Target 100 Virtual Farm – Bringing the farm to the city

Challenge: Target 100 is an initiative by Australian cattle & sheep farmers to deliver sustainable farming by 2020 and help Australians understand more about where their food comes from.

We needed to communicate with a mass audience about how their food is produced, as for many people, farming is not close to home.

Research showed that this was a topic of interest for many though – with 58% of urban dwellers saying they are interested to know about the process undertaken to produce the beef and lamb they consume.

Strategy: What better way to bridge the gap between city folk and the country than to bring the farm to the city?

In order to overcome traditional barriers, Pulse Communications created the Target 100 Virtual Farm, a pop-up farm in Martin Place complete with native bushland, farmers from across Australia, and live cattle and sheep.

A giant screen beamed members of the public into Aussie farms using virtual technology, providing a unique opportunity for passers-by to speak directly with farmers without leaving the city centre.

We also enlisted popular journalist, blogger, qualified health coach and Target 100 ambassador, Sarah Wilson to share tips with the public on why beef and lamb are an important part of a healthy and sustainable diet.

Results: Numerous Sydney-siders got involved in the Target 100 Virtual Farm and spoke directly with our farmers Kara and Stu.

Media coverage was enormous – with over 214 clips to date, and a reach of over 8 million.

The event was attended by regional TV and radio networks which was crucial to its success.

Making Olive Oil from Spain the consumers choice

Challenge: As we all know, olive oil is a staple item in many Australian pantries.

However, research found that many consumers are undecided as to which type and variety of oil to choose. With a large number of brands, types and nationalities of oil on the market, who wouldn’t be overwhelmed?

Our aim was to simplify this problem by making olive oil from Spain, the oil of choice for Australian consumers.

We needed to leverage the quality, taste, heritage and value-for-money olive oil from Spain offers consumers, and take a leadership position amongst other olive oils that are available in stores.

Strategy: To introduce the campaign to the public we created a pop-up Spanish olive oil grove in the middle of Sydney’s CBD (George St) to celebrate Spain’s culture and heritage – imagine a fiesta of colour, sound and taste.

Our prestigious media and bloggers were also treated to an exclusive dinner hosted by ambassador Justine Schofield. They were able to preview the delicious array of food, infused with a splash of Spanish goodness (olive oil from Spain) that was to be opened to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner the following day.

This provided consumers the opportunity to taste and sample the olive oil for themselves, all the while in a fun Spanish setting.

Results: The olive oil from Spain campaign was not only fun for us but also for the estimated 7,500 Sydneysiders who tasted olive oil from Spain, consuming a total of 35 litres of Spanish olive oil varieties.

Another 1,500 Sydneysiders tasted Justine’s tasty dishes featuring olive oil from Spain for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

We generated a huge amount of coverage with 28 articles reaching over 1.8 million Australians with messages about olive oil from Spain. Highlights included mX, TimeOut and The Morning Show.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Drop

In November we helped Activision launch Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the biggest selling entertainment product of all time. Sometimes when you launch a product the work ends there – in the world of gaming, the mission has only just begun.

With the evolution of gaming online, publishers are now looking to keep the momentum alive with what is known as DLC – downloadable content. DLC allows gamers to take their gaming experience and inject it with new life. Revolution, the first Black Ops II DLC drop in 2013 gives players access to four new maps, a new weapon – The Peacekeeper, and for the first time ever they can play their favourite game as a Zombie.

To help Activision get their core gaming audience excited about the January 30^th Revolution launch on Xbox360, we engaged one of Australia’s most influential gamers, a man by the name of Champ Chong.

Champ Chong is an online oracle for Aussie gamers, an expert gamer with all the latest news, reviews and developments in the gaming world. Champ Chong loves the Call of Duty franchise, and jumped at the chance to help get the word out about Revolution.

With 300,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel we took our announcement and bought it life for his army of viewers. Working With Champ Chong we organised a special FX makeup expert to transform him into a Zombie for his show. The clip looked awesome, and as you’d expect things got a little messy.

View CLIP: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChampChong

Over 58 thousand viewers and counting have checked out the clip, and Champ Chong has posted regular updates on both his Facebook page (14,526 fans) as well as his Twitter handle (26,767 followers). The activity was a way to get news of the DLC drop to the game’s core audience in a fun, compelling way – and the results speak for themselves.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Challenge: Call of Duty is the biggest selling entertainment franchise of all time.

To continue the success of the gaming phenomenon, Activision engaged Pulse Communications to help launch its latest release, the ninth installment in the franchise Call of Duty: Black Ops II into the Australian market.

