キングソフト | WPS Cloud「働き方を自由にする」篇 | 2022
A Cool Detachment Only Hidetoshi Nishijima Can Pull Off / Kingsoft WPS Cloud "Freeing Up the Way We Work"
A man with two faces: special agent and office worker. While carrying out a mission to rescue a hostage from a burning, collapsing building, he gets a call from a coworker at his IT company, and right there on the spot he finishes editing a document using WPS Cloud. The sheer amount packed into 30 seconds is incredible.
The problem
WPS Cloud is a new Office cloud service that Kingsoft began offering in 2021. It lets people collaborate freely, sharing and editing files without being tied to a particular time, place, or access method. The commercial aired nationwide starting 4/1/2022, as part of the show's sponsorship of Nippon TV's "news zero" and TV Tokyo's "Gaia no Yoake."
The insight
As an actor, Nishijima has built his career by constantly taking on new kinds of roles, earning support from a wide range of fans regardless of age or gender. His career and his sincere, trustworthy presence matched perfectly with the image Kingsoft wanted for this new product, one that uses advanced technology to offer a new way of working. That's exactly why he was cast. The real charm of this commercial lies in the subtle, effortless cool that only Nishijima can bring, and in how skillfully that quality is used in the direction.
The idea
Working with Akaji Maro in the role of the mastermind, the team shot the commercial with the kind of intensity you'd expect from an actual movie scene, portraying a man who carries out his mission perfectly while continuing his business dealings without anyone noticing a thing. What makes this ad unique is how it expresses the tagline "Freeing Up the Way We Work" through such a grand, action-movie-scale setup.
What happened
Beyond the TV commercial, the campaign expanded into magazine ads and web promotions to build awareness.
Afterthought
This is a project that clearly understood great casting, and clearly had the budget to back it up. Right down to that final look at the camera, it's practically a textbook example of how to use 30 seconds well. I want to copy it.
