B&T Awards The Work: Check Out The Incredible Best Media Campaigns This Year!

Incredible media can transform already great creative into a heart-stopping and jaw-dropping campaign. But, nowadays, creative media execution is not only a nice to have but a need to have when it comes to reaching large audiences at scale.

The standard of entries at this year’s B&T Awards was nothing short of remarkable. Indies and holdcos of all sizes and across Australia and New Zealand have been producing exceptional work for a dizzying array of clients from Lego and Samsung to Aperol, Macca’s and Swedish electric car brand Polestar.

Judges were looking for creative thinking, backed by excellence in understanding media consumption in devising a media campaign that best helps specific clients achieve their goals.

Of course, now that you’re invested in shortlisted entries, why not come along and see who will be crowned the winners at the Hordern Pavilion on Friday 24 November 2023? Early bird tickets are limited so don’t run the risk of paying full price later.

Secure your table now!

Catch up on the other shortlisted work by clicking on the links below:

• B&T Award For Bravery
• B&T Award for Diversity
• Best Content Marketing Strategy
• Best CTV Campaign
• Best Data-Driven Marketing Campaign
• Best Digital Campaign, sponsored by Twitch
• Best Direct Response Campaign
• Best Integrated Campaign
• Best Media Campaign
• Best OOH Campaign
• Best PR Campaign
• Best TV Campaign
• Best Use of Sponsorship

Here’s the finalists’ work in their own words, the headings below show the name of the agency entering the award, the campaign name and the client putting their trust in them.

CHEP Network, “Flipvertising,” Samsung

How do you turn branded content into a game that GenMZ, the most ad-sceptical generation, want to play? By using data and retargeting in a creative way. That’s the story of Flipvertising.

As we noticed more and more conversation on Reddit and other platforms about algorithms and how to avoid or subvert them – we used this insight into emerging behaviour to power an entirely new style of data-driven direct advertising that felt very much the zeitgeist.

By ‘flipping’ the traditional targeted advertising model on its head, we created a competitive ‘internet sport’ where punters actively sought to get targeted by Samsung ads to win the new Galaxy Z Flip4 phone.

To find the winning ad, clue-hunters searched for three specific terms via Google that linked to our films. At first glance, each film was an amusing product demo, but also contained a clue hinting at the next search term to enter the retargeting pool. Whoever watched all three films went into the final retargeting pool and was served the winning ad as a YouTube pre-roll?? The first person to find the ad per day won a new Galaxy Z Flip4.

With such a technical, data-led execution, understanding the impact of extremely small targeting pools whilst ensuring the data integrity and technical requirements to ensure ads fired correctly within the timeframe was an incredible feat of data engineering.

Ultimately in flipping the technology to serve a single advert, we found an incredible creative use of data whilst sending our audience on a free-wheeling exploration of UGC content that celebrated the new Z Flip4 features.

Through a campaign built on knowledge of ad targeting but executed very differently from the norm, we gave our audience the opportunity to experience more content than any traditional targeted campaign could ever have achieved.

Howatson+Company, “35+,” Lord Nelson Brewery

How the hell do you entice drinkers to choose a 35-year-old beer, when everyone around them is out-shouting and out-spending them? You show up where they choose their next drink, then tell them they can’t have it.

Established in 1841, The Lord Nelson is Australia’s oldest surviving craft brewery and pub hotel. For thirty-five years, its crown jewel has been the house favourite: a session-able pale ale called Three Sheets. But with today’s proliferation of craft and evolution of taste, the beer was struggling to stand out and sales were waning.

Amidst the category’s obsession with the next best thing, Three Sheets had a clear task: make consistency cool. With a bugger-all budget, Lord Nelson boldly doubled down on a strategy that would speak to someone, but not everyone, and concentrate its efforts where drinkers switched: at the point of purchase.

