In their first campaign since winning the global ADV business this past summer, Droga5 London has worked with Royal Enfield to launch their new motorcycle, the Himalayan.
The bike was designed for the unpredictability of the Himalayas, and the new platform takes inspiration from the ‘change of plan’ mindset that is required when traversing the infamous mountains. The campaign is fully integrated with a new design system, photography and film.
The film, directed by Academy Award winners Martin Desmond Roe and Travon Free, juxtaposes expectation with reality. You go with a plan in mind, but the mountain has a different one. It features CS Santosh, professional Indian off-road and endurance rider, alongside Jesslina Nayyar, with the music production being lead by Grammy Award winner Lorne Balfe and Dirty Soup.
The photography, shot by Achille Mauri, captures this mindset with rugged shots of the new bike in action across the awe inspiring Himalayan mountain range, alongside a stunning set of editorial content for a launch ‘zine.
The campaign is the culmination of a stretch of launch activity from Royal Enfield including embargoed media rides in October, a full reveal at EICMA in November and a final launch moment at Royal Enfield’s Motoverse event in Goa. Droga5 London’s design language and films have acted as backdrop to all of this activity; the campaign is now live in earnest with bikes available to buy in India from December, with Europe by the middle of next year.
“The film was conceived and created by the most incredible team of Royal Enfield clients, Droga5, Oscar winning director duo Martin Desmond Roe and Travon Free, and last but certainly not least, the Himalayan mountains. We could not have scripted the crazy and unpredictable elements that the mountain threw our way: the altitude sickness, the crazy weather conditions, the landslides, the beauty, but the Royal Enfield Himalayan was always prepped and primed to take on whatever the mountain had in store,” said Shelley Smoler, chief creative officer at Droga5 London
“The all new Himalayan is a creature of its environment. Whatever your plans are, they’re likely to change. The team from Droga5 helped us catch this perfectly: glossy bike shots juxtaposed with the harsh reality of riding in the mountains, all tied together with the recurring reminder that the ‘mountain has other plans’. Paired with the distinctive and ownable design language, this campaign has captured the spirit of the all-new Himalayan – an equilibrium between man, machine and terrain. We love it,” said Adarsh Saxena, global brand lead-adventure and Royal Enfield
CAMPAIGN CREDITS
Clients – ROYAL ENFIELD
Mohit Dhar Jayal – Chief Brand Officer
Adarsh Saxena – Global Brand Lead
Aiyappa Ponnappa – Brand Manager
Naomi Mitchell – Program Manager
Creative Agency – DROGA5
CCO – Shelley Smoler
Group Creative Director – Matt Hubbard
Creative Director – Ed Redgrave
Snr. Creative – Pete Giblin
Creative – Oscar Gierup, Cameron Turner-Lowe & Conor Hamill
Chief Strategy Officer – Damien Le Castrec
Planners – Aaron Harridge, Liv Francis Cornibert
Head of Design – Stephanie McArdle
Design Director – Matteo Alabiso
Designers – Anya Landolt, Julia Kuisma & Kateryna Kotikhina
Motion Designers – Mike O’Brien & Rob Wicksteed
Group Account Director – Josh Morgan
Account Director – Ben Allan
Head of Production – Peter Montgomery
Snr. Producers – Tom Falck & James Plaxton
Head of Studio – Tim Larke
In-House Editor (BTS) – Justin Stokes
Production Company – DIRTY ROBBER
Directors – Martin Desmond-Roe & Travon Free
DOP – David Markun
Editor – Nick Frew
Executive Producer – Mickey Meyer
Producer – Nicholas Veneroso
Post-Producer – Matt Roe
Business Affairs – Karen Forchione
TALENT
CS Santosh
Sunder Singh
Jesslina Nayyar
Noor Jahan
Narinder Samra (Voice over)
Local Production Company – ANGLES UNLIMITED INDIA
Producers – Kanika Raheja & Sumit Sharma
Assistant Director – Ateet Chatta
Production Managers – Anuj Singh & Gilbert Mascarenhas
Production Coordinators – Chandni Tyagi & Chintan Pandey
Location Manager – Odpal George
Location Coordinator – Stamba
Location Assistant – Noordeen
Sound Recordist – Debangshu Roy
Production Designer – Smriti Wadhwa
Art Assistant – Mudassir
Drone Operator (video) – Chirag Dhariwal
Drone Operator (stills) – Ashwin Raiturkar
Gimbal Operator – Manpreet Singh
Gimbal Assistant – Devender Kumar
Rig Operator – Shashi Kumar
Rig Assistant – Karan
1st AC – Yatendra Kumar
Focus Puller – Shubham Karn
DIT – Nayan Karmakar
Camera Attendant – Gokil Ram
Camera Attendant – Rahul Kumar
Gaffer – Manish Kumar
Stills team Chaperon – Abel
Photography – Puro Management
Achille Mauri – Photographer
Claudia Decaro – Photographer Assist.
Offline Edit – THE QUARRY
Scot Crane & Julian Tranquille – Editors
Richard Goodger – Assistant Editor
Tor Adams – Offline Producer
Post Production – ELECTRIC STUDIOS
Executive Producer – Ben Honour
Creatives – Geoff Parsons & Sam Tootal
Snr. Producer – Tom Bogda
AFX and AI Artists: Pavel Ivanov, Domhnall Malone
Edit: Kingsley Bailey
Grade – Electric Colour
Colourist – Connor Coolbear
Producer – Rosie Corbett
Sound Post Production – 750MPH
Snr. Sound Engineer – Mike Bovill
Head of Production – Olivia Ray
Snr. Producer – Carla Thomas
Music – Dirty Soup
Score Producer: Lorne Balfe
Composer: Kiley Norton
Music Supervisor: Raife Burchell
