Set to Johnny O’Keefe’s rousing anthem ‘Shout!’, Australia’s leading sports gaming agency spent $1.5 million in production and over $150 million in media on my campaign celebrating their heritage and the visceral joy of sport.
Being the only bet available in pubs, stadiums and trackside, means TAB punters can truly experience the roar of a crowd, the thrill of a shared win and the energy of being part of something real. A feeling we managed to encapsulate and convey across a multitude of channels and platforms.
TAKE THE PISS
Be it through iconic acting roles or running his own locally brewed independent beer business, Travis Fimmel is renowned for taking his work but not himself, too seriously. We wanted to reflect this uniquely Aussie, loveable-larrikin spirit via an integrated campaign in partnership with BWS - Australia’s largest liquor retailer. Set in his home town along the Murray River, we follow Travis as he delivers beer to some local mates who can’t help but Take the Piss - both metaphorically and literally.
This hugely successful brand-tail offer sold out of product, gained over 65 million impressions in only 5 weeks. and is now set to run for it’s 3rd consecutive year. Cheers to that!
BRINGING THE BIRD TO BIRDSVILLE
What better way to remind people of great tasting KFC than by showing others enjoying it for the very first time. Finding those people would mean having to travel to somewhere like Mars, or alternatively, outback Australia -the aptly named Birdsville to be exact. Possibly the most isolated town in Australia and 685km from the nearest KFC.
They say the journey is the destination, and there's no better example of this than here. To get us all the way to Birdsville and its notorious (also aptly named) Big Red Bash music festival, we engaged the Mad Max Fury Road team to design and buildThe Colonel, a dynamic, customised food, production and entertainment vehicle like no-other.
And who better to helm the mighty vehicle than social media sensations, the How Ridiculous trio.
Two thousand kilometres, hours of content, social activations and several TVC's later, we have a successful, fully-integrated brand campaign with an estimated total reach of over 41,000,000. Certainly something to crow about.
AiMAZING
As Australia’s biggest corporate users of Ai and sponsors of the inaugural SXSW Sydney, it was important for Commonwealth Bank to make more than just a splash with their activation.
To help achieve this we engaged the talents of DarkArts Global, SPACECUBE, and Artefact Group to create AiMAZING. An Ai developed maze-like activation, showcasing the intersection between innovation, technology, creativity and customer service, located in the very heart of the infamous culture and innovation festival, at Tumbalong Park.
The activation itself was an Ai empowered maze, standing as a metaphor for the complex small business journey. Within it were 3 sections where attendees could grab a free coffee in the lounge area before checking out the Tech for Good Gallery, highlighting some of the various technological innovations used by CommBank for everything from cybersecurity and protection from financial abuse to support after natural disasters and future forecasting based on historical data. Visitors could also learn about data mining from a tech-based artwork, compete with a computer in a machine-learning game and uncover more about digital forensics and scam protection with an interactive activity. Adjacent, stood a bar run by Newtown hotspot Buddy's Bar. One of CommBank's small business clients known for its innovative self-serve drinks and buzzy vibes.
This interactive celebration of technology and customer service became an instant festival highlight generating a wealth of shares and social conversation.
The Fund that Delivers More.
It’s fair to suggest (and backed by statistics) that many of us take a set-and-forget mindset when it comes to our superannuation accounts. Our campaign for Colonial First State aimed to encourage their one million members and other Australians to re-asses their Super and take advantage of the CFS wide range of often underutilised benefits.
Many of whom fortunately did and still do today, thanks to this highly impactful Social and Online campaign.
STOP PEP 11
For some ridiculous and greedy reasons the NSW State Govt, decided at one point that drilling for gas off our pristine coastline was a feasible idea. They titled this environmental and visual potential travesty PEP11.
The Surfrider Foundation with the overwhelming support of the outraged coastal community, pushed back hard on this and created the successful STOP PEP11 ocean drilling campaign. Our unique Social Media Augmented Reality filter, allowing Instagram users to see exactly what an oil rig perched on their local coastal horizon might look like, became a hugely impactful component of this generating thousands of applications.
