Tag: Australia

Australia – As more and more speed driving cases occur in Australia, increasing risk for fatalities, the NSW Government has released a new campaign aimed at urging motorists to slow down and think about the dangers of going ‘just a bit’ over the speed limit.

The campaign, which was created in collaboration with creative agency BMF and full-service media agency UM, challenges various casual perceptions of low-level speeding to reset the attitudes and culture on NSW roads. 

Its three main objectives are to educate drivers and riders on the significant role speeding plays in fatalities and serious injuries on NSW roads, reset drivers’ attitudes to how they view their normalized ‘everyday speeding’ behavior, and highlight the unique risks of speed and its contribution to crash likelihood and severity. 

Titled ‘Casual Speeding. Every K Counts’, the spots are a confronting reminder that there’s nothing casual about any form of speeding and to reinforce the serious consequences these attitudes can bring.

Tara McCarthy, Transport’s deputy secretary for safety, environment, and regulation for NSW, said, “Every kilometer counts when it comes to speeding on our roads, a little bit over double your chance of crashing, and this campaign demonstrates how speeding can change your life and others’ lives forever.”

Meanwhile, Christina Aventi, BMF’s chief strategy officer, noted that by labeling a new type of speeding, the ad encourages motorists to take a moment to self-assess, recognize risk, and correct their low-level speeding. 

“We hope that the term ‘Casual Speeding’ provides a way for road users to talk about this dangerous behavior,” said Aventi.

Andy Clift, UM’s senior client director, said, “Our media strategy will shift the cultural perception of ‘speeding’ by defining and showcasing the impact of what a few kilometers over the speed limit can have.

The campaign was launched last 14 November 2021.It will be supported by OOH, and include a radio partnership and social media, to tap into diverse state-wide communities at the grassroots. 

The campaign will also be supported by a wide-ranging media strategy developed by UM to spark discussion.

Australia – Semi Permanent, the creativity and design festival firm based in Australia, has officially launched today its creative services and experience design agency, SP Brand Studio.

SP Brand Studio aims to bring together innovative brands and creative audiences through the lens of contemporary culture, and physical and digital experience design.

The new creative agency will be offering services in strategy, creative, and curation, as well as omnichannel production. It will also be tapping its network of global talent to deliver first-to-market concepts and ideas for partners and owned IP, driving cultural connection, audience engagement, and relevance for modern brands in the luxury, lifestyle, design, and technology sectors.

Murray Bell, Semi Permanent’s founder and CEO, believes that after nearly 20 years of creating well-attended events across the globe as well as online, Semi Permanent is uniquely placed to share its success with the brand partners.

“We know that an experience has the profound ability to directly connect with and immerse an audience in a brand’s story, and never before has that level of cut-through been necessary for gaining a competitive advantage,” said Bell.

The founding clients of SP Brand Studio are KPMG, Microsoft, Heaps Normal, and Perion, as well as Sea Forest, who join ongoing retainer accounts Rare with Google and Highsnobiety.

Australia – Vicinity, the Australian retail property group, has launched a new sculptural Christmas tree called ‘NFT: Illuminated’, a one-of-a-kind installation developed using the works of Australian NFT creators.

The ‘NFT: Illuminated’, which was created in collaboration with creative agency Fabric, features the work of eight NFT creators, namely Aldous Massie, Bianca Beers, David Porte Beckefeld, James Jirat Patradoon, Jonathan Puc, and Lucius Ha, as well as Rel Pham, and Serwah Attafuah. 

Installed in Sydney’s The Galeries, the installation was constructed from glass, mirrors, and Perspex, which captures and accentuates the natural light that streams through The Galeries.

Moreover, the installation activates the newly developed creative platform ‘It’s An Art’ for The Galeries Artist in Residence program. It also builds on Vicinity’s Christmas campaign, ‘Where There is Light’, which was launched earlier this month.

Keenan Motto, Fabric’s creative partner, believes that their newly developed platform for The Galeries intends to position them as ‘the center loved for unconventional artistic exploration, with purpose’.

“NFT is an exciting new space to play in, and we are lucky to have a brave client in Vicinity who was willing to explore a more contemporized expression of the season which reimagines traditions for new audiences,” said Motto. 

Corrine Barchanowicz, Vicinity’s head of brand marketing and experience, shared that The Galeries has long been a destination for the contemporary and unique, and they wanted to extend that vision into Christmas by combining unique artwork with new technology.

“The new tree is distinctly The Galeries, introducing our customers to a new, cutting-edge experience never before seen in Australia,” said Barchanowicz.

Vicinity said that there will also be bespoke signage throughout The Galeries, which will direct shoppers towards the exhibition. It will also display the QR codes which connect to each creator’s profile on Foundation. Each artist will be profiled across The Galeries’ social media channels and website.