The result was 35+. Across pubs and bottle shops, we changed the recommended legal drinking age of Three Sheets from 18 to those as old as the recipe itself: 35. A disruptive, provocative tactic that elevated the craft in the beer, by making it unavailable to those who would not appreciate it.

The strategic idea has given Three Sheets a fighting chance against a category that it helped build. All while delivering an ROI of 3.66. Delicious.

Initiative Australia, “Lego City GOES NITRO,” Lego

This campaign proves the power of going beyond off-the-shelf media platforms to find new, more influential, and creatively rich opportunities to connect with hard-to-reach audiences.

Through a passions-over-platforms strategy, we circumvented an increasingly finite kids’ media ecosystem and unlocked entirely new ways to engage kids.

Traditionally the domain of marketing or sponsorships agencies, we struck the ultimate kid-friendly, thrill-seeking partnership that was 100 per cent identified, brokered and painstakingly executed by us (an Australian media agency) and scaled to the world.

Using cultural analytics, we identified one exciting brand with all the elements needed to launch LEGO City into the cool books… NITRO CIRCUS. But, badging alone would not earn cool cred, we needed to inject energy into the experience and ensure LEGO City Stuntz was unmissable.

Media was at the epicentre of this campaign, dialling every single element within the collective ecosystem (LEGO and Nitro), up to 11! We executed the most expansive, deeply integrated and exciting partnership in Nitro Circus history to fuel brand love for LEGO City Stuntz.

Nitro Circus’ Tour Down Under was their biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, helping LEGO City reclaim its cool status, shattering all campaign objectives.

LEGO City GOES NITRO proves the cultural and commercial impact of deep, integrated and mutually beneficial partnerships over tactical marketing ‘stunts’.

iProspect, “Polestar,” Polestar

In under two years of operating in a competitive and evolving market, Polestar established itself as the frontrunner in the Australian EV sector. However, amidst declining consumer confidence and growing competition from mainstream auto companies entering the market, we faced the challenge of continuing to increase awareness, consideration, and sustaining growth, whilst showcasing Polestar’s dedication to performance, design, and sustainability in the post-petrol era.

Established brands relied on their resources to saturate the market, Polestar took advantage of our agility and deep audience understanding to develop an innovative approach that went beyond reach and viewability. Our focus was on the valuable resource of ‘attention.’ By leveraging modern eye-tracking technology and research panels, we gained insights into the attention patterns of our Polestar audience. We used an attention planning framework to identify active attention seconds on each format.

As a pure electric brand, Polestar challenged us to help the brand leverage its sustainability pillar in media through an authentically scalable way. We worked to help Polestar to measure, supply, and optimise their programmatic towards performance and more environmentally friendly publishers. This approach allowed us to reduce the Co2 produced from our programmatic media activity by a whopping 45 per cent, whilst improving CTR by 10 per cent.

The first year establishes the foundation; the second year sets the pace. With negative economic headwinds and an increasingly competitive market, our comms platform of Attentive Sustainable Reach managed to drive success. Continued focus on sustainability and innovation has led to persistent media exploration and strategies, technologies and measurement approaches that have enhanced Polestar’s overall performance and positively moved the media industry.

• Brand Awareness: +62 per cent YoY

• Spontaneous Brand Awareness: +28.8 per cent YoY

• Spontaneous Consideration: +66.6 per cent YoY

• Sales H1 23 vs H1 22: +38 per cent YoY

Mindshare, “Helping Australians hunt down their dream home,” NAB Home Loans

NAB Home Loans: How NAB became the experts in fast home loan approvals

In the most competitive home loan market since late last century, we delivered NAB’s most efficient, effective and recognized campaign in 5+ years.

NAB reached #1 ranking in Home Loan market Awareness, Brand Image, Consideration, Trust and NPS for the first time in performance tracking history, well above its #4 market share, by demonstrating they understood the wild world of home buying. The ‘Experts in Fast Home Loan approvals’ campaign obliterated campaign and acquisition targets disrupting a commoditised and cluttered category full of rates and offers.

