Rosetta Stone Ad Stresses the Importance of Discovering New Words

Language learning brand Rosetta Stone has transformed into a modern brand to fight against Duolingo’s challenger apps and gamification.

As part of the “There’s a Word for That” campaign, conceptualized by Duncan Channon, two spots were deployed.

The first, titled “The Date”, features a dog at the salon for a haircut. A Filipino voice talent in the background says, “Something so cute you want to binge” – the word for it in Filipino being “Nakakagigil”.

Similarly, the second spot “The Turf” features a street performer who is surrounded by a crowd, when suddenly another street performer arrives, stealing the show. The word for it is “Bagong Salta”, which means a new person in the community.

The spots are directed by Marie Schuller of RSA Films. Rather than imposing the typography digitally in post-production, the words are painted, printed, stamped and embroidered into the physical setting, adding cinematic detail. Duncan Channon’s agency also handled media strategy and buying, which targets active language learners as well as those with diverse cultural interests.

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Kelly McCullough, Creative Director of Duncan Channon, said: “Everyone knows that learning languages ​​is a process that takes time and effort, so we made the intentional choice to tell playful stories that focus on the other side of the coin – the joy that comes with even small victories in a new language.

“‘There’s a word for it’ shows how satisfying it is to find the perfect word or phrase in comedic vignettes that mark a fresh take on the legacy brand.”

Ridley Scott’s RSA Films director Marie Schuller added: “Duncan Channon asked us to turn these Rosetta Stone concepts into playful and eerie trailers for foreign films that never happened. From that moment, I knew this project was going to be fun. I pushed to shoot in 16mm for a look that works perfectly with the cinematic feel of our worlds and showcases the charming ingenuity of our films. It’s extremely rewarding for a director to work with creativity-focused agencies like Duncan Channon.

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