Visitors have the opportunity to explore ‘NFT: Illuminated’ and become NFT art collectors from 16 November 2021 to 5 January 2022.

Australia – Canteen, the Australian national support organization for young people living with cancer, has launched a new campaign, highlighting its refreshed brand positioning. 

In contrast to the usual approach in supporting acts of ‘bravery’ against fighting health conditions, the new campaign, which was created in collaboration with advertising agency Havas Village Australia, aims to encourage the youth impacted by cancer to take off ‘their brave faces’ and be open to embracing the help they need when times are tough.

Through the campaign, Havas honed in on a creative approach centered on ‘unmasking’ to highlight how young people can feel safe to express what they’re truly feeling. The ‘unmasking’ proposition spearheads the launch campaign creatively, with the simple but powerful message to ‘Take off your brave face. When cancer gets tough, find the support you need.’

A new support-focused brand tagline – Cancer support made stronger – will appear across Canteen’s communications and marketing collateral.

Kerry Kalcher, Canteen’s head of marketing and communications, said, “This campaign is a wonderful first step towards achieving our brand objectives and the culmination of the journey we’ve been on with the entire Havas team over several years.”

Canteen said that the work began with extensive quantitative and qualitative research, including focus groups with parents and young people, to gauge awareness that would resonate best, and most importantly, to encourage seeking support.

Elizabeth English, Havas Blvd’s client services director, shared that bringing this campaign to life has been a collaborative process with Canteen and the agency had the benefit of direct insight gleaned from Canteen’s own young people.

“No young person should have to face the impact of cancer alone, and we hope that this campaign will continue to build awareness that Canteen is in their corner to help,” said English.

Meanwhile, Steve Fontanot, the managing director of Red Havas and Havas Blvd, noted that Canteen is focused on making a meaningful difference to young people, whose lives have been impacted by cancer. 

“We’re very proud of the work that our collective teams have delivered over the years, with this latest campaign being the culmination of the many passionate humans who are dedicated to this truly integral organization,” said Fontanot.

The campaign will be running until 31 December 2021 across OOH, video, social media, and youth-oriented digital channels including Twitch, as well as radio, and Spotify.

Sydney, Australia – Media agency network OMD in Australia has just announced a new co-CEO leadership structure through the promotion of Laura Nice and Sian Whitnall as new co-CEOs of the agency, effective immediately. 

OMD has long had a people strategy of developing and promoting staff from within, and follows the agency’s continued stability to OMD’s people, clients, and partners, with significant new business wins and key client retention alongside industry award recognition.

Nice and Whitnall will take overall responsibility for OMD assets nationally, leading a workforce of more than 600 people. 

Nice first joined OMD Australia in 2012 as a business director for their Telstra account. In 2014, Nice returned home to the UK where she took up the role of group head at Vizeum, followed by head of consultancy and development for Omnicom Media Group’s Annalect. She returned to Australia in 2019 as OMD Sydney’s joint managing director.

“As an ‘OMD Boomeranger’ I know firsthand the benefits of working for a culture as strong as OMD Australia’s. To be given the opportunity to lead the next chapter with Sian is a proud moment, as we strive to build on OMD’s current success and momentum. Personally, I’m excited to focus on the depth and breadth of our client relationships and identify growth opportunities for our people to further develop their capability and evolve our offering for the future,” Nice stated regarding her appointment.

Meanwhile, Whitnall first joined OMD in 2013 as an interactive director, with her most recent role being OMD Australia’s chief digital officer. Her digital transformation initiative, OMD Navigate, has driven strong business results for OMD and their clients.

“I feel so passionately about OMD so it’s an absolute privilege for Laura and myself to be given the opportunity to lead the agency. I am excited to continue working alongside OMD’s incredible talent, to grow the capability within the brand and to drive growth for our clients in areas that will have the most impact for their businesses,” Whitnall said.

Speaking about the new promotions, Peter Horgan, CEO at Omnicom Media Group ANZ, commented, “They have been fundamental to OMD’s ongoing growth and success over recent years and are embedded across all areas of the business. Together, their complementary skill sets and ability to work as a team, is exactly what OMD needs for the future of our business. OMD has a history of success with leadership partnerships and given the size and scale of OMD Australia, there is no better time to revisit this winning formula.”

Australia – Creative agency BMF in Sydney has announced two new teams to further strengthen its creative department. Within the teams are four new hires. 

Joining the senior creative team are Josie Fox, former senior art director at creative agency Special Group Australia, and Harry Stanford, former senior copywriter at Special Group Australia. On the other hand, Erica Mallett, former radio host at radio station Triple J, and Angel McMullan, current art director at BMF, will be joining the new junior creative team. 

