Portfolio

2. digital commonwealth bank:
dollarmites
agency: New Dialogue (now Tongue).
media: Website.
brief: CBA’s Dollarmites Club targets
young kids with the primary objective of
teaching them good financial sense from
an early age. The Club has been around
for years and many CBA customers fondly
remember the Club as their first banking
experience and have stuck with the Bank
since.
By 2008, however, the Club needed a
boost - as the characters were becoming
tired and boring. Particularly since they
were now up against a barrage of
contemporary online entertainment.
The website also needed to account for
parent approval - due to growing
concerns about marketers targeting kids
with unwholesome content... along with
fears of stranger danger.
And thirdly, the website had to work as an
interactive platform that tied in with the
DM campaigns/competitions.
execution: Obviously, a serious make-
over was needed. So we animated the
characters and gave them voices, plus fun
biographies. We also created more
informative content for both kids and their
parents. The result was a 67% increase in
session duration and an IAB award in the
Financial Services Sector.

3. digital

4. digital commonwealth bank:
home buying know how
campaign
agency: New Dialogue (now Tongue)
media: An informative website offering a
suite of home buying tools and advice via
podcasts and downloadable information.
This website was supported with swf, gif
and flash banner ads which reflected
various target market needs and CBA
home loan solutions. Campaign no longer
running.
brief: The CBA wanted to position itself
as the premier home lender with all the
answers; not just in the financial sense, but
in the practical sense of buying a home.
Coupled with the fact that many home
buyers are bamboozled with the whole
process, the website needed to be a step
by step guide to home buying and the
costs associated with it.
execution: The look and feel of the
campaign had to reflect the mainstream
press ads. This consisted of block-style
buildings that looked like they had
expanded across news print (or were
squashed by it) to demonstrate a point.
Online, the block-style buildings also used
space to grow or change shape before the
viewers eyes - looking like they were
growing beyond their booked media
allotments.

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7. digital kotex: stayfree ultra thin
agency: The Farm Digital
media: Online banners, forum & website.
Pitch.
brief: To engage young women and
position the Kotex brand as one that
relates to their lifestyle and ideals.
Research had shown that the brand had
fallen into the old-school category and was
not considered to be very innovative.
execution: Since sanpro advertising is
generally bland, the agency chose to go the
social media rout and encourage dialogue
among the market; drawing analogies
between the closeness and comforts of
girl friends and advanced sanitary napkins.
The campaign was to run static and rich
media banners. These linked to a forum,
that engaged insightful and often
humorous conversations about friendships
between women.
In doing so, five emotional categories
were adopted to spark conversation and
thoughts. Women could also find out
more about the product via a product
landing page and free sampling.
Unfortunately, this concept didn’t run.
However, the agency did win the account
as a result of it.

8. digital

9. digital commonwealth bank: $50
credit on credit cards
campaign
agency: New Dialogue (now Tongue)
media: swf, gif and flash banner ads in all
sizes for 4 different cards, plus a microsite.
Ads were highly targeted, appearing on a
select range of sites - depending on market
demographics and the relation of the card
propositions to the sites.
Campaign no longer running.
brief: The CBA was experiencing a
reduction in its Platinum, Gold, Awards
and Low Fee credit card uptake. To en-
courage aquisition, The Bank offered $50
1 2 3 worth of credit on every new card
application. The campaign also needed to
highlight the many benefits of each card
and relate them to the specific target
markets.
execution: This was a complex
campaign. So to demonstrate the
advantages of each card in an attention
grabbing way, we developed banner ads
that tore along the centre, layer by layer,
4 5 6 revealing a new propositon beneath. From
a copy perspective, this meant that the
lines had to flow from both top to bottom
and bottom to top.
Of course, there were far too many
messages to be conveyed in the banner
ads, so the microsite took the form of a
comparison table.

