Go RVing, the multiple award-winning marketing arm of the RV industry, chose commercial production company Explore to produce their latest digital and OTT advertisements.
The 2025 campaign, titled Don’t Go There!, was initially conceived as part of a radio campaign, but in fall CMO/SVP Karen Redfern asked Explore to adapt these radio scripts into new, live-action advertisements. From this collaboration came two :30 spots: Airplane Problems and Hotel Hassle, along with :15, :10, and :06 versions, giving Go RVing a total of 16 deliverables. The Don’t Go There! campaign, is currently being broadcast nationwide via strategic digital channels.
To produce these deliverables for Go RVing, Explore used a direct to brand process that allows them to come alongside internal agencies and provide elevated levels of production. First, Explore needed to adapt scripts meant for an audio-only experience. Next, creating original storyboards were necessary to accurately budget the campaign and get 100% buy-in from Go RVing internal stakeholders. Moving from pre-production to the actual shoot, finding a Hotel location that fit the visual vibe, as well as a realistic-looking Airplane set that fit the budget were new challenges to overcome.
After production, Explore took the campaign through post-production, final finish, and delivery for Go RVing, giving them a full-service, one stop experience designed to minimize hassle and maximize efficiency and creative output for the in-house agency.
Explore’s executive producer Jeremy Pinckert, who also directed the spots, worked on the adaption of the scripts from radio into visual advertising, adding a few key re-writes to make the live-action spots more dynamic.
For the storyboards, Explore brought along Turner Lange to create hand-drawn frames. He was able to include a few iconic shots from Pinckert’s ideas that provided anchor moments for the ads. In particular, the Hotel spot features a room key that just won’t open the door. The added visual, a round sensor on the door where the key unlocks, not only modernized the ads into the age of tap, but also gave the spot a technology vs. human undertone, alla the Hal AI character in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey.
For the airplane creative, notable added visuals include a setup scene with flight attendants, an unruly seat partner who sits right in the middle of the family, and a scene where the son says, “Where’s Dad?,” where we cut to a view of all the seats in the back of the plane and a hand raises up to inexplicably acknowledge, “Yes, I’m Dad here between two strangers in the very back of the plane.”
In addition to the script writing for this Go RVing campaign, the location and art department needs were the biggest linchpins which the production creative would hinge upon. Explore is based in Chicago’s vibrant commercial production market, but aside from a few smaller operations, there are no large commercial airline sets outside of those owned by the actual airlines available to rent. Especially for commercials poking fun at the hassles of air travel. Knowing the merits of Atlanta’s production community after already shooting a large commercial with Explore there earlier in the year, line-producer Damian Huck started with a producer’s essential tools: Google + word of mouth.
We worked with ATL-based location scout Melanie Antos to find a hotel which fit the Hal-specifications perfectly, and then Google gave us one of the best airplane sets in the Eastern half of the country in Shoot Aviation. Most airplane sets are only half of a fuselage, providing a line of windows and seats that look authentic but limit the angles a camera can shoot. Shoot Aviation’s sets are complete airplanes without the wheels and wings, and the best part? They are completely pre-lit on the inside with a range of LED temperatures, giving complete control to the DP and Gaffer to dial in a specific look.
The final problem Explore needed to solve in pre-production actually was a huge factor in the final post-production deliveries. Many production companies work on the shoot only, but then their job ends when they hand off the footage to an agency who is bringing along their own post-production vendor. This disconnect often creates more problems than solutions, leading to an editor’s least favorite saying, “We’ll fix it in post.” Because Explore are not only a commercial production company, but also an experienced post-production & finishing outfit, they discovered a particular quirk when planning the adaptation of this campaign from radio to live-action.
A visual hook would be needed to transition from the climax of the spot – where a parent almost curses in front of their kids – to the spokesperson’s audio hook, “Don’t…Go There.” Because the radio versions have no visuals, they could move seamlessly between the lines by simply relying on the listener’s imagination to fill in the visuals. But for the commercial production of the Don’t Go There! campaign, something else would be needed to fill this gap. Director Jeremy Pinckert came up with an idea that leaned on his own experiences traveling, especially with his children. He found his hands were always full, clutching a few bags, boarding passes, his phone, and of course, his coffee. Pinckert knew the production would need a moment, a beat, a transition shot to bridge between the curse and when viewers see a pleasing shot of an RV family in a beautiful outdoors setting as they hear the call-to-action, “Go RVing.” What if production added an action where the protagonist accidentally spills their coffee and the camera freezes precisely at this moment, allowing a perfect envelope of time for the “Don’t Go There!” line?
The actual shoot only took two days for the production team to execute, even with the limits of working with child actors factored in. Both shoot days went extremely well, and even finished ahead of schedule – giving Pinckert and dp Pete Wages some time to add a few shots which ended up helping to round out the spots.
Moving on to post-production, as a full-service production company Explore’s EPs are not only production experts, but they also are able to take projects through the edit, finish, and delivery as well. For this campaign, Explore partnered 11 Dollar Bill and editor Christian Robins to best accentuate the nuances of dialogue and storytelling. They rose to every challenge, offering multiple ideas and editing scenarios to enhance the storytelling of each spot. For color and audio, longtime Explore-collaborators Ron Sudul and Rick Such each helped level up these advertisements with their expert craftmanship. And to finish this campaign, 11 Dollar Bill not only compiled these assets into the final deliverables, but also provided sound design and GFX cleanup as well.
The Don’t Go There! campaign, currently being broadcast nationwide via strategic digital channels.
Credits:
Client – Go RVing. Karen Redfern, cmo/svp; Catherine Barsanti, sr. content manager; Jeremy Greene, sr. director marketing.
Production Company – Explore Commercial Productions. Jeremy Pinckert, ep/director; Damian Huck, producer; Mikayla Causey, production coordinator; Antoine Ivey, 1st ad; Pete Wages, dp; Josh Hancher, 1st ac; Mollie Bray 2nd ac; Jonathon Hilton, gaffer; Dan Siemons, key grip, Cynthia Stimphil, swing; Stephani Romani, production designer; Beth Wheeler, prop assistant; Taylor Josey, stylist; Jordan Carter, wardrobe assistant; Amy Elizabeth, hair & makeup; Adam Jones, sound; Eric Milsen, vtr; Melanie Antos, location manager; Matt Bender, on-site locations; Daniella Williams, child labor coordinator; Terry Moore, Mike Brennan, Gillian Williams, Parke Russell – production assistants.
Editorial – 11 Dollar Bill. Christian Robins, editor; Caroline Walker, assistant editor; Del Feltz, managing director. Online 11 Dollar Bill + Explore. Color –Third Bay, Ron Sudul – Colorist. Audio – Earshot Audio Post. Rick Such, Lead studio mixer. Sound Design – 11 Dollar Bill.
For more information on the Go RVing digital campaign, or to get more information on Explore Media, visit explore-media.com.
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