For more than 10 years, Fox and Stanford have worked at various agencies across Australia and London. Both have previously worked at Special Group for the past five years, and some of the duo’s most notable work includes their Uber Eats campaigns – Australian Open ‘No Repeats’ and ‘Tonight I’ll be Eating’ with Simon Cowell and the Wiggles.

Fox and Stanford commented, “BMF has such a wide range of exciting and iconic clients and is full of lovely people. Who wouldn’t want to get stuck into some juicy new briefs and make some work that both we and Australia love?”

Meanwhile, the agency is beefing up its creative force with Mallett bringing with her a multi-faceted background as a musician, content creator, and podcaster, while McMullan carries with her credentials in literary creatives as a book designer and picture book illustrator.

Mallett and McMullan said, “We can’t wait to get our grubby little fingers all up in BMF’s pies. We’re looking forward to using our experience to bring to life some big, meaningful ideas – and to learn from the incredibly clever team at BMF.”

With the new appointments, Alex Derwin, BMF’s chief creative officer, noted that the agency prizes its open and collaborative culture above everything.

“Josie, Harry, Angel, and Erica are top-drawer creative thinkers who offer an even more diverse skill set to our creative department,” said Derwin.

Just recently, BMF has also appointed three new hires to strengthen its planning department, namely Anna Bollinger, the new head of planning, Jessica Sutanto, the new senior strategic planner, and Benjamin Yap, its new junior planner.

Australia – With populations of Sugar Gliders, Krefft’s Glider, and Savanna Glider declining, Australian telco firm Optus has partnered with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) to launch a new campaign, aimed at raising funds for the cause.

In the new film, which is titled ‘Tis the season of yes’, Optus follows an Australian glider, risking life and ‘tail’, for an ambitious surprise for its expectant glider partner for Christmas, going all out to create a pair of bassinets. The film then reverted back to the moment of ‘yes’ that inspired these ambitious events – pinpointing the moment where the glider decided to turn optimism into action by starting a family of his own.

The campaign aims to raise an excess of AU$50,000 to help AWC deliver fire management across 100,000 hectares of natural habitat, remove feral herbivores to help create safe refuges for the gliders, and support its scientific monitoring program to ensure key threats to their survival are controlled.

Mel Hopkins, Optus’ vice president of marketing, noted that they want to play a part in affecting real change for the future of Australia.

“We’ve been part of Australia’s social fabric for 30 years, so it was important that a native species was front and center of our campaign. We are encouraging Australians to fall in love with these wonderful creatures and join us in saving them in the most generous time of year – now that’s optimism in action,” said Hopkins.

Optus said that the campaign is the latest iteration of its acclaimed ‘It Starts With Yes’ platform, which the telco debuted last year.

Tim Allard, Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s CEO, shared that most Aussies know about wombats, koalas, and quokkas – but there is little knowledge of this flying marsupial. 

“AWC is taking practical and effective action like fire management and feral animal control to address the key threats to the glider’s survival and restore their populations. This partnership with Optus will help teach Australians about the incredible diversity our country holds, and the funds will help us protect these threatened animals now and into the future,” said Allard.

The campaign has been available last 14 November 2021, with television spots, social content, and OOH.

Sydney, Australia – With lockdowns in Australia slowly being lifted out across many cities, supermarket chain ALDI has launched its newest campaign, inviting Australians to make their Christmas preparations more creative, exciting, and with gusto.

Part of the campaign includes a 60-second TVC depicting Australians seemingly getting bored or frustrated in preparing for Christmas-related things such as wrapping gifts, setting the table for Christmas dinner or dressing the chicken for cooking. Then, with the popular track ‘Sandstorm’ by Darude, the ad shifts these ‘mundane’ preparations into something more exciting, and ‘party-like’.

https://youtu.be/Y3odEye91Lg

“ALDI wants Aussies to have the Christmas they deserve. A completely overcooked Christmas. From birds inside birds, to ridiculously low-priced French Champagne and award-winning hams, ALDI is proving that you simply can’t overcook Christmas this year. We know Australians deserve it, and they deserve it at the best possible prices,” the company said in a press statement.

Mark Richardson, director of marketing at ALDI Australia, said that they wanted to tap into post-lockdown excitement and show what many of us are feeling: this year is the year to go a bit bigger for Christmas.

“To do this, we’ve created an emotive and upbeat Christmas campaign that is centred on the joy of letting loose. We hope that the ‘You Can’t Overcook Christmas’ call to arms, together with ALDI’s prices and phenomenal range, will energise shoppers to create the best possible Christmas for family and friends this year,” Richardson stated.

