TRUE NORTH

TitleTRUE NORTH
BrandCARLTON & UNITED BREWERIES
Product / ServiceGREAT NORTHERN BREWING CO.
CategoryA14. Excellence in Partnerships for Branded Content
EntrantMEDIACOM Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation MEDIACOM Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation 2 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Gemma Hunter MediaCom Executive Creative Director & Head of MBA
Mathew Anastasi MediaCom Content Director
Andrew Raymond MediaCom Content Manager
Zeb M Allan MediaCom A&I Manager
Annalise Booker MediaCom Digital Manager
Maree Hall MediaCom Planning Director
Dan Walkington Fox Network Australia Producer
Dan Lyons Fox Network Australia Senior advertising and partnerships Manager
Julia Scales Fox Network Australia Director of Advertising and Partnerships
Nick Fordham The Fordham Company CEO

The Campaign

For Matt Wright, the star of Outback Wrangler it’s impossible to escape comparisons to Crocodile Dundee but alongside mates Jono and Willow he’s doing his own thing and spending his days amongst the mud and mosquitoes wrangling crocodiles. No-one needed some mate’s time away more this hard-working trio. The Idea: True North. In partnership with Great Northern Brewing Co and National Geograhic we took the boys to Northern Queensland and created online short stories charting their journey to reconnection, along with a platter of specifically created online and social content tastier than a famous Aussie BBQ. Between fishing for Marlin miles out to sea, setting up camp in the rainforest after finding the perfect off the map swimming hole and diving below the waves for the ultimate underwater experience, one thing remained the same; ending the day with great chats watching the sun set with beers in hand.

Creative Execution

Filmed in far North Queensland, True North is about as rugged and magical as it gets. The filming and locations were a sensational snapshot of this great land and had national appeal. The True North story ran across National Geographic TV and digital including programmatic distribution as well as optimised social and digital distribution across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Matt’s only just getting started. His popularity is booming and his down to earth nature brings a refreshing honesty that lends itself to a long term, mutually beneficial brand partnership. Matt would be the first to tell you, we haven’t conquered it all. Signing Matt to a 2-year deal ensured the boys will be back out there searching for their true north, whether it’s gullies accessible only on horseback or kayaking down remote rivers, their reconnection story has only just begun.

In a market with over 2000 beer brands we increased sales by 211%. The True North stories delivered over 4M content views across screens and more than 10.5M impressions. Nat Geo’s digital channels (in conjunction with their broadcast channels) gave us insight into just how immersive this content was with users enjoying an average of almost 3 minutes. Proprietry research with Unruly using facial regonition software to score emotional response to social content scored the films on average 9/10. The content performed better than up to 96% of over 3000 ads tested in the research. With a cost per view averaging $0.17 we hit a sweet spot with Aussie blokes and ensured they’d have something to remember and a story worth sharing come Monday morning. Josh Patterson wrote on Facebook, “Love it, you have converted me from XXXX to you. And will never go back. Great drop.”

When it comes to nature, Aussies are spoilt for choice. We have all sorts of natural goodies; beaches, creeks, cliffs, lakes, rivers, gorges, koalas, kangaroos, you name it we have it. One thing is for sure on this island continent, you can’t go it alone. You conquer it with your mates. At 36, Matt Wright is, Australia’s newest wildlife warrior and croc wrangler, together with National Geographic’s 129 years experience and in partnership with Great Northern Brewing Co, the newest kid on the block in the beer business, we completely reinvented the way Aussie mates reconnect in the great outdoors.

The True North story is about dishing up mates a responsible dish of new age wisdom in a language they understand. They’d rather be out catching fish than hearing a bunch of clever catchphrases or marketing mumbo jumbo and that’s where Matt’s straight talking Aussie lingo is the voice of reason and tells it how it is. Physical or mental, it’s about escape, it’s switching off and slowing down. Taking it easy for a weekend with mates has never been easier. Every Aussie has their own ‘true north’ and bit of quiet time in the outdoors recharging the batteries with your mates over an icy cold beer is all we need. Happy days. With refreshing honesty GNBC traded fantasy for reality; and with Australia’s outdoors as the canvas to the ultimate film set, the strategy was single minded; memorable reconnection moments with your mates.

Links

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