Leveraging its 20-plus year partnerships with the AFL and NRL, Australian mobile telecoms and broadband giant Telstra launched a sports marketing platform in September titled ‘This Is Footy Country’ activated through an integrated campaign.
The campaign, created in harness with The Monkeys (part of Accenture Song), the campaign seeks shine the spotlight on Telstra’s commitment to regional Australia by acknowledging and celebrating country footy and the depth of the relationships between local footy clubs and their communities.
The integrated initiative, leverages Australia largest mobile network and broadband provider’s AFL and NRL sponsorships and community initiatives across both footy codes through broadcast TV, online video, OOH, digital and social platforms, as well as in-stadium signage and in Telstra’s own retail environments.
A pair of hero spots – one version for the AFL and one for the NRL – broke on 8 September and featured a team (the Emus) that gets stranded before a game and sees a club president rapidly pull together a group of last-minute replacements. The creative heroes all the many players of varied abilities, as well as supporters and volunteers who make valuable contributions to the club.
The campaign will run across Australia through the footy finals season – from the start of September to the start of October.
“Whether you’re an AFL or NRL fan, footy invokes a feeling in us and a sense of community and it’s in the country where this runs deepest,” said Telstra CMO Brent Smart. “Telstra has a strong affinity with regional Australia and we’ve been working with the AFL and NRL for over two decades, so we decided to marry the two together with our new creative platform, This is Footy Country.”
The Monkeys CCO Scott Nowell added: “The campaign aims to celebrate the deep bond that exists between country footy clubs across Australia and their communities. Country footy emphatically represents the very best aspects of these codes, so a chance to shine a spotlight on it – using so much local talent – has been a real joy.”
The campaign was created for a team at client Telstra which included Chief Marketing Officer Brent Smart, Head of Creative Excellence Anna Jackson, Head of Brand & Network Marketing Alita McMenamin, Senior Brand Specialist Jon Hollett, Principle Media Sponsorships, Awards & Experiential Genelle Sharples, Senior Media Specialist Robert Aoukar, Senior Sponsorship Specialists Esther Chand and Dominique Barlow, plus Sponsorship Specialist Lauren Plumridge.
It was conceived and creative by a team at creative agency The Monkeys led by CEO & Accenture Song ANZ President Mark Green, Group Chief Creative Officer Scott Nowell, Chief Creative Officerss Ant Keogh and Tara Ford, Head of Production/Producer Penny Brown, Chief Client Officer Belinda Drew, Business Strategy Director Ben De Castella, Creative Directors Sam Dickson and Cameron Bell, Senior Art Director Alex Polglase, Senior Copywriter Jake Ausburn, Art Director Emmalie Narathipakorn, Copywriter Seamus McAlary, Design Lead Fabio Buresti, Chief Strategy Officer Hugh Munro, Group Business Director Amanda Porritt, Senior Business Director Samar Karim, Business Manager Kevin Diep, plus Print Producer Candy Carter.
The production company was Exit Films with Director Mark Molloy, Executive Producers Leah Churchill Brown and Declan Cahill, Producer Mark Foster and Head of Production Jacquie Riley.
Casting was handled by Citizen Jane and post production by a team at The Editors which included Post EP Nicoletta Rousianos, Post Producer Adrian Konarski, Editors Jack Hutchings and Grace O’Connell, Colourist Ben Eagleton and Online Specialists Eugene Richards, Stuart Cadzow and Heather Galvin.
The photographer was Cory White, audio production was by Massive Music, and with music supervision from Level Two Music (the track was ‘Sandstorm’ by Whisky Shivers and publishing rights were held by Universal Music Publishing Group.
The media agency was OMD where the group working on the project included Business Director Ally Chin, Account Director Hannah Robertson and Senior Sport Partnership Manager Matt Clear.
Comment
It is a rare strategic and tactical skill to be able to blend two different properties into the same campaign using essentially the same creative, but The Monkeys have pulled it off neatly and with much joy in this activation.
The campaign adds to Telstra’s notable AFL and NRL activation heritage and notable previous initiatives dating as far back as 2018’s Real-Time Tracker and its 2013 State Of Origin #FanBattle.
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