- Brand - Simba
- Spot - Test
- Music Title - Knockin'
- Artist - Carolina Chocolate Drops & The Luminescent Orchestrii
- Master Rights - Warner Music - Nonesuch
- Composer - Fand, Shirey
- Publisher - Ascap
- Music Supervisor - Phillipa Crane
- Ad Agency - The Garage Soho
- Creatives - John Hegarty
- Film Co - Royle Productions
- Director - Barry Kimber
- Post Production - Filament
- Air Date - 15/7/16
The message is simple enough: to deliver a perfect night’s sleep, Simba’s luxury mattresses must survive an exhaustive testing regime.
Identifying a sound that would also accentuate John Lewis-endorsed brand’s core values of calm and contentment was one of the challenges facing agency The Garage Soho and film company Royle Productions when they first started work on this TV campaign back in April.
“The brief for the music was 'seductive' and initially, we were considering Argentine Tango tracks,” says Royle’s Operations Director Victoria Clark.
“We wanted something that had a rhythm that would complement the pace of the film and heighten the emotional feel of the images.”
Simba’s scheduled air date was only weeks away when music supervisor Philippa Crane suggested Knockin’, a studiedly authentic acoustic recording by Afro-American string band Carolina Chocolate Drops featuring 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year award winner Rhiannon Giddens and signed to Warner’s Nonesuch label.
“We received the spot with music laid to picture, instantly saw the synergy between them, and worked closely with the Nonesuch team to ensure the ad would be ready on time,” says Warner Music Senior Synchronisation Manager Ann-Marie Atkins.