10. digital

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12. digital
caltex: main website
agency: New Dialogue (now Tongue)
media: Informational website for
consumers, business and investors.
brief: Caltex needed to update its main
website to be more informative, rank
higher for SEO, be easier to navigate and to
establish a more corporate, yet consumer
friendly tonality.
execution: From my perspective, this
was an exercise in creating the right
tonality and editing a good deal of the
content.
This was quite a large job with the content
coming from a wide range of stake-
holders.
Despite their conservative disposition, a
good deal of the copy got through
unchanged - which, apparently, is unusual
for Caltex.

13. digital
caltex: biofuels
agency: Tongue
media: Interactive microsite
brief: To maintain its innovative stance
in the fuel market and to better educate
customers about biofuels, Caltex required
an informative, yet friendly microsite. They
also required an interactive ‘biofuel finder’
component to help drive traffic to Caltex
biofuel retailers.
execution: When I was briefed on this
job I couldn’t help but feel a tad
uncomfortable. For me, writing about a
fossil fuel conglomerate that was
espousing the need for environmental
protection represented a murky shade of
green washing. Luckily, Caltex had a story
to tell; one which was factual, truthful and
as financially driven as the importance of
renewable energies and public approval.
In the end, it became one of the most
enjoyable corporate jobs I’d worked on.

14. UWS has a state of the art music faculty and offers degrees in a vast range of areas. However,
university of western
through the line
they lacked recognition and were often overlooked by school leavers making their uni selections.
This website became the centre-piece of the campaign and was backed with press ads in music / sydney: bachelor of music
street mags. Free air guitars (the client couldn’t afford much) with bonus picks were also given degree
out at popular music gigs.
agency: New Dialogue (now Tongue)
media: Website, full page ads in street
mag’s, radio and experiential. Site no
longer running.
brief: UWS has a state of the art music
facility and offers degrees in a vast range
of areas. However, their courses lacked
recognition and were often overlooked by
HSC school leavers when making their uni
selections.
execution: To make the UWS Bachelor
of Music top of mind with school leavers,
we created a more contemporary web-
site using talent from the school. This site
highlighted the range of courses available
and ran with the strapline: There’s more
to music at UWS (which was the client’s
strapline).
The site also profiled the academic
requirements for each course, the types
of people these courses would benefit and
samples of work (downloadable) that were
created by past students.
To support the site, 30sec radio ads (on
indi stations, like FBI), full page ads in street
mag’s and free air guitars with bonus picks
were produced.
The free air guitars and picks were handed
out at gigs - which was extremely popular,
despite some guitars being untuned.

15. throught the line
Front and back of air guitar pick card

16. digital
kellogg’s: all-bran
agency: Tongue
media: Interactive website:
www.all-bran.com.au
brief: To introduce the wide range of
All-Bran cereals now produced by Kellogg
and to position All-Bran as the most
effective, delicious source of fibre on the
market. The website also needed to
educate consumers about the importance
of a high fibre diet and healthy living - and
demonstrate how this doesn’t need to be
boring.
execution: This website had to be deep
and informative - covering a vast amount
of content, including how the digestive
system works, nutrition and the need for
fibre, recipes, product information, a fibre
calculator, regular journals from a dietitian,
FAQ’s and more. Thanks to the use of
Ajax, all of the above could be covered
in a comprehensive way - allowing
snippets of info which could expand to
reveal more detailed explanations.

17. digital
di’s hill: romantic home stay
agency: Molotov Communications +
Icon Innovations
media: website: www.dishill.com.au
brief: To photograph and build a website
for this spectacular holiday house. The
client, Dianne Willett, had been struggling
to lure guests and wanted a website that
brought to life the charm of the property
and the Lake Conjola area - which few
people know about.
execution: Using WordPress, Icon
Innovations and I developed the site for
optimisation, functionality and, above all,
inspiration. Indeed, the landing page set the
tone with an image loop of copy reading:
“Five acres of personal tranquility
Space to lose yourself...
... and rediscover each other
There’s a pool that’s 6km long...
... and an endless park to walk in
Monuments from another time...
...and time to linger and relax.”
The site was set up for easy back-end
administration by the client, opportunities
to run special promotions, for readers and
guests to add blogs and for people to make
reservation enquiries. We’re also working
on her to incorporate a social media
campaign to get her search ratings higher.

