VOLVO: Twister

This was probably the first piece of really famous advertising that I was involved with. I was a relatively young account director, so I can't claim to have written the brief, sold the idea or managed Tony Kaye through one of the more complex productions. It was a case of "right place, right time", but I learnt a great deal from the experience.

Like a lot of great work, we had a clearly defined problem that we had to solve. Volvo had established an unassailable reputation for building cars that were safe. While safety was unquestionably an important attribute for a family car, we needed to create desire for the marque.

We had permission to  inject a bit of dynamism and excitement into the brand on the back of a number of new models Volvo were launching, including the Volvo 850 T5, a crazy high performance station wagon. 

I distinctly remember that there was a great insight in the creative brief that inspired the work. We wanted the advertising to appeal to "intelligent risk takers". We defined these people as lawyers who broke the speed limit, accountants who took liberties with their expenses and doctors who liked to go bungee jumping at the weekends.

The campaign vividly demonstrated intelligent risk takers putting the cars through their paces. The first film in the campaign was about a stuntman and, in this second commercial, we told the story of a storm chaser in America..

The films were masterfully directed by Tony Kaye. My favorite moment in "Twister" is the fleeting moment of calm in the storm where Kaye inserted a profile shot of the storm chaser matted over an image of an orchid. Pure genius........and unscripted.