| Title | SPLICE RESCUE |
| Brand | UNILEVER |
| Product / Service | STREETS - SPLICE REAL FRUIT |
| Category | A06. Best Use of Special Events And Stunt/Live Advertising |
| Entrant | UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Entrant Company: | UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Media Agency: | UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Helen Black | UM | Sydney Strategy Director |
| Catherine Haddad | UM | Investment Director |
| Agnes Gudz | UM | Account Manager |
| Sandy Tang | UM | Trader |
| Justin Ricketts | Ensemble | Managing Director |
| Tim Hodgson | Ensemble | Director |
| Matt Cameron | Ensemble | Account Director |
| Ross Raeburn | Soap | Managing Director |
| Josh Hunt | Soap | Account Director |
| Natalie Helm | Respublica | Account Director |
| Shaneez Johnston | Respublica | Account Manager |
| Andrea Martens | Unilever | Marketing Director |
| Dan Bitti | Unilever | Brand Manager |
| Charlie Roe | Unilever | Assistant Brand Manager |
Splice Rescue was the hit of the summer. The activation featured on all prime-time news shows, in major newspapers and across online news and entertainment sites. In total Splice Real Fruits received PR coverage valued at over $7 million. That’s more than ten times the cost of the activation itself. 318,000 beach-goers across Australia got to experience the refreshment hit of Splice Real Fruit when they needed it most. The lucky few even met the Hoff. Despite poor weather and distribution issues, sales were strong. The strawberry variant delivered 200% of an aggressive sales forecast.
The campaign was launched with a bang. We used the Hoff to engage and attract consumers on the ground. He stormed Bondi Beach with his glamorous Splice Savers, gave away ice-creams and whipped the crowd into a frenzy. We then amplified the event and leveraged earned media. Not only did the media cover the story, they were desperate to interview the Hoff. We even secured a seven-minute segment on the hit TV show Bondi Rescue. The Hoff turned tutor of the real Bondi lifeguards as he shared his tips on how to stay cool over summer. Coupled with a paid media approach of syndicating the content we reached millions of Australians. Finally, we took Splice Rescue on a tour of Australian beaches – from WA to Victoria. Jet-skis, boats and eager Splice Savers created a sense of theatre as they sampled Splice Real Fruits to surprised beach goers.
Australians love summer, they love ice-cream and they love beaches. In fact they love all three together. So it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the ideal place to launch Splice Real Fruit. We knew the refreshing product would hit the mark with sweltering beach-goers. What was hard was coming up with an unexpected way to connect with consumers at the beach. And as ice-cream advertising spend had increased by 22% YOY we had to fight even harder to get noticed. Now the unsung heroes of the Australian coastline are the lifeguards – much loved and much respected – so we decided it was time they stole the limelight. We turned to the most famous lifeguard in the world for some help. Enter David Hasselhoff and his team of Splice Savers. Their mission: To get Splice Real Fruits into as many hands as possible and create brand love through a unique experience.