Results and Effectiveness

• 1,000 pieces of PR across both national and international news outlets, which equated to over 15 million PR impressions. • The show itself won its timeslot, against some stiff competition, with over 1 million Australians tuning in across the 60 minutes (and equated to a media value of a staggering $4.2 million.) • 660,000 online conversations in the week prior to the show airing with 92% of all comments positive or balanced. • The PR and social value equated to a huge $1.2 million. • Quality food and freshness brand perception scores now at 2 year high.

Creative Execution

Fusing our insight alongside a classic 80’s movie as the creative spark, our campaign was born. The Search for Australia’s Next Top Gun The search was constructed in three phases: 1. Across key universities we used high impact media placements to drive students to locations where we gave them the chance to have their flying skills judged by a former RAAF pilot in a simulator. If they passed, they were invited to our exclusive Top Gun event night. 2. The top 75 recruits got to experience the daily thrill of being a fighter jet pilot. The event space was themed as an aircraft hanger, and Special Ops and RAAF personnel were on hand to manage the guests and tell their stories. 3. They then enjoyed a private screening of Top Gun on a state of the art cinema screen, received a Top Gun show bag and the classic shearling jacket. We then amplified the entire experience through video content seeded via pre-rolls, Facebook video and YouTube.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Australian Defence Recruitment approached us with a unique challenge: to find and recruit an elite jet fighter pilot. The normal cost-per-enlisted-recruit for the elite Air Force exceeds $1,000,000. We had just $200,000. We needed a creative solution that would find, test and engage the pilots of the future. As well as academic qualifications, they needed hand-eye coordination and reaction skills that differentiate the small percentage of ‘fast jet’ pilots from the rest – and to be determined, with a competitive edge. The primary target was 16-24 year old males, a difficult group given their short attention spans, fragmented media behaviours and hectic lifestyles. The insight? Young men need to experience the thrill and intensity of jetfighter training for them to believe that the dream of becoming an elite pilot can become a reality.