18. mainstream
ingersoll-rand: the dmm3
blasthole drill
agency: Milne and Partners.
media: Full page ad for engineering and
construction magazines.
brief: To demonstrate the enormous
drilling ability and technical advancements
of Ingersoll-Rand’s DMM3 Blasthole Drill.
execution: The first step was to
convince the client to depart from the
typical, mechanical/statistical advertising
found in engineering and construction
trade journals at the time and do some-
thing that really stood out.
The next problem was coming up with a
concept that would demonstrate the
benefits of the Blasthole Drill in a
compelling way.
Like usual, the budget was small and the
production period even smaller.
As the drill vaguely resembled a rocket
launcher, our solution was to turn a stock
shot of a space shuttle upside down.

19. point of sale
schwarzkopf: indian fire
agency: Harris Robinson & Associates
media: A3 poster for hair dressing
salons.
brief: Build awareness of Schwarzkopf’s
new red hair dye, Indian Fire.
execution: This product had no major
benefits over its competitors; it was simply
quality product that dyed hair red.
From an emotional point of view, however,
red hair dye had a lot to offer. The client
research showed that many women who
chose to dye their hair red were head-
strong, confident individuals that weren’t
worried about fitting in.
To reflect their ideals, and tie in with the
product name, Indian Fire, a quasi Asian/
mystical approach was adopted.

20. through the line
balmoral boards
agency: Molotov Communications
media: Full page ads in snow board, skate
board, mountain bike and ski mag’s.
brief: Proposal to get client in the door.
execution: When I started Molotov
Communications, I was on the lookout for
SME’s that would allow us to do some
really fun stuff. However, I felt that they had
to have a great product and business plan,
a strong background, market
recognition and a desire to grow. Balmoral
Boards ticked all those boxes and more.
After a little snooping, an art director
(Rua Perston) and myself put together a
proposed print campaign that positioned
Balmoral Boards as the Gods of snow
boarding. These concepts could also be
adapted to metro lights, street posters,
cafe postcards or even local bar coasters.
We posted the layouts to the client with
a cheeky letter that explained how we
would like to make him famous. This
scored Molotov an interview.
Over the course of two years, Molotov
provided strategic direction for Balmoral
Boards and its B-Star label, plus assistance
with their catalogues.

21. through the line

22. mainstream
good cause: recruitment
agency: Molotov Communications
media: Small-space recruitment ads for
press.
brief: Good Cause was a fund raising
consultancy that organised events and
programmes for a wide range of popular
charities. Basically, the company trained
people to discuss specific charities with
the public in a bid to encourage regular
EFT donations.
Their recruitment ads targeted people
who wanted casual work while at uni - or
just needed a short term job to help make
ends meet. Of course, the budget for
these ads was minuscule.
execution: Molotov created a vast
series of small-space, type driven press ads
to run in the recruitment section of local
and major newspapers.
Most people are aware that this job is not
a glamorous one, so changing peoples’
perspective about the work and appealing
to their altruistic side was important.

23. mainstream
good cause: recruitment
agency: Molotov Communications
media: Recruitment strip ads for free
street publications.
brief: This was a Molotov initiative which
followed up from the small space press ad
campaign. The strategy was the same as
the small space campaign - only using dif-
ferent publications and layouts for impact.
execution: Running on the success of
the small space press ad campaign, I
suggested that Good Cause invest a little
extra money in running some highly visible
strip ads in free street and university
publications. The client loved the concepts
but, unfortunately, decided to adapt them
into more small space press ads.

