Telstra’s series of stop-motion spots, “Better On A Better Network” have been named B&T’s Campaign of the Month for June.
The campaign features 26 stop-motion films that focus on locations around Australia and their idiosyncrasies.
The campaign was created by +61, the bespoke agency, combining the creative talents of TBWA and Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, as well as OMD. created by CMO Brent Smart after he took the reins at Telstra.
It was directed by Revolver’s Jeff Low and animation director Tobias Fouracre, who worked with a crew of puppet makers, puppeteers and set designers.
“The idea was to talk about our network, which is our differentiator, but do it in a way that isn’t boasting about how big the network is, or talking about rational things like coverage and speed, we wanted to do it in a really entertaining way,” Smart told The Australian.
“The plan was to make enjoyable little 15-second breaks from most of the average advertising that surrounds it.
“I think where these ads are going to be at their best is a viewing experience, where you have multiple exposures and you’re not subject to that same ad every time and you can see different versions of these little ads. I think it’s going to keep it really fresh and surprising. These are purpose-built to be short, sharp and entertaining. They have a very simple message.”
Some in the industry have pilloried the campaign for copying Creature Comforts by Aardman Animations. However, others have pointed out that normal consumers likely won’t realise or care.
Smart also said that these ads should feature best in BVOD and other CTV environments, whilst also telling an important story about the brand and its network. In fact, Smart’s main focus as CMO has been moving Telstra away from its focus on the “trading” war that telcos are involved in and towards a broader brand focus.
“Marketing must deliver and contribute to winning the trading war, week by week, month by month, quarter by quarter… Traditionally, our split has been overweight towards what we call ‘trading’. That’s retail, offer-led stuff because telco is a hyper-competitive market,” he told B&T as part of our CMO Power List.
“I went on a similar journey with NRMA in my last job. The thing about going on that journey is that it doesn’t look great in the first year. It starts looking good in year two and three because brand building is a long-term exercise. But you start getting a cumulative effect of consistently brand-building and then it’s great. Your CPAs look better when the brand is strong, you convert better when the brand is strong and your trading and performance stuff works better when the brand is strong.
“We need to build confidence that we’re driving long-term growth and future demand. You can’t just be fighting in the same demand pool. You need to be growing the demand pool. The business will see the benefits, they just won’t see them right away,” he added.
To that end, Smart told The Australian that there was a “big gap” in how Telstra’s current customers felt about the brand and how non-customers do.
“We’ve been working hard to give the brand more personality, to make the brand more humble, more personable and more likeable,” he said.
“And these are all hard things to do when you are a really big brand. So we’ve been working really hard to inject that personality into our brand and you saw it with the Footy Country work, with our Christmas work, and I think it’s all come together with our new network work.”
Check out the rest of B&T’s Campaigns of the Month here.
Campaign credits
Creative Agencies: Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, +61
Media Agency: OMD Australia
Production Company: Revolver
Director: Jeff Low
Animation Director: Tobias Fouracre
