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- [00:00]
A
Welcome to OnStrategy Showcase. I'm Fergus O' Carroll in Chicago. Hope you guys had a great week. We are headed to New York in about an hour, actually, to do our live show tomorrow night. I actually realized that I needed to record this intro for next week's episode before I left, since I'm not going to be around so that my editor has time to fix things. So this is very early in the morning for me to be recording an intro. So do forgive me. Just a reminder that the FES for 2026. The FES are for entries in the US now. The first deadline is October 6th. The second deadline is October 20th. So hope that works out for everybody in terms of getting those cases written and submitted and approved. We also want to let you know that the FES offers a workshop for those who are interested in maybe getting some tips on how to frame a case. Maybe it's your first time. It is October 9th. It's online, it's free, and you can register@fe. Or that's effie.org so good luck to everybody who is entering cases for 2026. We're going to be in Los Angeles live following our New York tour. Tomorrow night we're going to be in LA. It is Thursday, October 23rd. We're going to be convening a group of LA strategists and creatives to talk about magic moments. That's our theme. You can learn more about it pretty soon. I think tickets will go on sale either later this week or first of next week. And I'm recording this September 24th, so you can get more information. Tickets are on sale on our website under the Live Tour tab. So we've done brilliantly so far. We're sold out in New York, we sold out in Dallas, and then we head into la. Following la, we're gonna be in London around the EFFIE Awards, ironically in London. So that's gonna be a fun night. As we had in New York a couple of months ago, I wanted to talk about today's case. This one was really interesting to me because I think of Polaroid. Like many people that have been around for a while, I think of Polaroid as an older brand, sort of a brand that lost out in the transition to digital. For those of you who are familiar, it's a camera that actually produces a print once you take a photograph. It's what's called kids instant photography. And it was huge back in the day. And so when I did this interview, I sort of brought my bias to it. And I was kind of shocked during the. In a good way. Surprised during the interview to sort of check that bias, because I hadn't thought about the fact that while the camera might seem dated to me, it could certainly be framed as being incredibly innovative for a younger person who has never held a camera that actually, when you push the button, it produced an immediate photograph. It's the idea that our cameras today, our digital cameras, all of our images are stuck inside that camera. And there's a certain novelty and value in having a camera that produces an actual print. So they're kind of using what might be perceived by some audience as a negative and turning it into a positive. Not unlike what Guinness did with turning their negative of having to wait for a couple of minutes for a pint because it takes so long to pour, and then transitioning that into a positive in that brilliant campaign. Good things come to those who wait. I was reminded very much of Guinness during this interview. So it's a great campaign that came out. It sort of reminded me in certain ways of that work from Goodbye back in the days. They had a brilliant campaign back then. It was called See what Develops. But the tag, not the tag, but the platform is sort of for Polaroid. But this new campaign is beautifully imperfect. I do like that thought. So this is Patricia Varela. She is creative director at the in house agency of Polaroid in Amsterdam and Deauville be senior manager of brand strategy at Polaroid. Enjoy. I'm thrilled to have Pat and Duvila here. Thank you both for joining me today.
- [04:22]
B
Nice, nice. Thank you for inviting us.
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C
Yeah, thanks.
- [04:26]
A
And they're both in Amsterdam. And what's important to note here is that this campaign was done in house. So we're dealing with the people who are on the leading edge of this. And it's always exciting to see that there's fresh work coming out of in house agencies and in house creative departments. So it's great. So let's start off first with a little bit of background on the Polaroid business as it stands today. Davila, what is Polaroid today in terms of the scope of its services and the products that it offers?
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B
We make instant cameras and instant film, which used to be really huge back in the days before the iPhone came to place with Steve Jobs and the smartphones. So we used to be like a really, really big company. Right. Everyone around the world in the 90s had like a picture of the family in the home. And we went to kind of non existent when the smartphones came to the market.