The campaign is a collaborative effort that has seen the participation of creative agency BMF, production company FINCH, The Kitchen Creative Group, and Bantam Productions.

The integrated campaign, targeting 5 million grocery buyers, will run across key media channels of TV, radio, outdoor, digital, social, catalog, and POS.

Sydney, Australia – In a bid to reach a newer audience and focus on engaging online with customers, airline Virgin Australia has officially debuted on the short-video platform TikTok, making it the first Australian airline to debut on the platform.

The first few uploads on the TikTok channel range from a ‘talking aircraft’, a stewardess sporting the well-known Virgin Australia red lip, to behind the scenes of work among Virgin Australia employees, the airline has rolled out a line-up of fun and hilarious content to date, sharing the brand with existing customers as well as a whole new generation of travellers and TikTokers.

@virginaustralia

New seat prototype. That’s my type. 💅 #airline #fyp #avgeek #aviation

♬ Team work (60 seconds) – TimTaj

According to Libby Minogue, chief marketing officer at Virgin Airlines, future uploads will feature Virgin Australia team members and focus on behind-the-scenes footage, trending content and of course, their planes. 

“TikTok really is the perfect platform to showcase our famous ‘Virgin Flair’ and our wonderful team members and we’re so excited to be the first Australian airline to launch on the platform,” Minogue stated.

Virgin Australia’s take-off into TikTok comes as the airline is about to celebrate its 12-month anniversary after being relaunched last year, with the airline focusing on its heartland customer and undertaking a long list of improvements and innovative new customer touchpoints. 

@virginaustralia

Ready to return to the skies, wbu? #fyp #travel #flightattendant #australia

♬ BRIGHT LIGHTS – Gibbz

“Our followers will get to see a different side to our business. From the lifestyle of cabin crew and pilots, to behind-the-scenes glimpses into our operation, TikTok has opened a new way for us to communicate with existing and new customers, as we fly into a new era of travel,” Minogue said. 

She added, “We’re also encouraging our own Virgin Australia team members to join TikTok and create content that we know will resonate with users, like why cabin crew must wear a watch at all times, sneak peeks and secret flight hacks,” Minogue added.

The airline has already notched up almost two-million organic views since its first TikTok post.

Sydney, Australia – Australian ad executives believe that the future of advertising is in out-of-home (OOH)’s inclusion in programmatic multi-channel campaigns and increased investment in digital out-of-home (DOOH) expertise, as 82% of local industry executives plan to integrate programmatic OOH more closely into multi-channel campaigns. This is according to the latest data from DOOH marketplace VIOOH.

The data also notes that 85% of Australian executives plan to invest in programmatic OOH expertise.

In regards to planning and buying DOOH media, 37% of Australian agency executives have planned programmatic digital out-of-home (prDOOH) alongside other digital programmatic campaigns, and 56% have planned it alongside other OOH activity, reflecting a variety of approaches. When it comes to buying, this responsibility in media agencies shifts towards dedicated prDOOH teams (66% of respondents), although there are still overlaps with digital programmatic teams (48% of respondents) and the OOH teams (44% of respondents).

“VIOOH’s new ‘State of the Nation’ report gives further proof that programmatic is the accelerator for DOOH growth, allowing it to be truly integrated into multi-channel campaigns for the first time. Increasing numbers of advertising executives are drawn to the versatility and value that programmatic DOOH offers, and state that they won’t go back to more traditional ways of buying OOH,” said Jean-Christophe Conti, chief executive officer at VIOOH. 

Around 81% of Australian executives say that a key thing to their job is the ability to measure campaign performance across multiple digital channels including programmatic OOH. Furthermore, 76% of Australian executives stated that the ability to use dynamic creative is an important factor in determining their investment in prDOOH.

Meanwhile, 77% of Australian executives have identified that trigger-based buying, such as reacting to events, news, promotions, moments in time, locations, audiences as they move, weather and environmental conditions, are an important driver for investment in programmatic OOH.

Around 86% of agency respondents and 81% of advertiser respondents in Australia see programmatic OOH as a great way to reach a broadcast audience, while 82% of agency execs and 82% of advertisers agree that programmatic OOH provides innovative ways to target consumers.

On the brand side, most Australian creative executives from both agency and advertising (68%) believe that prDOOH is a great way to build brand awareness. On the performance side, meanwhile, the said executives also see it as a great way to drive response with about 69% of them.

“The report also shows that buying responsibilities are being spread across digital programmatic and OOH teams, supporting this shift towards programmatic DOOH. Agencies and advertisers therefore need to establish clear strategies for prDOOH, build expertise to address any knowledge gaps and help create best practices to integrate prDOOH into more multi-channel campaigns,” added Conti.