SOUTH Music Finds Its Perfect Pitch with Mando’s Song-Driven Story
For a brand best known for keeping men cool under pressure, Mando’s latest campaign is unexpectedly heartfelt — and hilarious. Rather than leaning on cliche tropes of confidence and freshness, the film leans into something far more memorable and self-aware. The result is a full-blown country ballad that tells an oh-so relatable story.
Created by agency MIRIMAR and directed by rising filmmaker Jasper Cable-Alexander – an emerging voice in British film – the ad transforms a simple deodorant brief into a music-led narrative that feels equal parts parody and passion project. Its humour lands harder because it’s rooted in authenticity, with the song itself doing the heavy lifting as the narrator and emotional core.
That bold, song-driven approach is exactly why MIRIMAR’s executive creative director, Nick Morrissey, turned to SOUTH Music. Led by SOUTH’s creative director, Matt Drenik, the studio was asked to do what it does best: craft music that doesn’t just fit the film, but defines it. The “dream” creative brief played directly into the company’s songwriting DNA. Instead of scoring to picture, SOUTH built the campaign around a bespoke country track, constructed like a hit single. From the first guitar strum, the song becomes the storytelling device, guiding viewers through the ad’s narrative arc.
The finished piece is a showcase of SOUTH’s deep industry connections, artist-driven ethos, and ability to make music the emotional centre of commercial storytelling. For viewers, it’s an instantly catchy, oddly touching anthem for Mando. For the team behind it, it’s proof that when brands give music room to lead, the results can strike exactly the right note.
LBB’s April Summers talks to Matt and Nick to find out more about this fresh take on men’s deodorant.
LBB> Nick, what was the initial creative spark for this Mando campaign, and how did the idea of making the music itself the storytelling device come about?
Nick> A clear knowledge of their target customer was a big part of the brief. We knew country music would strike a chord with him, and it’s a great vehicle for earnest, emotional storytelling that makes the comedy hit even harder.
LBB> When it came to choosing a music partner, what drew you to SOUTH? What qualities or approach were you looking for in a collaborator on a song-driven concept like this?
Nick> Of course their body of work but, honestly, it was the first conversation with Matt and his team that convinced us they were inside our heads with us, and down to collaborate on crafting something truly authentic and absurd.
LBB> Matt, this has been described by the team at SOUTH as “a bit of a dream project” — what was it about the creative brief or concept that made this such an exciting opportunity for you and the team at SOUTH?
Matt> I’d call it more of a “dream scenario.” A client coming in and asking us to create a score that leans directly into the company’s core strengths. SOUTH was built by songwriters — that’s our DNA. Instead of asking for a traditional score, the team at MIRIMAR envisioned a song driving the narrative, almost like a music video. The ideas, tone, and direction were all there, they just needed the song to push the whole thing over the top. That’s where we came in.
LBB> It’s safe to say that this song takes centre stage in the campaign. Can you walk me through your process of shaping a track that not only fits the film but actually drives the storytelling?
Matt> Big credit to MIRIMAR for locking onto the country genre early. We knew they wanted something modern yet classic in feel and structure. It needed specific lifts, a drop-out, and a big climactic ending. With that in mind, we reached out to a few songwriters we trusted to understand the nuances of the brief.
After coming up with a few options, Robin (our engineer) and I decided to rebuild one track to vocally hit harder. The structure was there, but it needed a stronger top line and a bigger ending. Instead of working in isolation, the process became highly collaborative, more like a songwriting room than a traditional scoring workflow. Someone throws out an idea, it gets built out, revised, stripped back, re-tracked, re-sung, then suddenly it clicks. Voila! A song is born.
MIRIMAR was pretty hands on as well, especially with the lyrics, helping with revisions, and giving notes on vocal tweaks. As everything evolved, the song and visuals began to truly marry. It became this perfect blend of comedy and sincerity.
LBB> How do you take stock of your network and potential music casting when starting a new commercial project?
Matt> Every project is its own puzzle, and we approach each one individually. I usually start by thinking about which musicians can best fit into the overall picture we’re trying to solve.
At the beginning of this project, I reached out to my usual circle, the people I trust, from well-known artists to new-ish talent. I know what they can and can’t do, and that matters. If you’re going to put a strong creative POV into a spot, you have to know who you’re collaborating with.
For the singer specifically, I built a playlist of artists who fit the tone, then made one primary recommendation. I had a strong feeling he’d be right for this. A few weeks later we got him into the studio, and he nailed it. We can’t reveal who it is just yet, but feel free to guess in the meantime.
LBB> I understand you even used AI vocals early in the process to nail the right tone, almost as a way of storyboarding with sound. How did technology play a role in the early ideation and production phases, and how is it a beneficial support tool during the creative process?
Matt> AI is a touchy subject, especially in music, so it’s something we should all be talking about more. It’s showing up everywhere, but because music is so personal and subjective, we have to be careful about how and when we use it.
For this project, AI helped us refine the creative direction and song structure before bringing in the real vocalist. We knew we had a great singer for the final top line, but we wanted the arrangement, lyrics, and overall melody dialed in beforehand so the studio time could focus on performance, not figuring out the vibe.
I’m a singer, but not a “country” singer. If we need a genuine country vocal for a demo, I’m not the guy. With AI, we were able to generate a generic country-style voice named ‘Jasper’ to iterate on lyrics, timing, and melodies.
I’d sing an idea, run it through Jasper, and he’d spit out something more stylistically appropriate. As we synced the song to picture, we could quickly adjust lyrics and phrasing without slowing down the process. And while Jasper was a nice temporary fill-in, he still sounded flat and fake to me. He certainly sounded more country than I was willing to go, so that helped us forget about the voice, and focus on the song, knowing that we had a real country singer coming in to replace it.
To be clear, if AI had needed to play a bigger role than that, we wouldn’t have taken on this project. Human voices are unique. Human players are unique. It’s important that we infuse as much humanity into our work as we can. And knowing how to write a prompt is not the same as knowing how to write a song.
LBB> Nick, from an agency standpoint, how did collaborating closely with a music partner like SOUTH shape or evolve the overall creative process?
Nick> It was the best kind of collaboration, where both sides trust each other’s instincts on key pieces. They took what we had and built it into something way more original and earworm-y.
LBB> This project feels like a perfect showcase of SOUTH’s approach to music and storytelling. What do you think it says about where commercial music is headed, or how brands are starting to use music differently today?
Matt> I love it. Music is such a cultural driving force. and when brands lean into that – when they believe in art and trust artists – it elevates everything. We’re seeing more openness, more experimentation, and more room for music to carry real emotional weight in advertising. If this project is any indication of where we're headed, I’m excited for the future.
