Cable & Wireless SafeNet TV Commercial

Cable & Wireless Seychelles came to us as they wanted a television commercial that effectively advertised SafeNet – their brand new Internet content filtering service.

CWS is the leading telecommunications company in the Seychelles. Established in 1893, CWS provide fixed, mobile and broadband services for the general public in addition to telecommunications solutions for businesses. CWS are a highly profitable company with a large number of businesses opting to use CWS’s services.

CWS decided that the launch date of SafeNet should coincide with the internationally recognised ‘Safer Internet Day’ (www.saferinternetday.org). This is commemorated every year on the second day of the second week of the second month and given the subject matter, it was highly appropriate for CWS to release this new service on this particular day.

SafeNet basically operates as a content filter that can be used in addition to CWS’s current Internet services. With SafeNet, CWS strive to provide a safe and secure Internet experience for its users. SafeNet is summed up by CWS with the slogan, “You get peace of mind as your home becomes a safer environment for Internet use”.

Clearly when constructing a commercial that publicises a service like SafeNet it is of fundamental importance that the commercial is tailored in every aspect to the product that is being showcased. Nevertheless, as the service is provided primarily for the public, it was imperative that it appealed to a mass audience. Therefore, our brief was to create a commercial that explained the service that SafeNet provides whilst ensuring that a light-hearted and slightly comedic approach was inherent throughout. We achieved that goal by illustrating the SafeNet service in the form of a cartoon.

We were tasked with every stage of the television advert: from its conception through to final production. The premise of the commercial was that it depicted a young boy who inadvertently accesses an over-18’s website and is subsequently saved from inappropriate or unsafe content by the SafeNet service.

The work was done in 3D; so we initially began by creating a complete 3D model of the protagonist. Once we had created the model of the boy, we also began work on models of the room environment and the props.

As with all branded output it was imperative that we followed the brand guidelines to ensure continuity and homogeny and as a result we were careful to make sure that the commercial was in keeping with CWS’s brand strategy. We used CWS colours during the creation of the room environment as well as placing CWS branding and logos in various areas of the room (try spotting them!).

Once the initial creation of the character, environment and props were complete we were then able to animate the character and used a cartoon shader to output the final advert and create the commercial that we delivered to CWS.

We were extremely pleased with the finished product and continue to enjoy a great working relationship with CWS.