High Five: Australia

This is my most recent favourite from Special Group’s 'Tonight I’ll Be Eating' campaign platform for Uber Eats. The campaigns have been a huge hit due their use of global celebrities in a uniquely Australian context, usually highlighted by Australian optimism somehow triumphing over the celebrity’s pessimistic view of the world (usually solved by an Uber Eats order of course!). Taking the iconic children’s TV legends, The Wiggles, and putting them into a living room clash the grey and deliciously maudlin Simon Cowell is just absolute advertising magic. I never get tired of seeing it and I love it’s uniquely Aussie sense of humour.

The world is awash with work that is infused with our collective desire for optimism and hope after two years of the pandemic. In Australia, we have not only been stricken with lockdowns and economic isolation, but also natural crises like the shocking bushfires that destroyed much of the east coast of Australia in 2019. So brand platforms successfully expressing an organisation’s brand purpose, through the lens of authentic optimism, is few and far and between, in my opinion. The piece of work that I think comes close is the new 'Australia is Why?' brand platform for Australia’s telecommunications business, Telstra. I think it lands the perfect tone and is also a beautiful mix of joy, loss and hope - both in nature and in individuals - that defines their 'why', and as a filmic collage, our collective 'why' as Australians. Enjoy!

In the early stages of the pandemic, the ABC reported that some official Australian Covid-19 messaging had been translated using Google Translate instead of accredited translators. Nonsensical messaging for non-English speaking communities resulted in disempowering already vulnerable people. Now, 24 months into the pandemic, communication blunders are still happening. In July, the ABC reported that it had taken the government eight weeks to update critical Covid-19 information online targeted at linguistically diverse communities. This meant that they were receiving out-of-date information regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. In March, we brought awareness to this issue with a project called 'Mistranslations'. The project asked linguistically diverse creatives to reimagine Covid-19 messaging in their own language. By actively engaging those impacted by messaging blunders, it set out to show a more inclusive and effective way to reach diverse communities with critical information. I am so incredibly proud of this work, and I love how our entire agency came together to tackle such an incredibly sensitive and important issue, and through our collective creativity, shed light and drove change around an issue that has impacted millions of lives.

Doesn’t every country need a feel-good John Lewis-style Christmas spot? I think so. But how do you make that spot uniquely Australian, with just the right mix of magic and delight? I know it’s another telco, but I had to share the Optus' 'Yule Glider' spot which was recently launched under the 'It Starts With Yes' platform. From a craft perspective, I think the CGI is incredible. The sugar glider making a 'Mission Impossible' escape from the family cat is brilliant, and it elicits the right kind of Australians sprinkled with just enough Christmassy feels. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and delivers more depth and stretch to the brand platform. Love it!

CHEP has done an incredible job with this piece of long form content. In what is a difficult and often uninspiring category, CHEP brings a real Aussie twang an attitude to a retail loyalty program. There is something for everyone in this work, and it’s beyond clever. I love the writing, the structure, the characters and the entire irreverence of this work. It’s just smart and engaging work which really connects with Australian culture - which is not always easy to do. Again, enjoy!