WESTPAC AIR RESCUE

Silver Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleWESTPAC AIR RESCUE
BrandWESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION
Product / ServiceWESTPAC’S FUNDING OF THE WESTPAC LIFESAVER RESCUE HELICOPTER SERVICE
CategoryD01. Use of Brand or Product Integration into a Programme or Platform
EntrantMEDIACOM Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation MEDIACOM Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement MEDIA LAB COMMUNICATIONS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production FREDBIRD ENTERTAINMENT Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Gemma Hunter MediaCom Executive Creative Director & Head of MBA
Simon Jarosz MediaCom Creative Director
Taylor Thornton MediaCom Senior Creative
Josh Butt MediaCom Head of Content Production
Alexandra Gough MediaCom Content Strategy Director
Maddy Cunich MediaCom Content Manager
Emma Couch MediaCom Content Director
Shelby Craig MediaCom Creative Director
Pat Cunningham Westpac Head of Sponsorship & Events
Toby Dewar Westpac Head of Media & Agency
Penny MacCallum Westpac Senior Sponsorship Manager

The Campaign

At a time when there was a feeling of unease around the world in the media, particularly with the impending US election, Westpac were perfectly placed to profile and amplify positive rescue stories. We knew there was an appetite for heroics and positivity in Australia – with 4 of the top 10 grossing movies of 2016 being in the superhero genre. The parallels existed in real life too – our crew watch over communities as well as flying under the radar when they’re out of their uniform. We were so proud of the men and women in the service, yet they’re incredibly humble. They see themselves as ordinary people, with an extraordinary job. We couldn’t directly call them superheroes, yet by borrowing from the genre, we could take inspiration around character development, story arcs, filming direction and an epic original music score to tell their stories.

Creative Execution

A 6 part observational documentary series ran on free to air television in a primetime slot featuring dramatic and awe inspiring rescues. We extended the stories with network trailers across TV and over 70 pieces of unique social content. Facebook delivered action highlights and custom formats such as 360 video, placing viewers in the pilot’s seat mid-flight, and experiencing a water winch. Snapchat delivered pieces to camera from the young crew, taking the audience from a morning surf to a behind the scenes tour of the helicopter base. Instagram shared beautiful shots from the sky, cinemagraphs of the rotor blades and flat lays of the kit. 3 prominent Aussie photographers also experienced a high-octane flight and created a photojournalism style 3rd party perspective on the work of the crew Twitter synced content across screens, as well as leveraging weather targeting to trigger rescue content during bad weather.

We reached 38% of the country, watched by 5.2m Australians, an 11% lift from previous years, and an audience favourite ranking, in the top 10 shows (Metro markets) and top 5 shows (Regional markets) during its first 3 weeks on air Social extended our stories to 4.1m young Aussies, triggering 2.1m social engagements Best of all, it worked. Brand tracking through Facebook shows a phenomenal uplift in brand favourability by 9.9pts during one month of activity. The biggest ever lift seen for Westpac. But that’s not all, we made a real difference to the bottom line, with a 4.6% increase in site traffic driving new customers Over all 4 seasons Air Rescue has reach 30m people, generated $7.5m in PR value and has now been sold into 100 markets globally making it the most in demand brand funded format on the planet - something even Superman would be proud of.

Could your bank quite literally save your life? This Australian bank can, and does, every single day. The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter service patrols the skies, watching over Australians and saving them from peril. As you can imagine there’s some pretty phenomenal stories. And so we told them, not through ads, but a brand funded primetime TV show and social content series, Air Rescue, playing out across TV, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Combining our screens strategy over peak summer months when the choppers were high in the sky we were unmissable, reaching 38% of Aussies through media alone.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

A screens strategy combined TV with social, enabling us to build reach across core audiences of youth and under 40s. Achieving visibility in the home and in their palms, as well as the choppers being visible in the sky. Buying ads wasn’t enough, we needed to be the content they chose to consume. To achieve this, we needed to match our stories to audience behaviour, by media: Saving the day content would be high octane entertainment full of action, drama and suspense during rescues across media where the audience looked to switch off. Behind the mask content would deliver crew stories and their motivations, passions and fears in media where the audience were connecting with others. Explore their world content would show a beautiful and unique perspective on Australia, in media where the audience sought inspiration and followed passions for photography.

Links

Video URL