Telstra’s bespoke agency +61 has launched Better on a Better Network, a campaign comprised of 26 stop-motion films.
Each film centres on a different location in Australia, and the idiosyncratic characters – father and son krills, blokey wattle flowers, Tasmanian devils, and teenage goth cockatoos – who live there and benefit from better coverage.
Award-winning director Jeff Low at Revolver helped bring the series to life. He brought on acclaimed animation director Tobias Fouracre, who worked on the Wes Anderson films, Isle of Dogs and Fantastic Mr Fox.
Brent Smart, chief marketing officer at Telstra, said: “I just love this work. It has the scale to match our network, yet delivers the message with humility and humour and having a bunch of these 15s continually rolling out will make them feel fresh and surprising.
“Huge thanks to our awesome partners at Bear and +61, who really sweated this. The level of craft and care really shines.”
+61’s first work for Telstra launched in April: From Space to Your Place, an OOH campaign for the brand’s satellite network. Later that month came the first film work, Pointless. Set in the picturesque countryside, the fourth-wall breaking film depicts a young boy and his father toiling away in the fields against the serene lull of orchestral strings, when –
“Is this a pointless ad?” the young boy asks.
“Well, if you’re not an existing Telstra customer, it is,” the father responds. “No one else is getting the best deals this month.”
+61, initially announced in October last year, unites independent creative studio Bear Meets Eagle On Fire (BMEOF), helmed by founder and CCO Micah Walker, with the integrated capabilities of TBWA and Telstra’s existing media agency, TBWA’s Omnicom stablemate, OMD.
Credits:
Creative Agencies: Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, +61
Media Agency: OMD Australia
Production Company: Revolver
Director: Jeff Low
Animation Director: Tobias Fouracre