Breathing Life Into A Virtual Space

The Client Hansgrohe USA

The Recap Our team at KP has had the privilege of calling Hansgrohe a client for a couple of years now. For our first project, the Locarno brand team at Hansgrohe needed to develop marketing assets for a product launch debuting its new faucet line; however, the product was not yet in physical existence. In addition to visual assets showcasing a product that's not yet tangible, the Locarno team required the integration of lifestyle components interacting with the products. Our team's solution resulted in creating a kitchen & bathroom scene entirely in CGI, photographing talent on set, then compositing the assets into the CGI room scenes. For a more detailed story, check out the case study here: Where Virtual & Reality Collide.



As the faucet line rolled out into the market, it became one of the best-selling products in the company's history. The Locarno team received many calls & inquiries from customers regarding different styling aspects of the room scenes, such as tiles used, multiple hardware, etc., because they wanted to purchase those products for personal use. These assets established Hansgrohe as an industry leader in design and influenced other competitors to follow suit.



The Challenge Fast forward one year later, the Hansgrohe brand reached out to the KP team with additional needs to amplify their existing CGI kitchen & bathroom assets from the previous project. They needed lifestyle integration using motion this time around. The deliverables they requested were two commercial-style motion spots designed as teasers to drum up consumer excitement for the release of the new product line.

The Solution Because the products were now in physical existence as opposed to the previous project, our team knew what approach was necessary: Virtual Production. We resurrected the kitchen & bath CGI room scenes we had developed previously to keep consistent with this product line's established brand look. Our virtual production team then shot video footage practically on set with talent using the faucets, then composited the video into the CGI room scenes.



There was a lot of forethought, set-up, and moving parts to bring this project together successfully. Each stage had its intricacies that required close attention. Such as:

+ Existing CGI Room Scenes - The video work our team captured manually on set had to be perfectly aligned with the established CGI room scenes. Otherwise, the final assets would not look realistic. Think camera angles, lighting, heights of the faux sinks to simulate the sinks in the CGI room scenes, etc.

+ Green Screen Space - Our virtual production team & CGI artists were in constant communication with each other ensuring all camera data was recorded and properly shared. Doing this left zero surprises down the line when it came time for compositing.

+ Rotoscoping - Integrating running water is challenging and quite technical in CGI. To implement the effect of running water into scenes that did not exist, our team took to rotoscoping to achieve the desired effect.

The Impact The Locarno team at Hansgrohe achieved what they set out to do: Expand upon the existing Locarno assets by developing two commercial-style motion spots showcasing the new products in use. This accomplishment helped introduce the product line into the market faster, creating demand and garnering upfront sales.

In addition, this Hansgrohe team established the Locarno faucet line as a trendsetting brand, which was a bonus. Competing companies are now making efforts to mimic the styles set forth by the Locarno brand. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!



How Can This Approach Help You? Need to take your brand's existing product imagery to the next level? Have assets that would be more impactful with the integration of lifestyle & motion? The need to cut through the clutter in today's world of content needs is becoming more & more critical. If you're not standing out from the crowd with stellar lifestyle integration assets, your revenues may be suffering. Whether sourcing talent for your brand's photoshoot, integrating lifestyle into pre-existing CGI room scenes, or incorporating lifestyle virtual production, our team has the solution to get you what you need.

Connect with us if you're curious about how we can deliver lifestyle integration solutions focused on making your life less stressful while helping your brand break away from those challenges holding you back from revenue opportunities. Kalman & Pabst – A champion for brand teams, good for your brand.