Imagine watching your favorite sports team pull off a last-minute play that wins the game – what’s the first thing you do? Maybe you high-five your friend, thrust your fist into the air or clap wildly. Think about how powerful a fist bump or thumbs-up from a pal can be when you need reassurance. And when words fail us, how many of us turn to emojis like heart hands or a handshake to get our point across?
Topgolf is tapping into the power of hand expressions in the next phase of its “Come Play Around” campaign, which launches today. Introducing a cast of characters known as the “Hand Head Crew,” the campaign captures the range of emotions Players feel when they visit a Topgolf venue – from the anticipation you feel as you crack your knuckles and warm up to swing to the excitement shown through finger waggles with fellow Players you might see after a particularly good shot.
“We wanted to find a way to show the Topgolf spectacle and to manifest the emotion you feel when you visit a venue,” said Topgolf Chief Brand Officer Geoff Cottrill. “The Hand Head characters represent our belief in the power of play and the emotional resonance it makes you feel. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like – we all experience the same emotions and expressions, and you don’t need faces to understand what every character is experiencing.”
This next phase of Topgolf’s “Come Play Around” campaign follows last fall’s initial launch in which Topgolf focused on reflecting the experience of visiting a venue, where on any given night you never know who might be playing in a bay next to you since Topgolf is open to everyone from all walks of life – and that’s the beauty of the experience.
Making of Hand Heads
Since filming Hand Heads wasn’t a readily available option, Topgolf instead filmed people outfitted in custom headgear in the various scenes and then brought the Hand Heads to life in post-production through CGI in a way that shows texture, creates shadows and feels life-like.
The creative was led by New York-based agency Anomaly and shot inside the Topgolf venue in El Segundo, California.
“The utter joy of working on Topgolf is they are a brand centered around the power of play,” said Anomaly Global Creative Officer and Founding Partner Mike Byrne. “Charles Schaefer, an American psychologist who was referred to as the ‘Father of Play Therapy’ said, ‘We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.’ And that is the Topgolf experience. We wanted to capture that feeling in a visually potent never seen before way that invites viewers to feel what it’s like to experience Topgolf.”
Creative from the campaign will run across connected TV, online video, out of home placements, social media, digital displays, Topgolf venues and magazines like Vogue (yes, Vogue!). View all of the “Come Play Around” spots and more on Topgolf’s YouTube page.
TOPGOLF “Welcome to Topgolf” – PRODUCTION CREDITS
Client: Topgolf
Chief Brand Officer: Geoff Cottrill
Vice President, Brand Communications: Kara Barry
Director, Advertising + Media: Lauren Hoffman
Director, Brand Creative + Content: Michael Dhalliwal
Brand Communications Coordinator: Sophia Garza
Agency: Anomaly, New York
Founding Partner / Global CCO: Mike Byrne
Creative Director: Craig Schlesinger
Creative Director: Stephen Mendonca
Managing Partner, Head of Design: Kevin Lyons
Design Director: Luca Bernardino
Designer: Keller Grimmer
Head of Production: Erika Madison
Executive Producer: Chad Utsch
Director of Music Production: Ben Dorenfeld
Head of Business Affairs: Julia Clark
Project Director: Kathleen Owen
Managing Partner, Group Business Head: Damien Reid
Account Director: Emily Dondero
Account Supervisor: Hana Trattner
Production Company: Riff Raff Films
Director: The Sacred Egg
Owner / Executive Producer: Matthew Fone
Executive Producer: Matthew Clyde
Producer: Jay Wintringer
Production Supervisor: Scott Passey
Director of Photography: Tom Sigel
Stylist: Jenny Haapala
Production Design: Alessandra Cadman
Editorial Company: Work Editorial, New York
Editor: Biff Butler
Assistant Editor: Chris Wronka
Founding Partner: Jane Dilworth
Managing Director: Erica Thompson
Executive Producer: Alejandra Alarcon
Head of Production: Chris Delarenal
Producer: Andrea Cantor
Post Company: The Mill, London
VFX Shoot Supervisor: Jessica Groom
Head of Production / Executive Producer: Louise Unwin
Senior VFX Producer(s): Saskia Delius & Polly Roberts
Production Assistant: Sam Ashby
2D Lead Artist: Adrian Monroy Diaz, Peter Hodsman
3D Lead Artist: Kiril Mirkov, Mike Little, Laurent Giaume
2D Artist: Mithun Jacob Alex, Giacomo Verri, Marko Perendija
3D Artist: Jean Grandgirard, Jack Enever, Elia Goettlicher, Clementine Supiot, Luke Dadley, Paolo Ceresa, Thomas Craig
Animation Director: David Bryan
Finish Artist: Lora Nikolaeva
Colorist: Peter Oppersdorff & Katie Dymmock
Executive Producer, Color: Saskia Delius
Resource Manager: Jemma Beaumont
Color Assist: Rory Leighton, Caitlin Donaldson, Henry White & Kennedy Dawson
Audio Post: Heard City, New York
Music Supervision: Ricall Music
Song: “Fun” by Kaskade, Brohug, & Mr. Tape feat. Madge
Voiceover
Voiceover Artist: Hally Leadbetter