Q4 is the busiest time in the gaming calendar and the challenge was to ensure that we generated a high level of anticipation about Call of Duty: Black Ops II  and effectively communicate to consumers why they should purchase this game above all others in market. We needed to drive home that this was a bigger and better game than its predecessors and competitors.

Strategy: The gaming community were key in driving early buzz around the game. They are our core audience so we hosted an exclusive event to give our top 50 AU players the chance to play the game before anyone else.

Celebrity influencers were also important in spreading the excitement of Black Ops II. Pro rugby players like Quade Cooper and Karmichael Hunt, musicians like Ronan Keating and Guy Sebastian received early delivery of the game which lead to them driving conversation ahead of the release within their fan base.

We also hosted AU media at several press events in Los Angeles throughout 2012 to secure front cover features which gave fans their first look analysis of the new game.

Results: We landed front covers across the main gaming magazines. We generated mainstream news stories off the back of nationwide midnight store launches at EB Games including a prime time news feature on Sam Worthington’s role in the game on Today Show.

We generated mass conversation through social media channels and drove early talkability of the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II set a new entertainment record by making $1 billion in just 15 days.

The Top End Photography Adventure

Challenge: The Top End is known for many things, crocodiles, vibrant colours, hot weather and salt-of-the-earth Aussies. When we brought together Canon and Tourism Northern Territory to showcase all the area has to offer through the best lens in the industry – we knew we were onto a winner.

For Canon’s part, we identified the trend of people purchasing new equipment when they planned to go travelling. This was an opportunity to use a premium destination to showcase the features of the EOS and digital compact camera ranges from Canon and target travellers at a time they are considering their next trip.

Tourism NT aimed to encourage travellers, both local and international, to travel to one of the most beautiful places in the world and take beautiful photos in the process.

Strategy: To kill two birds with one stone we thought we’d share the love and take media on a six day photo safari to the NT to play with Canon’s arsenal of super cool EOS and compact cameras, including the newly launched EOS 650D and tough compact, PowerShot D20.

Sound fun? It was.

Think Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, Kakadu National Park, Cooinda – Yellow Water, Gunlom Falls- working with Tourism NT we designed an itinerary to showcase the best of the NT region, and give Canon’s range the workout of a lifetime.

Along with our top tier travel and photography media and bloggers, were two winners of a competition hosted on the Tourism NT Facebook page which challenged fans to share a photo which they believe best represented the area. Pro photographers Krystle Wright and Peter Eve were also on hand to guide the group on how to use the best equipment for each occasion.

Results: The Top End Photography Adventure was not only a blast for all involved, but an awesome example of how we took a real strategic look at our campaign thinking and brought two brands to work together to achieve not only their own objectives, but expose themselves to whole new audiences.

The NT adventure saw coverage surface across the photography, tourism, and lifestyle sectors, along with deep penetration across social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

After six intrepid days surveying, eating, exploring and snapping the very best of the NT, the trip culminated in photo competition at the Darwin Ski Club. Check out some of the handy work!

Say G’Day to Carnival Spirit – Australia’s newest and largest cruise ship

Challenge: More than 18 months ago, Pulse Communications was tasked with building excitement and anticipation for the arrival of the world’s largest cruise line, Carnival Cruise Lines, a brand barely known in this market. The challenge was to whet the Aussie appetite for a very different style of cruising in a marketplace not only cynical about cruising, but which had also yet to experience the ship, Carnival Spirit.

To grab the attention of the nation, the Carnival Cruise Lines and Pulse teams understood they needed to make Aussies feel part of the new ship which meant bringing the “Aussie spirit” to Carnival Spirit. As Carnival Cruise Lines spent $15 million in upgrades ensuring Carnival Spirit was just right for this market, so Pulse Communications invited Australians to be part of the big changes being made.

Strategy: Playing on the theme of “Aussification”, Pulse engaged the country to help make Carnival Spirit their ship through a series of activities and events. A world record slip and slide attempt provided a thrilling way of finding a name for the steepest and fastest waterslide – created specifically with Australians in mind; Australia’s Barista of the Year was brought aboard to train the ship’s staff in how to create that perfect flat white, and Aussie kids competed to design the giant Power Drencher tipping bucket in the waterpark.

When Carnival Spirit sailed through Sydney’s Heads for the very first time on 17 October 2012, her Aussie Spirit was almost complete – now all she needed was the ultimate Australian welcome to bring her into her new Sydney home. Waving Aussie flags from Spirit’s top deck, hundreds of guests signaled Spirit’s arrival whilst aerial stills and vision coordinated by Pulse was picked up by the Sydney Morning Herald, Channel 7, 9 and 10 news, The Project, Sunrise and TODAY.