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A
It was always in its distinction back then. And I think it's what you're trying to do also right now. It was an instant photograph as opposed to having to go and get your film processed, which would take a goddamn week. This you had immediately in front of you. You could wave it around and it processed in real time. It was ready in like a minute or two. So that was its distinction back then, right?
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B
Yeah, exactly. You didn't need to have a third party to go develop your photos. You could have it right away. It's actually why one of the reasons why Edwin Lund also invented kind of instant photography because his daughter was like when he was taking pictures, she was asking him, daddy, why can't I have a picture right away? So that was like this thing of having real physical objects in your heart. Something that's really. I think it also applies today. But then basically the smartphone came to the world and then Polaroid kind of got non existent and then we got into a startup mode and where we are now basically really passionate people saved. It was called Impossible Project. So they saved the last factory, the last film factory where they're developing the Polaroid film here in the Netherlands in Enschede. So that was like the beginning of a resurgence of like Polaroid, the Impossible Project. They saved the factory and these passionate people believing in something impossible. That was the name of like Impossible Project and they saved the company. And actually today we're really like unique positioning, like our brand and the name is bigger than our company and it's currently headquartered in Amsterdam, this headquarters of Polaroid. And our mission is to provide more cameras and get more people instant photography and make it relevant in 21st century.
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A
So Pat, when you look at where growth is coming from for Polaroid, is there segments where you see growth coming from today? Is there countries or regions around the world where it's thriving or how would you define the growth trajectory of the company?
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C
I think what Dabila was saying that is also interesting what you reflect about this brand that was back in the days a big company and now it moved to nothing, to actually be back again and safe. But a small company being a startup and then getting the investment enough to kind of claim this is again polarity is back and not only saving the film, but also bringing new cameras to life and coming up with new innovations. Really big innovations on instant photography is everything about redefine the role of instant photography today nowadays, like in the AI times, in a world that is moving technologically into a different completely direction. And when you talk about Growth. It's like we are bringing new audiences to this path. And I think, I think what we are trying to do is to define growth by tapping into people that is craving to get back to analog. And we are seeing this as a trend. We saw this as a trend already when the Impossible project happened. But we are seeing that audience growing and that interest being more popular than ever.
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B
Polart is really beautiful product and a brand because it can also appeal to all the generation that kind of remember, like nostalgic, you know, how they had it with the family. But also we see it also appealing to younger generation, not just millennials, Gen Z, but also Gen Alpha. And there is this term called Anamoya. Kind of the younger generation have almost nostalgia to the times never lived. And for them kind of instant photography is almost like innovation. But I'm like, almost like. So our.
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A
Interesting, interesting. Yeah.
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B
It actually bands across different ages. And that's also the beauty of Polaroid because old person can use it, might love it, but also young people find it like super, super exciting to have real images kind of coming out of the camera when they grew up with smartphones.
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C
So that's really, if I can add to that question, adding a bit of. One thing that really surprised me when I joined the company three years ago was that when the impossible project happened and it was, you know, like all these kind of like enthusiasts about the film, it was followed by such an amazing number of young creators.
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A
That's a huge unlock what de Villa said. It is to me when you say that this product is viewed by Gen Z, Gen Alpha as being an innovation, not an old product. That's really huge. And I suppose that's made possible by the fact, and I assume made possible by the fact that the Polaroid image has been dramatically improved with this camera. Because, you know, the Polaroid of the old days, it wasn't really high resolution. There was a novelty factor to it is the image dramatically improved with the.
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B
New products when they also saved the factory. Right. They also lost the chemistry and they had to reinvent it from scratch. And actually where they've been in I don't know how many years ago now, but like where they've been there back then and now like the film quality is improving. However, what's beautiful about Polaroid chemistry is still keeping this dreamlike aesthetic. It's not, you know, perfect pixel image that you get with Polaroid camera. And that's the beauty of it that actually it's the. The chemistry needs to work based on the temperature. If you're in a cold place, in a warm place. There are also these imperfections. And then that's the beauty of what also I think even Instagram was born because people wanted the Polaroid look, right? Like, it's almost like this beauty of.
