Optus‘ creative account is out for pitch as a decision looms over the brand’s media account.
B&T revealed in October that Optus had begun a statutory review of its media planning and buying arrangements.
Optus has worked with UM as its media planning and buying agency for eight years when it won the account from Starcom. UM most recently defended the account in 2019.
B&T understands that the media account pitch is well underway. Presentations could happen as soon as tomorrow, with a decision possible within weeks.
On the creative side, M&C Saatchi’s bespoke offering, Yes Agency and independent agency Emotive are among the incumbents. The review, Optus told Little Black Book is part of the brands’ “commitment to high standards of service”.
The telco conducts regular reviews of its agencies every three years. “This regular review ensures that we continue to work with partners who align with our values and deliver high-quality outcomes to meet the evolving needs of our business and customers, ” an Optus spokesperson said.
Emotive’s star-studded social-first approach
Since taking on a branch of the telco’s creative account, Emotive has maintained a social-first approach to the brand’s advertising. In October, the agency released a series of spots featuring three quirky, memorable characters — from an eshay upgrade fairy to a charming fox puppet and an amped-up nanna. The launch includes three 30-second spots across postpaid, prepaid, and home internet, each bringing the characters to life in unique ways.
Building on this momentum, Optus extended the campaign to social platforms with unique, platform-specific creative in collaboration with TikTok.
This partnership enabled Emotive to tap into popular content styles on TikTok, like self-care routines, affirmations and “day in the life” routines, which align with consistent platform behaviours rather than transient trends.
The collaboration helped mould the Optus characters into “influencers in their own right,” an approach that builds affinity with the Optus brand while delivering key product messaging and creating a cumulative effect through integration.
Chatting exclusively to B&T at the time, Emotive CEO Simon Joyce highlighted the necessity of considering social media as the lead channel for some audiences where traditional media channels are increasingly seen as secondary. He explained that often so much time, effort and funding goes into the traditional and hero assets that the social creative isn’t prioritised.
“At Emotive, we have a diverse range of creatives—some more traditional, others non-traditional, but all driven by bold ideas,” Joyce explained. “In this case it was about casting a dedicated team to tackle the entertainment stream of social assets, while another team focuses on traditional formats.” Equally important, he noted, is having a client who understands the exponential ROI from investing in additional production time for true social first assets, something Optus has fully embraced.
The agency also tapped into some star power over its tenure working with Optus. In August last year, the agency snapped up Delta Goodrem and Jason Donovan for a hilarious series of spots to launch its free 7-day network trial by playfully acknowledging that it sounds almost too good to be true.
The “No Catch” campaign playfully acknowledged that although the free trial might sound too good to be true, there really is no catch. You don’t even have to be Delta Goodrem’s assistant or Jason Donovan’s flatmate, which is lucky because it turns out they can be a bit tricky.
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