Always Around

Read the campaign story

JSW Steel announced Always Around on 9 June 2022. Ogilvy India and Studio Eeksaurus used clay animation to show forms changing into different applications associated with steel, ending with the brand identity. A production interview with Suresh Eriyat describes replacement animation and the practical work required to maintain continuity. The continuing platform and its edits are treated as one family, distinct from other companies’ campaigns about the same material.

Editorial interpretation: clay provides a visual analogy for versatility. A continuous transformation can connect objects that viewers normally consider separately, making an underlying material easier to notice. Brand colours and the final identity provide a possible thread through the sequence. Yet the analogy is not a manufacturing demonstration: the apparent ease of reshaping clay should not imply that steel behaves identically or that every pictured object contains this supplier’s material.

The sources describe the creative work, not an independently verified increase in preference, sales or understanding. No sustainability or recyclability claim is inferred from the transformation. The lesson concerns choosing a production material that helps explain an idea while acknowledging its limits. A practical adaptation should use original, modest-scale models and accurately describe the actual product applications it depicts.

Choose a medium whose properties clarify the message

The production technique should help the audience understand a relationship that matters to the brief. Ask what the medium can visibly do and which part of that behaviour resembles the product idea. Then identify where the analogy breaks down. A flexible model can represent variety without demonstrating real-world engineering performance. Write a short explanation of the intended comparison before storyboarding, and test it with someone outside the team. If viewers infer false material properties, revise the sequence. The goal is not to make the medium impressive in isolation, but to make a specific category idea easier to grasp accurately.

Plan transformations as information transitions

Every change of form should add a distinct application or insight. Arrange the sequence so viewers can follow the connection without needing to identify objects too quickly. Hold important shapes long enough to be understood and provide accessible descriptions where necessary. Avoid packing the film with examples merely to demonstrate animation skill. A short sequence of three well-chosen applications may communicate more than a rapid catalogue. During review, ask viewers what changed and why. If they remember only movement, the transitions may need clearer endpoints or a more deliberate relationship to the brand’s actual offer.

Prototype the hardest transition before promising the whole film

Stop-motion and replacement animation can hide substantial preparation behind a simple appearance. Test the most difficult shape change, lighting condition and camera movement early, then estimate the full workload from real production evidence. Establish how models will be stored and how continuity will be checked. A small team should leave time for reshoots rather than assuming each frame will work on the first attempt. Decide which imperfections support the intended handmade quality and which make the object unreadable. Craft choices become more reliable when they are tested against a concrete communication objective and a realistic production schedule.

A bounded test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: a small packaging supplier could create an original tabletop animation showing three documented uses of one paper product, using expendable samples and simple cuts rather than copying the clay technique. Compare the moving sequence with three clear still photographs containing identical facts. Ask adult viewers to identify each application and explain what they believe the material can do. State explicitly that the animation illustrates uses rather than a physical transformation process. Measure production effort as well as comprehension. This tests whether transitions make a material’s versatility legible without making engineering, recycling or universal-supply claims that the supplier cannot substantiate.

Measure correct application recall, brand attribution, false material inferences and production time. Compare comprehension against the simpler still-image alternative. An attractive animation is not evidence that the product performs better or has a lower environmental impact.

Stop if the visual analogy implies unsupported performance, the applications cannot be verified or production demands exceed the team’s ability to maintain clear and accurate communication.