Audible and independent creative group Hello have lifted the lid on the strategy behind the audiobook platform’s latest Australian campaign, revealing why Jennifer Coolidge was chosen to front the work, how the ambitious three-part campaign came together and why the brand is testing a stunt-first approach to launching major campaigns.
After Jennifer Coolidge’s surprise appearance in Bondi sparked widespread attention this week, B&T joined the production behind the scenes as the Hollywood actor filmed the hero creative for Audible’s latest brand campaign with Hello.
While the public reaction centred around Coolidge’s unexpected appearance in Australia, behind the scenes the campaign represents a much broader strategic play for Audible — using a recognisable cultural figure, a retail partnership and a stunt-led launch model to bring more Australians into the audiobook category.
Created by Audible in partnership with Hello, the campaign sees Coolidge bring her signature humour and personality to the everyday grocery shop, showing Aussies the power a great audiobook has on making everyday life moments more enjoyable. The work has rolled out across PR, social, and influencer with a consumer activation, digital, out-of-home and traditional media to come.
According to Audible’s global head of brand media Polly Blenkinship and Hello’s CEO Sam Kelly, the decision to work with Coolidge wasn’t just about finding a famous face — it was about tapping the right talent to help the brand connect with as many Australians as possible.
Why Jennifer Coolidge?
Blenkinship said Coolidge’s appeal came from her rare ability to connect with audiences across generations.
“She has this incredible ability to appeal to so many different audiences,” Blenkinship said. “She’s someone who is genuinely loved by people across generations. She’s funny, she’s warm, she’s authentic, and she has that ability to make people stop and pay attention.”
But beyond her humour, Coolidge’s long career was a key part of why she was selected.
Having appeared in iconic. films and television shows spanning decades, including American Pie and Legally Blonde, Coolidge has built recognition among audiences of different ages — something Audible saw as valuable as it looks to expand awareness of audiobooks among Australians.
“She brings star power, charisma and intergenerational reach,” Kelly said. “She’s been part of people’s lives for such a long period of time. Different generations know her from different things, whether that’s older films or more recent work, everyone has a favourite Coolidge moment.”
For Audible, that broad appeal gives the campaign the ability to reach beyond a traditional audiobook audience.
“She brings a really wide audience with her,” Blenkinship agreed. “She’s someone that people know and ties nicely into the broad appeal of Audible. Our catalogue offers something for everyone across a wide range of genres.”
The strategy was not just about awareness, but about creating a connection between the talent and the product.
“Jennifer is such a natural storyteller,” Blenkinship said.
“That’s obviously really important for Audible. She understands humour, she understands entertainment, and she understands how to bring people in.”
How Audible and Hello built the campaign
The campaign started with a creative idea developed between Audible and Hello, with both teams looking beyond a traditional advertising launch.
Hello CEO Sam said the partnership focused on building one central idea that could work across multiple channels rather than creating separate executions for each platform.
“The more progressive brands are using earned stunts and activations and then pulling the moment and narrative into traditional placements supported by heavy brand media investment,” he said.
“You’ve got one central idea that creates a full ecosystem for the brand across TV, OOH, social, creators, influencers, experiential, earned media and even retail. It’s an industry leading model Hello has spent a lot of time and energy getting right.”
For Kelly, the relationship between agency and client was critical in shaping the campaign.
“The best work happens when there’s a really strong partnership between client and agency,” he said.
“It’s about bringing together the brand objective, the consumer insight and the creative idea, and then asking how that idea can travel. We talk a lot about campaign shape in creative development, not just the substance of what we want to say. ”
Rather than starting with a channel or media plan and fitting creative into it, the team wanted to create something people would actively want to talk about.
“The question was how do we create something that people want to engage with and share?” Sam said. “How do we come into the real world, not just a screen and create something that earns attention, rather than just buying ad space?”
A new way of launching campaigns
While stunt-led campaigns are not entirely new for Audible, Blenkinship said this represents one of the brand’s most ambitious integrated campaigns in Australia.
Rather than leading with traditional advertising placements, the campaign starts with a moment designed to generate attention before expanding into other channels.
“We’re looking at the impact of the stunt, the PR, the consumer activation and then the more traditional campaign,” she said.
The approach reflects a wider change in how brands are trying to break through in an increasingly fragmented media environment.
Sam said campaigns now need to be designed with multiple touchpoints in mind from the beginning.
“You don’t want to just create a brand platform that only works as an ad” he said.
“You want to create an idea that can live everywhere, that becomes a consistent mosaic made up of many touchpoints”
The campaign’s second chapter arrives this weekend.
From Friday through Monday, shoppers visiting Harris Farm’s Bondi store will be able to try Audible’s “audio-enabled” shopping trolleys, complete with headphones allowing customers to choose an audiobook while completing their grocery shop.
The hero campaign, spanning video, digital, out-of-home and other media channels, is then scheduled to launch in mid-August.
For Blenkinship, however, the campaign is still only at the beginning.
“We’re only 48 hours in,” she said. “There’s still a lot to come!”
Credits:
Audible
Polly Blenkinship – Global Head of Brand Media & Australia Hub Lead
Pru Turnell – APAC Communications Lead
Alex Conomos – Director, Brand and Content Marketing
Sara McKeown – Director, Brand and Content Marketing
Jayden Koulizakis – Social Media Marketing Manager
Rhys Gower – Head of Media, APAC
Georgia Lindley – Influencer and Media Partnerships Manager
Riya Thakerar – AU Media Manager
Hello
Sam Kelly – CEO & Partner
Caroline Berdayes – CFO & COO
Daniel Fryer – Executive Creative Director
Ben Stavert – Director of Social & Editorial
Josh Manning – Head of Strategy
Allex Conley – Head of Publicity
Olivia Watts – Head of Events
Seamus McShane – Head of Design
Mary Chbib – Head of Talent
Sunny Manadavadi – Client Lead
Xantre Macaraeg – Account Director
Carla Wong – Account Director
Gill Axia – Senior Account Manager
Alana Young – Senior Editor
