ASTRO has launched its second high-definition (HD) TV commercial (TVC) as part of its integrated ad campaign for the World Cup 2010 starting tomorrow.

The locally produced “Manimal” television ad drew inspiration from World Cup host South Africa, featuring five “ manimals” — part-man, part-animal — footballers executing moves in the African savannah.

Skin textures were modelled after African-native animals such as the cheetah, wildebeest, African viper, African harrier and pangolin to showcase the animal instincts of the football players, said Astro chief operating officer of strategy, content and marketing Henry Tan in an email interview yesterday.

“Our vision for the TVC was to create a world of fantasy where life transforms into the extraordinary. We wanted to achieve a strong level of emotional pull by displaying a shimmering kaleidoscope of entertainment that comes to life,” he said.

Astro worked with creative agency Wizards and Superwonderful Films production house to conceptualise and produce the TVC. Wizards also did the World Cup 2010 print and billboard ads.

To create the TVC, film footage was shot indoors in a warehouse in Klang before animators applied computer graphics of animal-like skin textures onto the players’ bodies and movement — a frame-by-frame process that took six weeks to complete. The online component of touching up and roto-scoping — an animation technique of tracing over live-action film movement for use on a different background — took 12 days.

“Manimal” is one of three TVCs created for Astro’s integrated World Cup campaign, aside from its multi-racial themed “Timbang Bola” ad and another featuring international footballers Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard promoting Astro’s World Cup coverage.

“Akin to B.yond’s thrust of driving innovation, Astro has rolled out a campaign that goes beyond the territory of traditional advertising and marketing. The TVC formed the pillar of a campaign that involves a wide range of initiatives encompassing integrated digital engagements, print and billboard advertisements, promotional activities and media outreach,” Tan said, without revealing the cost of the ad campaign,

Tan also said that Astro would be investing RM550 million in FY2011 to roll out Astro B.yond’s suite of services, which included the newly launched Personal Video Recorder last month. Astro B.yond’s HD service was launched in December 2009.

Besides the ad campaign, Astro is promoting the World Cup through its Sokker Safari roadshows nationwide. Launched in mid-2009, Sokker Safari comprises four huge trucks that are converted into a mobile futsal stadium. Besides football-related entertainment and activities, visitors can watch or participate in futsal matches at the roadshow.

Currently, around 1.6 million customers subscribe to Astro’s sports package.



This article appeared on the Media & Advertising page, The Edge Financial Daily, Jun 10, 2010