GIGABYTE
We engaged multi-platinum Australian DJ and producer Timmy Trumpet in a campaign to promote their latest INTEL Z490 AORUS Motherboards, powered by INTEL’s 10th Generation Core processor.
To highlight the power of the Z490’s DTS:X® Ultra 3D audio function, we teamed up Timmy and Dr. Andrew Belletty of the National Institute of Experimental Arts. A leading researcher in the field of Immersive Audio and a founding member of musical group Yothu Yindi, Belletty was appointed to mix the experimental track and test the motherboard’s spatial audio capability. Wearing headphones listeners can expect to hear stationary and moving sounds above, below and around them.
To showcase the new generation of 3D audio for games, the multi-sensory experiment was paired with a slew of gameplay projections from the upcoming action video game title ‘Outriders’. The highly anticipated game came from publisher Square Enix & the newly independent studio ‘People Can Fly’ – also known for their work on the little known Gears of War series & Fortnite.
SWEAT HAPPENS
This campaign firmly established Maximus in the category as the non-sports, sports drink. Over 70% of sports drinks are actually consumed during non-sporting occasions and our Sweat Happens integrated campaign celebrated all of these. Hugely successful from both a sales and awareness perspective, several of the more risqué outdoor installations even had to be removed due to public outrage. But hey, sweat happens…
#MeetMyNeighbour
Meet My Neighbour was a social media based initiative to unite real-life neighbours. Driven by a series of 60 second narrative films that ran on YouTube, Facebook and catch-up-TV, this collaboration between Facebook and Nescafe and our agency told the true stories of unlikely friends brought together by a shared fence and a warm cup of Joe.
Extensions to the concept included sponsored block parties and branded neighbourhood free coffee carts. The campaign was highly regarded within Facebook and shared globally as a best-practice case study.
NO STONE UNTURNED
Client: Nissan America & ESPN
Agency: TBWA Chiat Day Los Angeles
Long before Ted Lasso there was Rick Utzinger. Created specifically for the March Madness U.S. college basketball series, this ground-breaking longer form branded content campaign served as an entertaining parody of college sports recruiting.
GIIGASAURUS
Client: iiNEt
Agency: BWM Dentsu
We created Giigasaurus , a giant steel framed dinosaur furnished with redundant technology as a sustainability statement. Built by two of Australia’s leading sculptors, Giigasaurus was furnished with obsolete modems and mobile phones gathered by local schools as part of a larger recycling and upgrading initiative. The work was showcased at the world's largest outdoor exhibition; Sculptures By the Sea, and viewed in person by over 600,000 visitors. Another 270,000 shares on FB helped it earn a Cannes Branded Experience Lion.
It’s Good to Know.
In the halls of our industry self-deprecating banter around how frivolous our jobs actually seem, with the phrase ‘we’re not curing cancer’ too often spouted. Well, our campaign definitely didn’t cure lung cancer but sure went a long way to helping a great deal of very vulnerable and at-risk Australians discover and treat theirs.
The It’s Good to Know campaign for the federal govt. supported the launch of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program, aimed at increasing awareness and participation among eligible Australians. With lung cancer Australia’s leading cause of cancer-related death, this screening program offered a new opportunity for early detection, when it’s 75% more treatable. But to do so, we needed to ensure that everyone eligible knew about this program and was supported to participate.
The campaign itself reflected the diversity of the eligible population and ran extensively across TV, radio, digital, social media, outdoor and through community platforms to reach people where they were.
According to the Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, the campaign has proven an overwhelming and ongoing success attracting over 100,000 participants to date, with another 285 joining every day.
ONLY WHAT YOU NEED
An integrated national telco campaign celebrating how less is more, by encouraging customers to say goodbye to redundant things in their lives such as lock-in telco contracts. The campaign featured a well-known musical composition re-recorded by the Prague Symphony Orchestra, via Opera Sydney.
A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.
Agency: Joy
The ubiquitous brand line for Australia’s multicultural national public TV network. It's always an added bonus to create the new positioning for a brand that you support and truly believe in. That was certainly the case in this instance with, A World of Difference for SBS, Australia's multicultural broadcasting network.