But it was the active role that media played in helping consumers hunt down their home across a shortened home buyer journey that created cut-through that drove 1.2x system growth by helping consumers navigate the complex home journey in record time.

Rather than trying to drive incremental awareness, we leveraged key cultural moments, leant into channel strengths and constraints to demonstrate NAB’s ‘Fast Home Loan Approvals’ proposition and removed friction to create a more seamless home buying journey. With every channel designed to capture prospective buyers’ attention and bring them one step closer to their dream home.

Mindshare, “The Aperol Summer Wave,”  Aperol

A large factor in Aperol’s brand success is the ‘Instagrammability’ and iconic glow of the Aperol Spritz in squad selfies in the sun.

After a wave of new cocktail trends, like the Spicy Marg or Espresso Martini, stole our social relevance, we needed to not only get Aperol Spritz back in their hands, but in their feeds to reignite our social proofing and number one spot as the iconic cocktail.

Aperol turned the Yarra River orange for the Summer of 2022/2023.

Our media campaign was a cornerstone of embedding ourselves in their Summer culture, and creating a new owned and earned channel. Creating a media channel where no other brands were present, and a contrast for our branded colours to grab attention easily.

The impact and competitive edge of filling a consumer need has led to this campaign being replanned for years to come.

OMD, “Macca’s. Footy, I’m Lovin’ it!” McDonald’s

Macca’s faced a challenge with their footy partnerships as they struggled to connect with fans and gain recognition. To address this, we devised a strategy to be more than just sponsors but passionate fans themselves. Leveraging social listening and an omnichannel approach, we engaged with AFL and NRL fans, speaking their language and incorporating their rituals.

We brought this to life through our code level, club, and network partnerships. In the AFL, Macca’s celebrated AFL legends known as ‘Macca’ in a bespoke TV commercial. The ad featured AFL and AFLW players, commentators, and Bruce McAvaney as ‘Macca.’ We surprised viewers with a guy named Browny who joined the legendary group by delivering Macca’s to everyone. In NRL, Macca’s owned Friday Nights with ‘Macca’s Friday Night Footy,’ we celebrated big moments with a Try Replay Graphic and created a bespoke TV commercial with Matty and Joey Johns. Across both codes, we activated in Stadium and delivered Macca’s via McDelivery into broadcasts emphasizing our fan-centric approach with the platform ‘Footy… I’m Lovin’ It!’

The result was a resounding success. The campaign “Footy… I’m Lovin’ It!” achieved an impressive ROI.
Macca’s successfully became an authentic part of the Aussie footy conversation, reaching their goal of being a “Brand for Someone Like Me”.
Not only are we the number 1 QSR of choice for AFL fans we’re also the number 1 QSR of choice for NRL fans despite the fact we’re not the official code-level partner.

In summary, Macca’s transformed their footy partnerships by showcasing genuine passion for the game, resonating with fans, and effectively becoming an integral part of the Australian footy culture.

Special, “Last Performance,” Partners Life

Life Insurance. Only 29 per cent of New Zealanders have it. And traditional advertising wasn’t a motivating factor in swaying Kiwis to get it.

New Zealand life insurance provider, Partners Life, sought to do something radically different.

We revealed three critical truths:

• “Peace of mind” advertising wasn’t shifting the needle. We needed to embrace the reality of what we were selling. Death.
• Hindsight from an accident, break-in or illness sparks interest in insurance, but death, well, that’s too late for hindsight.
• True Crime entertainment is hugely popular in NZ – making ‘death’ more palatable.

These truths revealed an opportunity –
Rather than using traditional advertising, we activated where people were already engaging with death.

Introducing… ‘The Last Performance’. Turning NZ’s favourite murder mystery TV show into an ad for life insurance.

In every episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries, someone dies. So, at the end of every episode, we brought these murdered characters back from the dead to share their regrets about not getting life insurance. We seamlessly integrated our message into the show by using the same actors, director, crew and sets.

