Investment app Pearler frightened Sydney’s morning commuters this week with an army of skeletons in business suits turning up at some of the city’s busiest train stations.
The stunt was to help solidify Pearler’s brand platform of wanting to help and encourage Aussies to find financial freedom through long-term investing and was inspired by new research conducted with PureProfile; that found more than a third (36 per cent) of young Australians (Millennials and Gen Z) doubt they’ll ever be able to retire, and nearly half (48 per cent) expect a worse retirement than their parents had. The gap is even wider for women: 43 per cent doubt they’ll ever retire, compared with 30 per cent of men.
In the middle of the morning rush on Tuesday 27 October, life-sized skeletons, led by the head skeleton and brand ambassador, Barry, dressed in suits and ties appeared at Town Hall, Wynyard and Central stations, and on a Sydney train. Each held a sign with a simple message: “Don’t Work Forever.”
There was no logo, no QR code and no call to action. Commuters were left to work it out for themselves, and that is exactly what they did. Phones came out, photos went up, and by lunchtime the skeletons had become one of Sydney’s most-shared mysteries.
Pearler later revealed itself as the brand behind the stunt, tying it to new research into how young Australians feel about retirement. It also introduced the internet to Barry, a skeleton in a suit who “worked forever” and is now the campaign’s cautionary tale.
It was picked up by meme and social pages including Australian Daily Official, Complex Australia, So Sydney, r/SydneyScene and r/fiaustralia. It’s also been covered by news sites Yahoo Finance, News.com.au, Savings.com.au and now B&T. One bystander’s video has racked up more than 3 million views on Instagram on its own. There was no paid budget utilised and the campaign relied entirely on earned media and social share of voice.
“So many young Australians now see retirement as something that happens to other people. We wanted to show them, in the most literal way we could, what working forever actually looks like. Then remind them it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Nick Nicolaides, co-founder and CEO, Pearler.
The campaign was created entirely by Pearler Studio, the in-house creative team.
With brands increasingly debating whether to take creative in-house, Pearler’s model is built for speed. A small, senior team sits next to the people who build the product and know the customer, so the time between idea and execution is measured in weeks, not months. Concept, research, production, earned strategy, shoot and social content were all made by the same team, without layers of approvals or handovers.
For a fintech challenger without big-brand budgets, that matters. Rather than trying to outspend the banks and super funds, Pearler is aiming to out-think them with guerrilla-style ideas built to be shared, where earned and organic reach does the heavy lifting.
“We don’t have the media budgets of the big dogs, so we have to generate awareness in more lateral ways. It’s a good problem to have,” said Jack Nunn, creative director, Pearler.
Credits:
Client: Pearler
Creative and Production: Pearler Studio (in-house)
