Roku Reinvents the Wheel in R/GA's Humorous Holiday Spot

Roku stages a goofy gallop through history that puts the streaming platform on par with paper clips, windshield wipers and the wheel in terms of innovation and ease of use.

Created with agency R/GA and director Keith Schofield, an anthem film delivers the brand proposition with comic flair through eye-catching, cinematic visuals and a Monty Python vibe.

“The best ideas are often the simplest—like streaming made easy,” we’re told at the end. These uncluttered out-of-home ads are simpler still:

It’s cute stuff, touted as Roku’s biggest brand campaign yet. Company research shows one-third of consumers plan “big-ticket” holiday buys of over $500 this year, with two in three shoppers eyeing consumer electronics. Roku hopes to put its hardware in the gifting mix.

“The idea was born from the insight that when technology works, it’s almost taken for granted,” Roku director of marketing Colleen McGee tells Muse. “But when it doesn’t work, people notice and get frustrated. A very human truth.”

She continues: “O and K are two simple letters that signal the idea of ease, competency and confidence. It was magically delightful that O and K are also in the name Roku—and on the remote.”

As for the film’s centuries-spanning storyline, “we were all inspired by the idea that this is a milestone moment in history—that we are all witnessing firsthand the decade of streaming, a time of transformation,” McGee says. “We were inspired by the past moments of innovation and the realization that simple solutions have shaped our everyday. The idea was to celebrate simplicity and those moments of realization when something just works.”

CREDITS

CLIENT: Roku
CAMPAIGN NAME: Ok, Roku does that.
AGENCY: R/GA California

ROKU

VP ACCOUNT GROWTH MARKETING: Matthias Schaefer
MARKETING DIRECTOR: Colleen McGee
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jeff Loibl
MARKETING MANAGER: Katie Mandell
CREATIVE PROJECT MANAGER: Kristin Reynolds

R/GA CALIFORNIA
VP, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Bryan Gregg
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Kevin Koller
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DESIGN: Benjamin Parisot
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DESIGN: Mike Wilgus
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, COPY: Yuriy Mikhalevskiy
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, COPY: Scott Steele
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, VISUAL DESIGN: Jenn Ma
ASSOCIATE VISUAL DESIGNER: Roberta Nicastro
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Gabe Valente

MOTION DESIGN DIRECTOR: Felipe Mahalem
ACD, MOTION GRAPHICS: Akira Thompson
MOTION DESIGNER: Natalia MoinFanner
JUNIOR ANIMATOR: G Pelczar
SENIOR SOUND DESIGNER: Pete Karam
GROUP DIRECTOR, CONTENT PRODUCTION: Hana Newman
DIRECTOR, CONTENT PRODUCTION: Erica Jensen
EXECUTIVE CONTENT PRODUCER: Dustin Freeman
SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCER: Diana Devries
SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCER: Patrick Gosse
ASSOCIATE CONTENT PRODUCER: Jon Hill
SENIOR MANAGER, BUSINESS AFFAIRS: Marissa Burnett
ASSOCIATE MANAGER, BUSINESS AFFAIRS: Candace Mooty

SVP, MANAGING DIRECTOR: David Corns
VP, EXECUTIVE STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Yael Cersarkas
STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Kaitlyn Frysztak
SENIOR STRATEGIST: Sunny Lee
DIRECTOR, MARKETING SCIENCES: Ricky Weina
VP, MANAGING DIRECTOR: Cara Watson
MANAGING DIRECTOR, CLIENT SERVICES: Chad Wilson
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Parry Rominger
MANAGEMENT SUPERVISOR: Paige Poulsen
VP, EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Julie Andrews
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Chris Stoddard
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Christine Lopez
PRODUCER: Sue Villegas
VP, MEDIA AND CONNECTIONS: Ellie Bamford
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MEDIA OPERATIONS: Liz Hart
DIRECTOR, MEDIA & CONNECTIONS: Faviana Campbell
DIRECTOR, MEDIA & CONNECTIONS: Laura Ries
SENIOR MEDIA STRATEGIST: Erica Schwartz
MEDIA SUPERVISOR: Jazmin Temores
MEDIA STRATEGIST, PLATFORM: Yrving Aponte
ASSISTANT MEDIA STRATEGIST, PLATFORM: Josefina Raposo

Partner Agencies

CAVIAR
DIRECTOR: Keith Schofield
DP: Matías Andrés, Damien Acevedo
EP: Michael Sagol
LINE PRODUCER: Connor Hollman, Kirsta Teague
PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: Henry Roraros, Ben Gerlis

EXILE (Editorial)
EDITOR: Grant Surmi
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Erin Offenshauser
SENIOR CUTTING ASSISTANT: Jennifer Chung
PRODUCER: Kristina Thoegersen
HEAD OF PRODUCTION: Michael Miller
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jennifer Locke
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: CL Kumpata

MPC (Color & Finishing)
VFX
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Tom McCullough
SR. EXEC. PRODUCER: Camilia De Biaggi
2D LEAD: Joseph Vitale
ROTO/PREP LEADS: Sugumar S, Manmohan Singh, Moumita Ganesh Pratihas
2D TEAM:
Alex Postelnicu, Asaf Yeger, Esther Song, Mazyar Sharifian, Jhinku Lal Gupta, Anilkumar Madhavan, Prashant Mohite, Sangram Londhe, Pratik Naiknavare, Umesh Shivade, Vishal Devkar, Shashi Sundarraj, Vikas Vikram
PRODUCERS: Chris Preston Barnes, Salil Thapa
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Rushikesh Shelar

COLOR
COLORIS: Mark Gethin
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Meghan Lang Bice
PRODUCER: Caitlin Forrest

Lime (Sound Design & Mix)
SOUND DESIGN, MIX: Sam Casas
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Susie Boyajan

Caya (Music)
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Ben Einziger
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Kiki Einziger