Not everything has to be a campaign, bro
Getting it done without going through the line
Good concepts work in any channel. From television to tote bag, an integrated idea should stay intact, and the message on-message, regardless of where it appears. But sometimes you get a brief asking for a single execution in a single channel. And because your idea doesn’t have to live everywhere, you can tailor it to the medium. Which is fun, trust me.
Helping kids feel less weird about hospital
When you’re a kid, going to hospital is a bit full on, so Medibank briefed in a 60 second CRM video to prepare kids for their stay. But a video is over in a minute, and there was an opportunity here for something more meaningful, that stuck. Something like a big activity book that demystified the weirdness of hospital, killed some time and helped kids see their stay as an achievement. Coloured pencils stat, I’m going in.
Turns out you can put ads in death notices
It’s nice when you find a bigger opportunity in a brief. This one was for a full-page road safety ad in Tasmania’s three papers. Road safety ads tend to lose impact, so this creative placement was designed to shock. We ran blank spaces in death notices for the 49 people likely to die on Tasmanian roads in the next 12 months. While the response was positive, it’s still an ad. I wouldn’t run it now, because some spaces need to be ad free.
Answering the call in a quirky alcohol category
If you think craft beer is folksy, check out the cider section. It’s like a microbrewery had sex with a fairytale. Coles wanted to sell more of its home brand ‘Mr Finch’ cider. And while the product itself ticked the quirky boxes, they needed more story. So we answered that call. Well, antlered it. This platform could easily support a full campaign, but works fine online and in-store which is where it lives now.
Sometimes you gotta say it straight to make it great
When Sol Beer was introduced in Australia, the brand was seen as a wannabe Corona. Our challenge was to take on that perception, which was all about authenticity. Sol Beer wasn’t a knock-off. It was a beer they’d been drinking in Mexico for over a century. All we needed to do was tell people, so we did, and it worked. Sol kept this positioning line for eight years.
Let me see your energy halo, Tassie
Believe it or not, climate change was once a new idea. In Tassie, that wasn’t so long ago. Like any campaign that sets out to change behaviour, the tone was really important. So rather than highlight bad habits, we highlighted good habits with energy stars sneakily lifted from those energy rating stickers on home appliances. This awareness campaign was so successful they ran a second round of research to check the results. Not very efficient, but there you go.