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A
This warm filters you could apply to it.
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B
Yeah, yeah. And the beauty with Polaroid that there is no filter. Right. It actually just captures life as it is.
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C
What is interesting to understand is that this is. This is a brand journey that we initiate two years and a half ago, I think we came up with. It was a new strategy. It was a new. A new brand narrative that we started. You know, like embracing the imperfections of the chemistry, kind of like embracing what. What Polaroid. What makes Polaroid unique. And then just like launch a campaign called Capture Real Life. That was kind of like, I guess, like the. I think it was like the best brief I received in my life. Coming from the villa, by the way. Taking all the challenges that shooting with Polaroid have and transforming it into something that is definitely positive, which just like was real life as instant photography is beautiful and perfect, you know.
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A
So let's talk about the. The psychology, Davila, of the user, the new user. I mean, as a strategist working internally, I'm sure part of what you're doing is trying to understand that mindset you're going after. What is it about somebody in terms of their attitudes or their values that is drawing them to Polaroid? And is Polaroid replacing their camera phone or is it something that they use only during certain occasions? Use occasions.
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B
They're looking for more meaningful way to take pictures than just with their phones. Because they might take thousand pictures that they never look on their phone, but then once they're exposed to like this more meaningful way of taking one picture that has this. This deep emotional value that you can hold to the physicality, the actual, you know, them. You never know what actually going to come out sometimes with also with instant photography and it's one off actually back in the days they would use it in, I think crime investigations. This is fun. I'm just a bit of a nerd. So it's fun fact that they would have the Polaroid picture because that was like, you cannot replicate it. Right?
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C
That was real. That was real. You know, like, that was already. You could bring that to court.
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B
And it was.
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C
Yeah.
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B
And there's this one thing also that's really distinctive for poet, like, and something that I think that's why people also crave for that is because people really kind of a craving for less pixel perfect, like lives that you see this.
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A
Pixel perfect.
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B
Yeah, like you see it also. It's the sea of sameness. Even what's happening in photography category. Category overall. Right. And just in all other kind of categories. Right. It was this. Everyone is kind of a little bit sick of perfection.
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A
So let's talk about the brief developed for this particular campaign that we're going to be talking about. What was at the heart of the brief that you gave to Pat and the creative teams.
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B
So that's why I also brought the camera. Like it's. I don't know if you hold Flip before in your hands.
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A
Yes.
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B
Super cool camera. That's where it all started, huh? Like this.
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A
That's right. But that looks the exact same as the camera that was out 20 years ago, except it has a cool red band. At least externally, externally it looks like it.
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B
Well, actually the product team also re engineered it.
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A
But to your point earlier, the thing and on this show, we always have to remind ourselves and as practitioners in this industry, we can't look at it through our eyes, we have to look at it through the audience eyes. And to your brilliant point earlier, the unlock at the heart of it is in my mind, from what you guys have said so far, it's the idea that this looks like an innovation. It's not nostalgia for the new audience, it's innovation. So that camera in its form and its design looks pretty goddamn innovative and it looks super cool. So to them it's like a whole new world.
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C
Okay, can I answer this question? Okay, so getting back to your question of what was the brief that Pat received? So basically it was like a lot of interest, as you said, especially from the product team and the business in general. Thank you, Charger.
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A
Sorry, Pat is getting his technical assistance off camera here. Thank you, person who ever helped. I was wondering what you were typing. I can imagine. So you were typing something.
