LOVE YOUR LOCAL

Bronze Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleLOVE YOUR LOCAL
BrandTAB
Product / ServiceTAB
CategoryC01. Guerrilla Marketing & Stunts
EntrantM&C SAATCHI Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation M&C SAATCHI Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement OMD Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 13CO Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 2 RUMBLE STUDIOS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Post Production WHITE CHOCOLATE Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Cam Blackley M&C Saatchi Chief Creative Officer
Chris Cheeseman M&C Saatchi Creative Director
Paul Bruce M&C Saatchi Art Director
Jack Emery M&C Saatchi Copywriter
Nick Jacobs M&C Saatchi Head of Strategy
Clement Simon M&C Saatchi Social Strategist
Emma McJury M&C Saatchi Group Head
Joshua Johns M&C Saatchi Account Director
Loren August M&C Saatchi Head of TV
Richie Butterworth M&C Saatchi Head of Sponsorship
Patrick Fileti 13CO Director
Charity Downing 13CO Producer
Roy De Giorgio M&C Saatchi Executive Producer
Kieran Fowler 13CO DOP
Patrick Fileti 13CO Editor
Fergus Rotherham 13CO Colourist
Daniel McCormick Rumble Studios Composer
Luke Waldren TAB Executive General Manager – Customer, Product, Marketing & VIP
Kent Madders TAB General Manager – Brand, Marketing & Content
John Vellis TAB General Manager – Media, Sponsorships & Sky Thoroughbred Central
Luke Feddema TAB Head of Marketing - Brand & Campaigns
Will Evans TAB Marketing Manager – Brand & Campaign
Edward Kier TAB Marketing Executive - Brand & Campaigns
Michael Wall TAB Senior Manager – PR & Social
Eden Richards TAB PR & Social Media Executive
Rohan Welsh TAB PR & Media Manager
Brad Bishop TAB PR & Media Manager
Andrew Georgiou TAB PR & Media Manager

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

We know that corporations' brands and trademarks are sacrosanct, but extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. To lend its weight to the urgent call for vaccinations TAB, stepped in with a simple name change; TAB became JAB on closed pubs, retail outlets, comms and in social channels. It kicked off in PR with ex AFL and NRL players lending their support. The name change gained column inches, admiration (some derision too) and earned attention on broadcast TV and radio. It was communication at its simplest and an act that other brands such as NAB were to mimic weeks later.

Background

• Situation Three months into a second lockdown vaccination rates in Australia were cripplingly low, partly due to misinformation about vaccine side effects. Australian businesses and workers were suffering, not least pubs and clubs which were chained closed. On the face of it, the path to our doors reopening was clear. We just needed to hit the vaccination milestones set by the NSW state government...there was just one problem. 30% of Australians were expressing some form of hesitancy in getting the vaccine. • Brief Use TAB’s National Reach to do something to remind people that their local pubs and workers were suffering. • Objectives Enter the side of pro-vaccine to urgently speed vax rates to the 80% target. Create PR for the TAB brand that positions itself as bigger than the bet.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Make a tangible and visible change that showed we were pro-vax, that we were more than talk.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

30% of Australians were hesitant to get vaccinated, holding a natural “mistrust of authoritative members of society such as government officials, scientists, and health care professionals.” In short, our audience didn’t like being told what to do. We did know however that “vaccine hesitant or resistant people are more receptive to messages regarding COVID-19 if they are delivered by individuals within non-traditional positions of authority and expertise.” We just needed to find the right motivation. It became clear that what our hesitant audience was missing most, wasn’t the stuff filling government campaigns, it was their Saturday ritual of watching sport with mates at their local. We needed to: Get: Aussie blokes Who: Didn’t like being told what to do by the government To: Feel they were getting vaccinated on their own terms By: Showing vaccination was the ‘key’ to unlocking their beloved locals Proposition: For the love of your local

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

An overnight branding change from TAB to JAB in social and physical locations. Backed by PR and picked up TV Broadcast and radio programming. Social media encouraged people to tag their ‘local’ and tell stories of what they missed about it. In advertising we documented the empty streets and pubs with sentimental music. And in national press we published real stories as told by Aussies about their ‘Local’. JAB was a simple message you couldn’t escape. A name change. A call to action. An activation. A PR tool. This campaign was run nationally from mid September 2022, with the bulk of the paid media focused in Australia’s two biggest states that were the hardest impacted. New South Wales and Victoria.

List the results (30% of vote)

Vaccine rates accelerated faster than expected and both states reopened weeks ahead of schedule. We like to think Australia’s biggest wagering country with 1.5 million active customers helped create that acceleration. 30% were more likely to get the jab Over 60% felt more positive about the brand We shifted preference with 60% of younger punters more likely to use TAB Earned reach of 32 million Took off on Twitter with 4.8M impressions (33% higher than AU benchmark).