Once the ship docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, a press conference attended by AAP, News Limited, 2GB, 2UE and every commercial TV network, was held in Serenity – a huge child-free retreat with panoramic ocean views, and one of the major Aussification upgrades. Media could then sample the true extent of the Aussie upgrades including testing their adrenalin on Green Thunder, the steepest and fastest water slide at sea, and sampling a cool Aussie beer at one of the newly-subbed bar taps.

The blanket publicity that followed triggered the highest booking period in Carnival Cruise Lines Australia’s history. Jennifer Vandekreeke, Director Carnival Cruise Lines Australia said, “Public relations played an integral part in driving awareness and ultimately, consideration of Carnival Spirit as Australia’s newest holiday destination. Website visits, calls to the contact centre and bookings jumped following the extensive media coverage surrounding Spirit’s arrival, notably the three and a half minute segment on A Current Affair.”

Results:

Monday, October 22^nd was CCL’s biggest booking day EVER

Net bookings versus the same day prior week were up 393%

Trade bookings up 606%

Direct bookings up 150%

Over 70 clips to date, with a reach of over 35 million

Total PR value of more than $1.5 million

Social media engagement up by 269%

Over 800 new Facebook page likes in 5 days

358 Twitter mentions

Dipped in Blue @ Ford HQ

Challenge: In early 2012, Ford Australia indicated they were eager to highlight their role as a hub for design, technology and engineering both locally and globally. More than ever before, a wide range of media and influencers need to be engaged; the auto industry is no longer confined to the car pages of metro newspapers and technology advances mean that tech influencers are of increasing importance to Ford.

Strategy: Pulse Communications, Ogilvy Public Relations’ consumer public relations firm, suggested that a ‘Dipped in Blue’ immersion event would put the spotlight on design and technology developments being led by Ford Australia whilst also leveraging and building upon current influencer relationships.

Due to the popularity of the idea, Ford Australia decided to provide Ford Asia Pacific markets the opportunity to invite key influencers to the event. In turn, an additional day was allocated for the international media.

In August, tech, automotive and consumer media and influencers were invited to visit Ford Australia Headquarters for a one-day event for hands on demos, product previews, behind the scenes access and exclusive news. On top of this, attendees were also given access to the faces and voices of Ford, such as Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano, and Chief Engineer Adam Frost. The brand new design centre, complete with the state-of-the-art Virtual Reality Centre and Powerwall room, was opened to media for the first time.

SYNC technology, to be brought to Australia with the release of the new Focus ST, was showcased to the media and influencers by Ed Pleet, Connected Services Director for Ford’s EAPA region. Attendees also experienced Active City Stop and Active Park Assist technologies, further cementing Ford’s place as a market leader in terms of smart technologies.

Results: In total Pulse had 42 consumer, tech and auto media and influencers attend from the Asia Pacific region. Key influencer relationships were strengthened through exclusive behind the scenes access to Ford Headquarters and its design and engineering teams.

In all, the ‘Dipped in Blue’ immersion event allowed Ford Australia to successfully position itself as a market leader in terms of technology and design developments, whilst also demonstrating its commitment to growth and thought leadership.

LG hosts smartphone scavenger hunt

Challenge: Back in July, LG Electronics launched its new range of smartphones, the L-Style series. Although the range received media interest at the time of launch,  LG wanted to increase awareness of the product and establish the brand as a leader in smartphone design using their newly signed ambassador, Erin McNaught.

In addition to this, LG wanted to promote the functionality and convenience of the Quick Memo feature, a technology which is exclusive to the L-Style range.

Ultimately, LG were keen to build word-of-mouth recommendations around the product and ultimately drive purchase, which proved challenging given the product had already been on the market for three months.

Strategy: On the 4^th of October, Pulse’s LG-One team worked with Erin McNaught and LG Electronics to host Sydney’s first LG smartphone scavenger hunt. Erin visited four well-known Sydney landmarks throughout the day, tweeting picture clues as to her whereabouts to give fans a chance to find her. The first five people to find Erin at each of the locations won their very own LG L-Style smartphone, simply by telling Erin the winning phrase: “I’m all about L-Style”. To showcase the phone, Erin used the Quick Memo feature for each of her clues, a technology which lets users draw messages on photos taken and then share them via their social networks.