24. mainstream

25. direct marketing
sterling pharmaceutical:
first steps campaign
agency: Clemenger Direct
media: A series of informative, 12 page
booklets that focus on childhood
development.
brief: To help build long-term customer
loyalty, Sterling Pharmaceutical decided
to produce a series of booklets to advise
mums and dads about the different stages
of their kids’ development - and position
Panadol as a trusted authority on growing
pains in the process.
execution: Data collection was
achieved through direct response ads
in women’s magazines and brochures in
bounty bags. Parents could sign up every
child under seven - ensuring they would
receive a new First Steps booklet that
corresponded with birthdays. Each
booklet focused on the behavioural,
learning and growth expectations for a
specific age-group. They also carried an
information chart at the back to keep
Panadol top of mind between mailings.
This included immunisation charts, home
first aid guides, resuscitation procedures
for minors, etc.
Naturally, each booklet had to be
thoroughly researched and approved by a
recognised paediatrician.

26. direct marketing

27. sandoz pharmaceuticals:
direct marketing lamisil ‘murder on tinea’
agency: Clemenger Direct
media: A direct response mailing to GP’s
and dermatologists. Sample request forms
were included.
brief: Sandoz Pharmaceuticals’ Lamisil
cream was the only dermatological cream
on the market that actually killed fungal
infections, such as tinea and ringworm. At
the time, the cream was only available via
prescription, so the company had the
challenge of, not only educating doctors
about the efficacy of the product, but to
convince them to take all fungal infections
seriously enough to prescribe Lamisil. (As
many GP’s ignored these infections, or
falsely believed they could be cleared up
with over the counter solutions.)
execution: The client and agency alike
felt that mentioning the word ‘kill’ wouldn’t
go down well with doctors - despite it
being an integral part of Lamisil’s
proposition. With that, we challenged
doctors to look at the evidence and judge
for themselves. Hence, the ‘murder on
tinea’ concept. This also enabled us to
quote medical papers (which are pretty
bland) and present them as conclusive
evidence in a more interesting way. The
concept also provided a great platform in
which to invite GP’s to trial the product
themselves. This mailing was backed up
with telemarketing and invitations to
dermatological seminars etc.

28. direct marketing

29. direct marketing achievement concepts:
corporate wilderness:stage 1
agency: Molotov Communications
media: A two-stage direct mail campaign
to the top 50 companies in Australia.
brief: Achievement Concepts helps
companies to develop their culture,
leaders and teams. By taking key players
out of their comfort zones and making
them work together in hostile wilderness
regions, executives learn how to adopt
constructive thinking behaviours - rather
than being defensive. These trips are
facilitated by an accomplished
mountaineer and psychiatrist and are
followed up with mentoring.
Naturally, the programs aren’t cheap. And,
because our mailings were to target the
top CEO’s, they had to be cut-through
enough to make it past the PA’s.
execution: The program was summed
up with an invitation for companies to
‘navigate the corporate wilderness’. This
consisted of a personalised topographical
map of a national park - where the park
itself, plus streams, mountains, and ridges
was renamed after the company and its
key exec’s. The map was also marked-up
with a teaser, asking the CEO how far they
could take their team.
A short letter, personalised brochure and
compass also accompanied the map; along
with a bushwalking mapbag as a vehicle for
the whole pack.

30. direct marketing achievement concepts:
corporate wilderness:stage 2
agency: Molotov Communications
execution: A week after receiving the
first dm pack, the company would receive
a follow-up mailing. This mailing was also
highly personalised and built on the
Corporate Wilderness concept - albeit,
with a prusiking analogy.
Prusiking enables people to get over
difficult cliff faces with the use of ropes and
loops. So it reflected the message of
“getting executives over hurdles -
particularly those in the office” perfectly.
To illustrate the notion, the second stage
pack included prusik loops, a personalised
brochure - which set the scene for the
program itself, photos from previous
corporate trips with testimonials on the
reverse, and a letter. This letter was kept
short and simply informed the CEO that
there was a limited number of program
vacancies still available .
The client was adamant that, as long as the
CEO had received the mailings, he would
be able to sell-through the program in
person. And so, three days after the
second mailing, the client was to follow up
with a phone call.
This campaign had real cut-through
potential and our client loved it.
Unfortunately, it didn’t go ahead due to
internal politics on the client side.