This marks the first in Mediaweeks’ ongoing editorial series to uncover global creative leaders’ perspectives on campaigns that have the local industry talking.
This week’s contributing leaders are Hannah Tarpey creative director of Mother London, Pablo González de la Peña, executive creative director of Song, London and executive creative director of DDB Melbourne Psembi Kinstan.
Psembi: Firstly, from my side of the world, this Telstra campaign has been the most discussed piece of work in a long time. It’s loved and hated in equal measure. Let me know your thoughts.
Pablo: I am an instant fan of everything Jeff Low does, and this is one of his finest works. All the attention will deservedly go to the visual craft, but it’s worth highlighting the insanely funny voice performances. There’s not much to hate in this one, so I don’t get the hate. Probably lots of people are jealous of them.
Hannah: These are sweet. Well crafted and don’t shy away from the job. Just Eat (UK food delivery service) have just stepped into a similar style here so they don’t feel hugely fresh, to me. But I respect the tone and craft in Telstra’s. They also prompted me to rewatch that old Miller Audion’s series, by Spike Jones. God, I love that talking otter.
Pablo: The biggest piece of work here at the moment is Believe in Chicken (coincidentally from Mother). It’s directed by Vedran Rupic, who worked with us for Confused.com, and it’s a joy seeing him grow with every piece he creates. I enjoyed every second and felt insanely jealous of a brand that truly commits to a simple message and believes in the power of emotional impact.
Psembi: The world is fucked. Thanks to AI we can’t believe in anything. Except for chicken. I was expecting it to be a take on trust in the taste of chicken in these confusing times, but then it becomes a dance video 10 seconds in. I’m confused. I have no idea what it means. But I can’t look away. I’ve had about half a dozen people share this with me loving it, just because it’s so different to everything else on air. If it wasn’t Mother that made it, it wouldn’t be so effortlessly cool, and it probably would have been horrible. So Hannah, well done to Mother for crafting something so weirdly compelling.
Hannah: If I was 15 again, this might just make me want to work in advertising. No logic, just big gutsy, let-me-watch-that-again feelings. The team responsible were terrified of what they’d got themselves into from start to finish, and shouldn’t we all push for more projects that make us feel like that?
Hannah: This somewhat charming Oslo Tourism piece has surprised me by garnering attention from my non-advertising friends in the last week…
Psembi: Haha, yeah the flip on strategy is a nice one. Sure, it might not be a strategy that we haven’t seen before, from the Mona worst reviews campaign to NotCo’s Mayo-haters (sure, different categories entirely), but this is a pretty enjoyable way to take you through nearly two minutes of Oslo landscapes. Oh look there’s the King.
Pablo: Cute. It’s the Audi ‘Yuppie’ strategy of portraying someone unlikeable in order to appeal to the opposite audience. It’s not a big firework for me, but it works well.
Hannah: I love condiments and the launch of Heinz’s new Everything Sauce is fun. Would like to see if there is more to follow beyond the existence of the sauce itself. What do you both think?
Psembi: Yeah I’m all in, who doesn’t want to know what this monstrosity tastes like. Sure it’s super limited so no doubt a larger social campaign to come, but nice way to push inventiveness and not take itself too seriously.
Pablo: This trend of launching limited edition sauces is a delight. It’s fun and elevates the brand’s innovation credentials. Hats off to Wiedens for crafting such a beautiful set of pictures to introduce the product. Packaging, scratch label, and box are pure executional joy.
Psembi: On an entirely different tangent, Asia had a good showing at Cannes in the film category, but this one was relatively recent and slipped past my radar.
Hannah: A deep dive into the director’s reel (UN aka Wuthisak Anarnkapors) is worthwhile. It only gets more off beat and I’d love to see him cast for a mainstream campaign over here.
Pablo: Masterpiece. Psembi, could you bring one of those every week?
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About Hannah
Hannah has been at Mother London for the best part of a decade, with a short stint at BBH somewhere in the middle. For the last couple of years she has led the Uber Eats account, helping them win their first gold, and silver, lions. She loves beautiful craft, stupid ideas… and the occasional ultra-marathon.
About Pablo
Extremely passionate and positivity driven, Pablo is the ECD at Accenture Song London with a proven track record of delivering innovative, effective campaigns for some of the world’s coolest brands. He’s a proud advertising nerd and has been craft obsessed for more than 20 years, in which time he has won 33 Cannes Lions and 6 D&AD pencils (including Spain’s first ever yellow pencil).
About Psembi
Psembi grew up on a crocodile farm in the remote Australian outback. Many years later he became the youngest Creative Director at BBH London and ran Audi, BBH’s foundation account. He’s now the Group ECD at DDB Melbourne and has grown the team from just under 30 to nearly 100. His creative awards include a BAFTA amongst 200 others.