Results: By the end of the day, 20 very happy winners walked away with their own brand new LG L-Style phone and subsequently tweeted about it via their networks. In the lead up to the activation, key coverage was secured in metro titles including mX Sydney and an exclusive interview on 2DAY FM’s Kyle and Jackie O Show on the morning of the hunt. The day saw in excess of 150 tweets with a total reach of more than 3 million Australians. Well-known Australian celebrities such as Jennifer Hawkins and singer/songwriter Gabriella Ellis had visibility of the LG L-Style Scavenger hunt, tweeting about it on the day to their own networks. The activation also made an impact on Instagram, with a total audience reach of close to 100,000 followers and more than 500 likes.

Kleenex Cottonelle Pin To Make a Difference

Challenge: Despite Kleenex Cottonelle’s leading sustainability credentials – it is the first toilet tissue in Australia to gain Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation and Australia’s only toilet tissue brand endorsed by the WWF – its sustainability story wasn’t gaining cut through with consumers.

While the brand’s multi-million dollar ‘Love Your Forests’ TV advertising burst was gaining awareness, its sustainability message was too remote among target mums who couldn’t see a compelling reason to pay more for a household basic in an uninteresting product category.

The solution was clear: engagement. But how to achieve it for a brand in a low-interest category, on a low budget, and within the niche (and arguably unfashionable) cause of everyday household sustainability?

Objectives: The team was briefed to drive high-impact awareness and talkability among Australian mums around Kleenex Cottonelle’s FSC accreditation and show how, as a premium and environmentally responsible toilet paper, Kleenex Cottonelle was worth investing in.

Essentially, we were tasked to dial up the brand values of ‘environmentally friendly’, while giving mums a compelling reason to believe in the premium credentials of the product beyond price.

The success metrics required by the client was a campaign to reach 1 million Australian mums.

Campaign Insight & Strategy: If the brand’s FSC accreditation, in addition to the product’s efficacy, was a reason to believe, then the existing ‘Love Your Forests’ ATL burst wasn’t enough to make it stick. Our qualitative planning research showed that while the sustainability message certainly had impact for three-quarters of target mums, the pressures of modern family life took precedence, and that ignorance and a lack of inclination often prevailed.

From our planning process we understood that in order to be successful, our campaign with a cause needed to: inspire; educate; make it easy for mums to get involved (and reward them for their involvement); and create a direct and impactful dialogue with the audience. We also needed to demonstrate an emotional value proposition – by making the campaign speak directly to mums in their own language and involving them, we could show them the returns on inspiration that sustainability can bring through their own everyday choices.

Our solution was clear: by creating a virtue of the territory of “making a difference” – easily and every day in the home – and taking brand ownership of it, we could make mums feel good about social good, thus creating a halo for Kleenex Cottonelle. Showing mums how small steps for a big impact really was as easy and simple as changing the everyday choices you make, such as buying sustainable products, like Kleenex Cottonelle, in the weekly shop.

So, we invited mums to make a difference – easily, every day, and with Kleenex Cottonelle. Our early research showed that helping others is the #1 reason Australians chat online about household goods, and that ‘new kid on the block’, Pinterest, was fuelling phenomenal growth in home-interest conversations. Not only that, but Pinterest was also Australia’s fastest-growing social network (+194% in six months since December 2011) among women, of which 62% of users were female with an average age of 30. In its ability to reach women who care about home-interest issues, Pinterest was an obvious choice to spread our sustainability message loud and wide.

With that, the Kleenex Cottonelle ‘Pin to Make a Difference’ campaign was born.

Key Executions: Our campaign took a three-phased approach:

1. Recruiting mums and starting the sustainability conversations;
2. Involving mums by bringing them together at an Australian-first brand event, and:-
3. Rewarding mums for their involvement through micro-contests post event.

Phase One – Starting the Conversations

The campaign centred around a branded ‘Pin to Make a Difference’ event in central Sydney, inviting Australia’s most influential mum bloggers and media to network, pin and share their ‘make a difference’ sustainability tips, and take part in Australia’s first and fastest pinning competition.

We created a branded Pinterest account, analysed Australia’s most influential mum bloggers, and targeted them to attend the event. A media announcement followed, seeding anticipation and outreach, and creating a groundswell of support, with media applauding Kleenex Cottonelle for its leadership with Pinterest, and for driving an ‘Aussie first’.

Bespoke, independent research into Australian mums’ sustainable habits and behaviours in and around the home, created branded talking points and started the conversations in both traditional and social media.

We also engaged primetime TV presenter and Channel 7 breakfast show anchor, Mel Doyle, and one of Australia’s most influential bloggers, Darren Rowse, to MC and present at the event. Both ambassadors had influential, active social and traditional media and business networks, and news of the event gained momentum quickly, which was then seeded by influential media attendees.

