MasterClass makes student the star of its celebrity-studded campaign

Learning platform MasterClass might be known for its all-star lineup of celebrity instructors, but its new brand push gives center stage to the student. The “Now You” campaign from Anomaly, which the brand unveiled at a press event on Wednesday, features a spot that begins with a MasterClass user being transported from watching Gordon Ramsay on her laptop, to cooking beside the star chef. Subsequent scenes show the user driving Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, dancing in the car alongside Alicia Keys and taking acting advice from Helen Mirren (who's surrounded by multiple celebrities, including Issa Rae, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard). The student then goes on to take gymnastics lessons from Simone Biles, drumming classes with Ringo Starr and tennis instruction from Serena Williams. The 60-second spot, which was directed by Hauke Hilberg, ends with the line, “Now You.” Subscribe to Ad Age for more of the latest in advertising and marketing news. “We love to tell stories, and this time around, we're actually telling a story about our members and their relationship with the instructors," said David Schriber, chief marketing officer of MasterClass. While previous campaigns put the spotlight on the brand's famous instructors, now, "you actually get to see a character who represents all of us who are subscribed to and learn from MasterClass," he said. Moreover, the campaign aims to differentiate MasterClass from the increasingly crowded world of streaming platforms, by showing "that we really do bring our members into the room virtually with our instructors, allow them to learn from them and actually practice what they've learned," Schriber said. While Schriber declined to comment on the company’s revenue or number of subscriptions, it’s no secret the brand has grown in stature over the last few years. After a new round of funding in May, MasterClass was valued at $2.75 billion—more than triple its value in June 2020. Currently, the site offers access to 11 categories and more than 150 instructors, with each class featuring 20 video lessons. Schriber confirmed the brand is currently adding about one class per week. At the press event, MasterClass announced it will be adding more instructors, some most notably from the world of politics: Hillary and Bill Clinton, George and Laura Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and Madeleine Albright. Though the spot appeared to be a blockbuster celebrity production, much of the footage was pulled from existing class content, such as the scene of Keys dancing. Other scenes, featuring Starr and Hamilton, were created by the MasterClass content team and Anomaly during production of class content. “While we were filming for [the instructors'] classes, we knew what our script was going to look like for our films,'' Schriber said. The team was able to capture new footage, such as Starr reacting to the spot's protagonist, and then integrate it into existing class footage and other scenes shot on set with the spot's student protagonist. The actual shoot with the main character took only a few days, during which Anomaly teamed with content studio Logan. Anomaly Creative Director Cori Johnson and Art Director Conor Hagan said the team employed every trick in the book, including green screens, body doubles, stunt doubles, face replacement technology, camera moves, racing drones, 3D set builds and in-person set builds. The campaign will launch nationally through linear and OTT. It will also include out-of-home static and digital placements, as well as cinema media placements in theater lobbies and pre-show commercials in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. The effort will expand internationally in 2022. The spot was also timed with the upcoming holiday season in mind, Schriber said. “Every year you tend to see us on TV more over the holidays because people really love to give MasterClass as a gift,” he noted. “I think particularly this year people are likely to find themselves in a bind as they get close to the holidays and are looking for a gift that for supply chain reasons isn't available, or they just need something that is instantaneously available.” The brand, founded in 2014, has been ramping up its advertising over the past few years. Anomaly worked with MasterClass on previous campaigns including “Today’s the Day,” “The World Could Use One of You" and the “So Much New to Know” push from the spring. The brand also collaborated with Observatory for a campaign featuring Anna Wintour in 2019. The latest push "is a celebration of the joy of doing," Johnson said. "Sure, you’ve watched a MasterClass," added Hagan. “But now what are you going to do with that knowledge? You’ve learned how the world's best do it, and now it’s your turn." Subscribe to Ad Age for more of the latest in advertising and marketing news.

MasterClass makes student the star of its celebrity-studded campaign

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