Why is this work relevant for Media?

Instead of dads just being Pepperjack’s primary consumer, for an entire campaign we turned them into our primary media. Instead of using billboards or radio ads, we got dads themselves to be our channel – from wearing eye-catching bathers printed with reminder messages, to calling up radio stations to request ‘Don’t you forget about me’. Even the timing of this ‘media’ helped Pepperjack remind people not to forget Father’s Day – by getting dad’s to cycle the streets on the morning of Father’s Day.

Background

In the wine category, gifting is one of the biggest opportunities to grow revenue. To capitalise on this, Pepperjack – one of Australia’s favourite wines – wanted to position themselves as the perfect Father’s Day gift.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

Each year, there are 40 million fewer cards are sold on Father’s Day than Mother’s Day. To ensure no Dad was forgotten on Father’s Day this year, Pepperjack joined forces with an army of everyday fathers, and turned ‘dads’ into ‘ads’ to deliver an important public service announcement to the nation: “Don’t forget Father’s Day”.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

More often than not, sons and daughters find it difficult to buy for their dads, so they revert to just asking him what he’d like as a gift. For Pepperjack, this presented an opportunity, if we could show these people that a Dad’s preferred gift was a bottle of Pepperjack, then we could overcome their purchase anxiety.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

The campaign used Dads as the very medium to spread their reminder message via some of their favourite pastimes. One Dad kicked off the grassroots movement, by mowing a paddock-sized reminder into his lawn. Perth Dads out for their morning swim showed off cheeky, unforgettable reminders on their budgie smugglers. A cheersquad inspired ‘Dadsquad’ proudly paraded reminder banners in front of 40,000 fans. They even sent in song requests to radio stations for the Simple Minds’ classic “Don’t you forget about me”. And on the morning of the big day, a peloton of middle-aged Dads in lycra wore last-minute reminders on their weekly Sunday cycle like a fleet of roaming billboards.

List the results (30% of vote)

Our Father’s Day reminders were seen on streets and heard on radios around the country. Dads also took to social media to share their own reminders. But best of all, our army of unforgettable dads meant that fathers all across the country were remembered.