informs the campaign's tagline, "Together we find." Yet, this functionality is never fully explained in "Lost Panda," which, according to Fleming-Wood, is intended as "emotional storytelling to provoke consumers' attention and drive consideration." The spot will run on TV and online in 60-, 30-, and 15-second formats, while the full-length clip will be available on Tile.com and the company’s social platforms. Consumers seeking more information can watch Ernie and Lucy in a series of online demos, like the one below, that spell out the details: [kickout id="2"] As for the main "Lost Panda" film, it's a masterwork of emotional manipulation by Molloy, whose cinematic sense of style and narrative—previously on display in Nissan's unconventional "On the Shoulders of Giants" epic from last year, and Samsung's celebratory surfing spot from 2014—fits the material to a T. We know from the start that things will work out OK, but we go along for the ride largely owing to the director's artistry. There's an angsty aspect that ups the emotional ante and gives the climax, though predictable, added punch and appeal. (In fact, the child's imagination/favorite-toy set-up recalls John Lewis' "Monty the Penguin" spot from a few years back, through "Lost Panda" has a darker vibe that's completely different, and in tune with the brand message.) Besides, Ernie is unbearably adorbs! "[Molloy] wanted to capture as much as he could in camera, and we basically ended up capturing almost everything [that way]," Araki says. "Obviously, there was a ton of cleanup to do and a massive amount of VFX to bring it all together." Two pose-able Ernies, and a third designed to be extra cuddly, appear in the spot, as do "Lost Panda" posters, which actually went up last week as campaign teasers in New York and San Francisco. [kickout id="3"] Ernie's also featured in an upcoming children's book, inspired by customers' seek-and-find tales. Plus, social influencer outreach, as well as "location-based and other digital tactics," are planned through the holiday season. Maybe there's no need to look for Ernie after all. That bear's everywhere! CREDITS Client: Tile Chief Marketing Officer: Simon Fleming-Wood Senior Director, Brand and Product Marketing: Bryan Rodrigues Director of Brand Marketing: Andrew Lum Senior Brand Marketing Manger: Veronica Tong Deutsch Credits and Titles: Creative Credits: Chief Creative Officer, North America: Pete Favat Executive Creative Director: Guto Araki Creative Director/CW: Eric Manchester Creative Director/AD: Neal Desai Copywriter: Jeb Quaid Director of Integrated Production: Vic Palumbo Executive Integrated Producer: Dan Kaplan Integrated Producer: Mariana Perin Music Director: Eryk Rich Music Producer: Chase Butters Music Coordinator: Dez Davis Account Management Credits: Group Account Director: Matt Matzen Account Director: Christi Johnson Account Director: Mark Thompson Account Executive: Jessica Ferri Account Planning: Group Strategy Director: Kelsey Hodgkin Business Affairs/Traffic: Director of Integrated Business Affairs: Abilino Guillermo Senior Business Affairs Manager: Terry Miglin Director or Broadcast Traffic: Carie Bonillo Live Action Production Company Production Company: Smuggler, Inc. Director: Mark Molloy Co-Founder: Patrick Milling Smith Co-Founder: Brian Carmody Executive Producer: Shannon Jones Line Producer: Gustav Geldenhuys Editorial Company Production Company: Work Editorial Editor: Stewart Reeves Assistant Editor: Keith Hamm Assistant Editor: Josh Sasson Executive Producer: Marlo Baird Producer: Brian Scharwath Grade Facility: Production Company: CO3 Senior Colorist: Tom Poole Producer: Alexandra Lubrano Post CG/VFX: Production Company: ALT VFX, Inc. Founder / VFX Supervisor: Colin Renshaw Executive Producer: Chris Fieldhouse Producer: Jess Calvert Head of 2D: Mathew Chance Animation Lead: Chris Rentoul Panda Build: Production Company: Legacy Effects Producer: Alan Scott Graphics: Design Company: Lobo Creative Director: Mateus de Paula Santos Executive Producer: Luis Ribeiro Producer: Gabriela Leal Design & Animation: Leandro Beltran & Bruno Ronzani Licensed/Composed Music, Credits and Track Info: Mophonics Track: “Girl in My Dreams” Performed by: Stephan Altman Composed by: Stephan Altman Courtesy of: Stephan Altman By arrangement with: Stephan Altman Audio Post Company: Lime Studios Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan Producer: Kayla Phungglan Sound Engineer: Mark Meyuhas Assistant Mixer: Peter Lapinski Shoot Location: Bucharest, Romania

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Tile's First Major Ad Campaign Tells the Epic Story of a Beloved Lost Panda

Deutsch and Mark Molloy craft a sad, sweet saga

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David Gianatasio