Phase Two – Involving mums through the event

We staged the event on 2^nd May 2012, with 26 of Australia’s most influential mum bloggers and mainstream media attending. Guest speakers from Kleenex Cottonelle, the WWF and the FSC inspired the “make a difference” conversations, reaching +2 million people and fuelling 1.2 million twitter impressions. Powerful social currency amplified the conversations, from the specially created ‘Pin to Make a Difference’ social badge, to the event hashtag #pin4good, leading to the event trending #1 on Twitter, ahead of TV’s ‘The Voice’, the most popular TV show in Australian TV history. The event fuelled traffic and content at the Kleenex Cottonelle Pinterest account, with an average of 200 followers per pin board.

Phase Three – Rewarding mums for their involvement

Post-event we maintained the momentum of the sustainability conversations by placing micro-contests on target mum blogs, who cascaded the message through their networks, giving their communities a Kleenex Cottonelle ‘Make a Difference’ goody pack. The activity reached +20,000 people in mum blogger communities. This, combined with ongoing mainstream outreach from our bespoke brand research showing that nine in ten Australian mums support in-the-home sustainability but time, pressure and modern technology not money are their biggest barriers, drove continued outreach and impact, keeping the boards alive.

Results: Results were based on coverage and search analysis of campaign mentions from 4 April 2012 up to and including 28 May 2012. The campaign significantly exceeded the KPIs and client expectations by achieving:

• An overall reach in excess of 5 million Australians within all targeted mum media channels, with a +1,100% increase of conversations in Australia about sustainability in and around the home
• Sustainability mentions reached 1.2 million people; tweets about the FSC and its accreditation during the campaign reached 7, 727 people; WWF tweets during the campaign reached 314,744 people
• 100% positive campaign sentiment across traditional and social media channels including Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and blogs
• A +475% increase in social conversations about Kimberly-Clark (from 3 months prior)
• 33 pieces of branded coverage about the campaign, coupled with a Twitter reach of 1.2 million Australians; and including #1 trending on Twitter in Australia
• The campaign reinforced Kleenex Cottonelle’s market-leading positioning, with the brand lauded as a top 10 brand using Pinterest (Marketing magazine) and one of the ‘Eight Australian Brands to Watch on Pinterest’ (the Village Agency)

Overall, the campaign succeeded in making the brand relevant and meaningful to mums by telling the biggest and most high-impact sustainability-in-the-home story of the year, positioning itself as a pioneering leader and brand champion of everyday ‘social good’ and easy, everyday sustainability in the home.

8700kJ

The New South Wales Food Authority called on Ogilvy Public Relations to support the launch of its innovative consumer education campaign to support new kilojoule food labelling legislation applicable to fast food and snack food chain outlets across the State.

Fast and snack food has an increasing presence in Australian diets with consumption of ready-to-go foods doubling in the last 10 years and almost two thirds of Australians (61%) purchase ready-to-go food and drinks at least once a week.

Research shows people want to be able to make smart food decisions but they don’t always have the tools to make balanced choices.

Australians are confused and uncertain about what kilojoules are, how they’re calculated and how they impact on their health. On average, Australian adults eat and drink about 8700 kJ per day yet only five per cent know this number.

Armed with this information Ogilvy PR developed the 8700kJ campaign, to build awareness around the average Australian adult daily intake of kilojoules.

Via the 8700kJ campaign, consumers can calculate their ideal kilojoule intake, search food outlets to see how many kilojoules are in the food they are eating, and learn about how exercise can help burn kilojoules through www.8700.com.au

As part of an integrated marketing campaign launch, Ogilvy PR set out to build understanding and increase awareness of 8700 KJs as a benchmark for the average adult’s daily energy intake and drive NSW adults to the 8700.com.au website to download the campaign tools and get more information.

To launch 8700kJ to media, Ogilvy PR held a media call at the Sydney City Westfield food court; – a hot spot for fast food outlets impacted by the legislation, featuring an Australian family who showed everyone has an ideal kilojoule figure by wearing personalised t-shirts.

Campaign ambassador, respected dietician and nutritionist, Dr Joanna McMillan and NSW Heart Foundation CEO, Tony Thirwell added weight to the campaign by outlining the potential health benefits to Australians.

The media call was supported by radio drops featuring everyday breakfast items tagged with their kilojoule figure and engaging key health and fitness experts and social media influencers.

Launch coverage to date has helped to and included a near-full page in the Daily Telegraph, a lead story on Channel Ten news and segment on Channel Nine’s TODAY Show with Dr Joanna McMillan.

Conversations around the 8700kJ campaign are now taking place on influencer social networks, with the chatter expected to continue in weeks to come.

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