How The Farmer's Dog took the lead by showcasing an Emmy-nominated advertisement
For the staff at The Farmer's Dog, the objective of their debut Super Bowl ad was simple: make people cry.
"There was a phrase in the brief which basically said, "if we fail to make our audience cry that's a failure," says filmmaker Goh Iromoto who helped bring The Farmer's Dog now-iconic (and Emmy-nominated!) ad "Forever" to life. "I'll forever remember that line. It was an enormous motivational factor, both creatively and to me."
We wanted to know more about the Staff-Picked spot that was the most rated commercial in the 2023 Super Bowl and has gone on to receive the Emmy nod (!) So we sat down with Goh as well as the team of creatives of The Farmer's Dog to find out more about their fantastic collaborative process, their super-detailed outline, and the dog that were the inspiration for the campaign. Check out the show's major takeaways. Or, you can watch the full conversation above.
| Project name | "Forever" The Farmer's Dog |
| Stakeholders |
Teressa Iezzi Director of Content/Creative
Sophie Forman, Director of Brand Design |
| Goals of the campaign |
Teressa and Sophie wanted to create an advertisement that represented their corporate slogan, "Long Live Dogs."
The company has historically concentrated its marketing to the in-depth aspects of its products. However, Teressa and Sophie realized that the Q1 marketing campaign had to clearly bring its mission to help dogs live longer, more joyful healthy lives into focus in a unique method. |
| Goals |
• Recreate The Farmer's Dog goal and rallying call through a creative, powerful manner
• Tell an emotional tale that extends beyond the details of the product. |
| Timeline |
The entire campaign took about four months from beginning to end to complete, with the breakdown of production looking something similar to this:
October | Short stage November | Goh is sharing his pitch with the team December | Shoot January | Post-production February Live! |
| Resources | The Farmer's Dog team worked incredibly closely with Goh to create the end result. Goh served as creative mastermind and project director and Teressa and Sophie served as key stakeholders on the development of the idea. The trio worked closely in the development process from start to end. |
| Principal to takeaways |
* Put money into your short
* Focus on the story rather than the product * Great work deserves great promotion |