Optus is betting its comeback on the last person you’d expect to front a telco ad: someone’s actual Nonna.
Optus has launched its new long-term brand platform, ‘There’s always a way’ via Droga5.
The hero spot follows Maria, played by non-actor Giovanna. During the ad, Maria is thrust into the coaching duties for her grandchild’s crucial quarter final basketball match after the regular coach drops out.
With next-to-no basketball knowledge, Maria is forced to use Optus connectivity to learn on the fly, proving, as the tagline insists, that ‘There’s Always A Way’.
It’s a shift from the telco’s previous campaign, ‘We’re On It’, which spent the past year focused on rebuilding trust after network outages, which have rattled the entire sector in recent years.
Optus corporate affairs and marketing chief Felicity Ross said the new platform followed a period of work on the fundamentals of the business.
“Our five-year plan is centred on becoming easier to trust and easier to choose. We’ve been focused on strengthening the foundations needed to deliver that,” said Ross.
The platform was shaped in part by qualitative research conducted in customers’ homes. One participant told Optus “I don’t care what you’re doing in five years, You’re not important unless something goes wrong”.
The result was a new platform built around the idea of Australian determination, with Optus positioning itself as the “quiet enabler” behind the everyday ingenuity that gets Australians through their challenges.
For Droga5, the idea came from the way Australians already use technology to solve problems.
“It’s about turning optimism and positivity into positive action,” said Droga5 ANZ co-chief creative officer Barbara Humphries and 2026 B&T Women in Media Power List inductee.
On its broader positioning, Ross was more blunt.
“Optus has had to grow up. It is a big telco and we need to operate with the strong governance and accountability that you would expect from a company of that size carrying critical infrastructure.”
The shift in has message carried through the campaign which has rolled out across TV, BVOD, digital, social and OOH, with 21 pieces of social content extending the campaign.
Optus will also utilise its NBL and WNBL sponsorships to bring the idea to live throughout live sport. This will include executions where Maria directly responds to what is happening during live games. The media strategy was developed alongside Accenture Song.
Regional Australia is a major part of that media plan, with the campaign set to launch alongside Optus’s regional 5G rollout in an attempt to extend the scale of its campaign launch into markets that wouldn’t usually see it.
“Connectivity matters more when we think about regional Australia,” said Optus executive general manager marketing Lauren Dawber.
“Normally, when you think about a media plan, you do your Martin Place and Federation Square placements. That is what we are trying to bring to regional Australia.”
“We want to reset that sort of cultural perception to Australia and that scared understanding of where Optus is going moving forward, but then being able to bring that into hyper-local areas with impact,” Accenture Song ANZ managing director, media strategy, Chris Colter added.
The move is part of a wider push for the brand to reflect what Optus described as modern Australia, including a greater investment in culturally diverse audiences.
Credits
Optus
Chief Corporate Affairs and Marketing Officer: Felicity Ross
Executive General Manager, Marketing: Lauren Dawber
Director, Brand: David Hustwit
Senior Manager, Brand: Vanessa Burr
Senior Marketing Manager, Brand: Prue Cope
Associate Director, Media: Sam McGroder
Associate Director, Digital Media: Phil Spurden
Creative Agency: Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song
ANZ Marketing Practice Lead, CEO of Droga5 ANZ: Matt Michael
Chief Creative Officer: Barbara Humphries & Damon Stapleton
Principal Director: Kezia Quinn
Creative Directors: Thomas Gledhill and Lennie Galloway
Creatives: Ewan Harvey and Aicha Wijland
Head of Strategy: Ben De Castella
Group Business Director: Samar Karim
Business Director: Harrison Stone and Jack Asmius
Business Manager: Lily Toothill
Head of Production: Penny Brown
Senior Producer: Elliot Liebermann
Design: Beck Feiner, Kamron Lyons
Media Agency: Accenture Song Media
ANZ Managing Director: Sam Geer
Managing Director, Media Strategy: Chris Colter
Principal Director, Commercial Investment & Operations: Nick Thomas
Group Business Director: Sarah Moore
Production Company: 3&7
Director: Steve Ayson
Executive Producer: Allison Lockwood
Director of Photography: Germain McMicking
Post-Production Company: Arc
Editor: Phoebe Taylor
Colourist: Edel Rafferty
Audio & Music Production: Sonar Music
Sound Designer: Tim Bridg