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C
Could you just bring my charger? I completely forgot that I'm so analog. Okay, so Flip campaign was one year in the making. And the reason for being that long it was because it was a really special moment for us. This was kind of like the ultimate point and shoot camera. So it was a lot of interest from the leadership team to glorify all the features. And then when you work in house, then it's like what you hear is an amazing sonar that is going to take sharper images. It's an amazing flash. Let's talk about why we are not talking about the flash. We're not talking about the flash enough. All These USP is kind of like breathing. And we were also. We means like also Dobila and me and the creative team, we were kind of like trying to bring the emotional approach to it because there's nothing rational of shooting with a Polaroid camera, to be honest. It's everything about the emotional choice. It's more expensive than digital is, you know, it takes forever. So, you know, like at the end of the day it's an emotional is that is an experience that is led by emotions. So then at certain point we also got a bit challenged by resources. And that was the moment where we came back to the basics. It's like, what is the point? And that was like a question that Dabila made. What is the point of launching a point and shoot instant camera nowadays in AI times, in a moment that basically technology is already in a different space and that was already bold by itself only existed thing, you know, like for polar it existing nowadays is already like a bold, a bold statement. So we went back to the basics and that was the beginning of this campaign. It's like, what about if we have to also be in having like pretty serious constrictions in budget, we have to actually say the basic and say it louder. So that was kind of like the story. And with the process of this campaign.
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B
Can I just add Patricia? Like, it's also like what's interesting, like, that's why I also brought the camera like specifically to talk about the journey for this campaign is like because we live and brief Polaroid, we're here every day right of the week. And you might get so obsessed about the button or sonar, but then when you look at the audience that we wanted to go after was people who maybe didn't consider yet instant photography. So then it's like, like we kind of got a fresh look. It's like, wait, why would anyone care what it is like, you know, and we also know that people buy what things why you do not what you do, right? And also like just being a nerd of all these, you know, Byron Sharps and like system ones and like that we need to lead with emotion and figure out something that makes people feel goosebumps. And then that's where we're like, I think that was the turn kind of.
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C
Like we just like the switch, it came there when we just like came back.
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A
How do you define the brand platform for Polaroid?
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B
We aim to remind people that the best moments in life happen in real, tactile, analog, physical life. Right? So we champion real life.
- [19:32]
A
So let's Take a turn then. And let's start off, Davila, with the initial ideas that came out of Pat and the creative team off of your brief. We know where you ended up, but were there any sort of hot debates, strong opinions, changes in course corrections? Tell us about that journey into internally to get to the work that you ultimately produced and then we're going to talk about that work.
- [19:59]
B
I. I think with this one, like, I think we had Kitchen Review. I was, I think in Greece. I was working from Greece. And I remember you had five routes. I think they were different five routes. And it's funny, I don't remember much about the other routes. And I just like when I saw this one, I just got goosebumps. And I was like, this is this. This is the route that we should go for, right? The bold one. I think one of the routes was more just a soft evolution of capture rely on.
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C
And I remember that we had four routes that were embracing the distinctiveness of the product. And then we had this one that was more like a brand statement, also with a core in the product. But it felt like higher. A higher statement. It felt like a brand statement. And then it's funny that the villa said goosebumps because I used to have a, back in the day, the creative director that said there's ideas that are unstoppable, even they are not fitting the brief. So then this felt like this and it felt like a different reaction in the company when we present capture, real life, everything. Love it. I mean, everyone love it. Because it was perfect. It was exactly what represent glorifying. Also our chemistry in full blade with this one was different. This one was like, really, are we saying this? So it immediately start, you know, like there was a lot of conversation. It was like, love it and kind of like scary also, you know, like. And then I thought like, wow, this is. We're having something really interesting here. When you had this reaction from people, it was like goosebumps, you know, like physical reaction or you go for it and then it's like the regions like, really? Are we actually saying this? So that was fun.
- [21:49]
A
Your 15s are very product centric. It's done in a really interesting way. Visually beautifully shot. But it's product oriented, it's innovation oriented, it's the tech side of it, it's the lab, the innovation story told in a very simple way. And then the other work, the out of home is the human perspective. Tell us about that. Yin and the yang. Why did you do both?