All six episodes offered unique hindsight into the consequences of unexpected death reflective of the characters’ lives and reminded NZ that life isn’t scripted so it’s best to ‘Plan ahead and get life right’.

Beyond TV show integration, we used the dead characters’ pleas on social after every episode, prompting our audience to find out more on the Partners Life website.

And we closed the loop by driving traffic to an online quiz which helped determine the best insurance for them.

Our message reached 59 per cent of New Zealanders, brand awareness increased by 6 per cent and brand consideration increased by 5 per cent, as The Last Performance turned a nation apathetic to life insurance, into one actively engaged with it.

Wavemaker, “The Final Step,” Somat

Somat was competing in a category defined by two dominant players that commanded 90% share with 100% media SOV between them.

With global creative prescribed, the media challenge was to carve out a clear space that would set Somat apart from the competition. This meant breaking category conventions and disrupting the market to become a top-three brand.

Strategy:

The automatic dishwashing category is a low-involvement category. For our audience, cooking is a way of socialising and connecting. But when it came to the cooking clean-up, the emotional connection fell flat.

Our insight: People don’t like to think about cleaning, but they really like to think about cooking.

Our strategy was to shift Somat into a more emotional media context; the context of cooking.

Execution:

The Final Step: We integrated Somat into the cooking process, making it the final step of cooking and the first step of cleaning.

A three-pronged execution approach:

In culture, we became the official cleaning partner of MasterChef, and we did something that had never been done in MasterChef’s history – show the dirty dishes at the end of the cook in a bespoke TVC and Program IDs.

In cooking, we integrated into the recipe through recipe sponsorships and partnered with Marley Spoon to distribute samples and get Somat as the final step of the meal at home.

In-store, we influenced the final moments prior to consumers purchasing their next recipe’s ingredients, using proximity formats and Flybuys Audience targeting to reach MasterChef Branded Product Buyers.

Effectiveness:

• 6.2 million reached through the MasterChef Partnership.
• Bespoke TVC achieved a 1.8 per cent CTR (+100 per cent above benchmarks).
• 119,000 samples distributed to Aussie homes.
• Brand Health Tracking indicated strong awareness (one in three aware).
• Somat the #2 dishwashing brand in independent retailers nationally (L8W to July 16,2023).

Zenith, as part of Team Fresh, “Subdog,” Subway

How often have you seen an April Fool’s Day post successfully launch a product, nonetheless sell out and give a global business the highest EVER sales results? We used social media (and this post) to test the viability of a product, which then became the product that we needed to sell – Subdog, Subway’s hot dog sausage in their world-famous footlong sub.

Over the course of five weeks in September 2022, Subway’s first authentic sports feed placed in sports environments, reaching both a niche and broad audience, was a sellout, before the campaign ended. In fact, Subdog was the highest-selling new product ever and gave Subway Australia and New Zealand their highest-ever sales period, plus a host of other record-breaking business KPIs.

Consumers told us that they wanted to see Subdog be created and sold in real life, not just as a joke. Dave Thompson, a fan who threatened publicly to never eat Subway again if it wasn’t true, helped launch Subdog – we welcomed him back with great fanfare, producing highly engaging content that made some noise and got the fans excited.

An integrated media and creative campaign, created by TeamFresh, ensured that each media placement was punching above its weight – super important at a time when Subway’s key competitors were outspending them by up to 6:1. Despite a low 9 per cent SOV, Subway was able to get incredibly strong eSOV, ensuring best ever business results (Subdog sold out before the campaign finished), whilst not cannibalising the other products. In fact, all products across the board saw an increase in sales due to the great top-of-mind awareness media and creative help develop.

Who let the dogs out? Subway did!

Right, you’ve made it this far. So, you might as well book your tickets for the actual B&T Awards night and see which of these takes home the gong!

We’ll see you at the Hordern Pavilion on Friday 24 November 2023! Early bird tickets are limited so don’t run the risk of paying full price later.

Secure your table now!