Director of marketing Jane Palfreyman put it best: “Over the last 40 years, SBS has become a trusted and much loved part of our culture, as the only network to reflect the true makeup of Australia.
“In 2019 SBS’s new brand proposition beautifully sums up our belief that together, our collective differences make for a better society… and better entertainment.
“These differences don’t just make a difference; they make ‘a world of difference”.
LIFE TAKES VISA
An integrated visual campaign that had to make sense in any language. Just a few prominent early examples of our global Life Takes VISA campaign.
YOUi
Stories of Change.
As a brand, insurance giant YOUi differentiates itself in the marketplace in the way it gets to truly know more about their customers. Thus allowing them to offer more tailored and fairer policies.
And as sponsors of the NRL referees, we decided a compelling way to highlight our brand differentiator was via a campaign aimed at getting to know the real human beings behind these often maligned public figures. We did so by focussing on some of the defining professional moments that shaped their careers, personal lives and sometimes the game itself.
DON’T RUSH TO THE OTHER SIDE
We erected giant sets of Pearly Gates at the State’s deadliest railway crossings. Transport for New South Wales needed a way to raise awareness of the dangers posed to car drivers failing to slow down or stop at rural railway crossings. With no internet and barely any radio signal, they believed the most effective way to do so was via traditional outdoor. We agreed with them on the outdoor part, but not so much with the traditional.
We instead decided to construct a 50ft ominous set of steel Pearly Gates and place them around several notoriously dangerous railway crossings in rural New South Wales. These would then automatically open slightly whenever a train was on approach.
Launched with much fanfare by Government and community leaders, these gates proved effective from both a safety and awareness perspective, generating an enormous groundswell of social media activity and PR.
SEE AMERICA IN AN AIRSTREAM
A iconic print and poster campaign celebrating a truly American icon.
COFFEE MOMENTS
An award-winning classic TVC campaign. This highlighted some of those awkward moments when coffee doesn't necessarily mean just coffee.
NISSAN X MARVEL
Nissan provide both vehicles and financial support to the Los Angeles County Lifeguards. Created in collaboration with Marvel comics, this memorable OHH campaign literally heroes these brave individuals, while casting the dangers of the ocean as formidable arch villains.
As well as being immensely proud of these they were also my only piece of work to make it onto our CCO Lee Clow's prestigious office wall.
EASY WAY TO GOURMET
Client: McDonalds
Agency: DDB Australia
This campaign with super successful recall and results, landed The Easy Way to Gourmet positioning that's still in play.
WINTER OLYMPIC DREAMS
Client: McDonalds Global
Agency: TBWA Global
Created while part of the TBWA global SWAT team following an international pitch win, this big budget spot screened in over 129 countries leading up to the Winter Olympic Games.
HIT UV FOR SIX
Client: Cancer Institute
Agency: OMD
What better vehicle to promote sun safety messaging than English International cricket stars? As a way to promote positive safety messages whilst leveraging its sponsorship of BBL 18/19, the NSW Cancer Institute launched this playful, “how to” guide focused on delivering 5 sun safe tips. Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide.
Based on the insight that English visitors all too often underestimate the severity of the Australian climate and, playing on the ever-present sporting rivalry between Australia and England, the campaign features English cricket players being “dismissed” for not adhering to the conditions whilst in Australia.
The campaign features the legendary voice of Australian cricket, Bill Lawry as well as England captain Joe Root and other British players Jos Butler, Joe Denly and Tom Curran.
WOLLONGONG STRONG
There is little doubt that the strength of character evident in the industrial Illawarra region would seep into their university’s DNA.
We called it ‘Wollongong Strong’ – an idea that translates to hard work, determination and fearless thinking in the pursuit of our ongoing mission to better society. And no matter where one might then go in the world, or no matter what one does, they can always draw strength from their time at UOW. The unique strength of Wollongong’s people, research and discoveries radiates out into the wider world, causing real world impact. Campaign assets included on-campus and key off-campus regional signage, Open Day brand activation, a fit-for-purpose Wollongong Strong website, a highly shareable series of social media narratives, a definitive brand commercial and five short film vignettes.
