The brief

Oriflame was launching Meal Replacement, a shake that stands in for a full meal, for people who are too busy to eat properly. It was our first project with Oriflame, and the start of a relationship that is still going. It was also one of the first times a client asked us for a lifestyle film where the product only appears at the end.

What made it hard

If the product waits until the last few seconds, everything before it has to hold attention on its own. This was a one-minute ad for social feeds, where people decide in a second whether to keep watching.

The decision that made it work

We staged one busy morning. She tidies the house, works out, sits through a meeting, gets her work done. By lunchtime there is no time to cook, and the shake gives her a full meal in a minute.

Two things keep people watching until then. The casting: a lead the audience is happy to spend a minute with. And the look: soft light and a dreamy, pastel palette, so the busy morning feels like a day viewers would want, not a list of chores.

We delivered two cuts, at 1:09 and 1:06.

The result

The two cuts have been watched more than 470,000 and 420,000 times on Oriflame Vietnam's YouTube channel. Oriflame has kept working with us ever since, including the Natural Balance Shake film.

Who this kind of film is for

Brands with a practical product, in nutrition, wellness or the home, that want a film about their customer's life, not a list of benefits.