Wix.com presents the full length version of our new commercial starring Heidi Klum! In the ad, Rex Lee helps Heidi Klum figure out her next business venture, Heidi Whities. Full Press and credits below.
On the heels of their overwhelming success with its Super Bowl ad featuring ex-football greats second careers, seen by an estimated 300 million people across the world, Wix.com has again turned to the creative collective Committee LA, led by Directors Frank Samuel and Jeff Reed, and Executive Producer Lauren Bayer, to create a new spot (:60, :30) for their on-going #ItsThatEasy campaign, this time featuring supermodel Heidi Klum alongside a returning Rex Lee, from HBO’s “Entourage, playing Klum’s agent.
“Wix is an amazing client that is always looking forward, before the dust settled on their Super Bowl success, we were discussing ways to continue the campaign,” Frank Samuel says, who directed the spot with Committee LA partner Jeff Reed. “Heidi turned out to be a perfect subject because she is already known for her entrepreneurial spirit, which fits in perfect with the Wix brand, and is very comfortable in front of the camera with great comedic timing.”
Evolution Of Rex:
Like in the previous ad, the spot opens in Rex’s Hollywood office during a client meeting in which he encourages Klum “to do what you always do: start another business, build another website.”
From there we see a hilarious montage of Klum’s attempts to find inspiration, all of which are shot down by Lee until a stroke of genius while attending the Academy Awards ceremony (and presumably seeing host Neil Patrick Harris’ underwear skit) leads to “Heidi’s Whities” -- her new line of mens underwear. The ad ends with Lee impressed with Klum’s Wix website, and even modeling a pair himself.
“The evolution of Rex seemed like the natural next step,” Reed says. “Internally, we called this spot ‘Rex 2.0’ and embraced his character by making upgrades to his office and showing him out and about in Hollywood and in his client’s world. Heidi and Rex played off each other perfectly.”
Relating To Heidi:
Committee LA once again partnered with the San Francisco-based creative team of Jeff Huggins and Andrea Janetos on the creative strategy. For Huggins, one of biggest concerns going into the project was making sure the audience could relate to Heidi as a fellow entrepreneur.
“Yes she’s beautiful, famous and successful, but when it comes time to launching a new business, she’s just like everyone -- always brainstorming, searching for the big idea and excited to turn her eureka moment into a business empire,” Huggins says. “As an agent, Rex’s job is to help his clients find and capitalize on opportunities. The same can be said about Wix. That means the campaign can work with any of Rex's clients and their business dreams. The door is wide open for Wix and us creatively.”
Evolving ‘Committee':
For Samuel, this next step in the Wix #ItsThatEasy campaign also marks an important step in the evolution of both Wix and Committee LA itself.
“From the beginning we saw this as an on-going campaign that can grow in many directions and to their credit, the Wix team has trusted us to deliver on that idea,” Samuel notes. “The first ad was sports-focused, which was perfect given the Super Bowl media buy. This time it’s about fashion. With Rex as the conduit, we can go literally anywhere that makes sense to Wix and their marketing goals.”
Samuel adds, “When we started Committee LA we saw ourselves as more than a typical production company, but rather as real creative partner that could deliver the kind of creative strategy and execution usually reserved for top tier ad agencies. The fact that Wix has given us the freedom to work on such a big canvas – not only broadcast, but a comprehensive online and social media strategy as well -- is something we’re both proud of, and looking forward to taking even further in the future.”
Creative Credits:
Client: Wix.com
Project: “Heidi Klum”
Airdate: May 15, 2015
Agency/Production Company: Committee LA, Los Angeles, CA
Directors: Frank Samuel / Jeffrey Reed
DP: Adam Kimmel
ECD: Jeff Huggins
AD: Andrea Janetos
EP: Lauren Bayer
Production Supervisor: Justin Towery
Production Designer: Chris Dileo
Editorial: EXILE, Santa Monica, CA
Editor: Nate Gross
Asst. Editor Michael Bell
Producer: Dave Sellars
EP: Carol Lynn Weaver
Visual Effects: Brewster Parsons Venice, CA
VFX Supervisor: Andrew Eksner
CG Supervisor: TJ Burke
Producer : Zack Whitley
Executive Producer: Jason Cohon
Executive Producer: Darcy Parsons
VFX/Beauty: Varnish, Los Angeles, CA
EP: Nicholas Carmen
VFX Supervisor: Marc Steinberg
Digital Artist: Scott Nishiki
Digital Artist: Vivian Wei
Color Correct: The Mill, Los Angeles, CA
Colorist: Adam Scott
EP: Thatcher Peterson
Producer: Antonio Hardy
Production Co-ordinator: Diane Valera
Music: Barking Owl, West Los Angeles, CA
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
Associate Producer: KC Dossett
Audio Post: Eleven Sound, Santa Monica, CA
Mixer: Jeff Payne
Mix assist: AJ Murillo
Mix Producer: Dawn Redmann