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B
I can answer that also. Patricia if you don't mind. It's also because we didn't want to alienate. Sorry, alienate. Also the people who already have like forward cameras or instant users, right? Who have maybe different instant cameras. So we kind of had like, like, well, there is a job to be done. Let's reach for completely new people, new audience, romanticize, attract them, get them, consider, even stop and look and think something about Polaroid and just like something about life. So that was like more out of home and awareness layer, right? But then for the rest of consideration and conversion, we also knew that we need also for more commercial platforms and channels, right? It depends on the touch point. But like we needed something more product focused. The beauty of it, like Patricia's team. And it was like amazing. Like creative director ever worked with. They had this beautiful thing because we led with the concept, right? The whole idea was well, the best of life is analog, right? Even though it's not consumer facing line. But that was the whole kind of thing unlocking it. They took this thinking and put it in the USP films. In the product film, you see human element. You see actually two people walking there. Like they dismantled the whole camera and exploded the view, right.
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C
I think that is also interesting how we came up with those ideas. Again restrictions. We only couldn't afford 15 seconds length of videos, right? And then we did it. We had that we need to explain the product or the three main USPs in 15 seconds. But I think because we started with 80 years of innovation, it was an expectation of, you know, like should we just do a split view? To actually see CGI thing is like how we translate this kind of like ambition or expectation into something that is truly analog. So we do it analogy, you know, like we just like open the camera, we just like put those plants into, you know, like each thing and then we just like recreate that exploded view in an analog way. So also with the sonar was really interesting. We just like brought also that this littering mirror to kind of like capture how the rudder with the sound waves that is captured by the mirror.
- [24:41]
A
So let's talk about the creative executions in out of Home. So can you describe them, Pat? And then I've got a number of the headlines here to read out if you want me to do that too. But let's describe what's at the heart of each of the out of Home executions. What is it that you're trying to portray?
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C
Basically what we were trying to get is a reaction and we thought that it would be a more negative reaction. Than obviously a conversation. And the positive reaction that we got, people were saying, actually, you're right, yes, I spend my life in my phone when actually I'm craving for a different thing. And we tap into a cultural moment. What is happening nowadays? There's already that tension of what is our digital lives and craving for a more real moment.
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A
And how did you deal with it? Because I assume that out of Home was deliberate. But was it partly deliberate? Because although of course, so much of out of Home is now digital, but it's rooted in an analog image. Was that deliberate that out of Home was not on my phone?
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C
I'm not sure if I understand the question.
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A
I mean, is this. The campaign is primarily an out of home. Is it deliberately an out of home because you can't.
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C
Yeah, because it was an analog medium. We wanted to. Actually we did also while posting. So it was a tactical decision too, because we wanted to reach new audiences and that's why we have a big presence in the US So then we choose like really specific places. We didn't have that much budget in our form, so we put it into really key places close to Google offices in front of Apple Store, you know, like, kind of like trying to reach where the conversation was happening, you know.
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A
So some of the headlines include. And it's what you're looking at is a still image, an image which is obviously, I assume, taken on a Polaroid.
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C
Yeah, it's not AI generated.
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A
It's not AI generated, not manipulated, and it's certainly not perfect. And that's deliberately so. And so one of the headlines is real stories, not stories and reels. Great line. Another one is AI can't generate sand between your toes. And the tagline for all of these out of Home is the camera for an analog life. The other one is doesn't connect to the cloud, does connect you to each other. And then one more is, remember that night we spent on our phones? Me neither. And they each have these terrific images. It's Davila Banata, senior manager, Brand strategy at Polaroid in Amsterdam. Patricia Varela is creative Director in Amsterdam at Polaroid. Terrific to have both of you on here. Love the work. Everybody who wants to see it, they can see both the 15s and all of the out of Home and examples of some of the early work too, on our website@onstrategyshowcase.com thank you both for your time.
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B
Nice. Thank you for having us.
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A
This was wonderful. Really enjoyed it. And if we get to Amsterdam as part of our live tour, we will be knocking on your door. Please do and maybe we'll bring it. We'll get a bunch of the Polaroid flip cameras on the night so it'll.
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C
Be real if you come, we will make you beautiful portrait with our in house photographer Hattie.
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A
I love it. Thank you so much. And we'll see everybody on the next episode. Bye.