From Planes to Trains: Famous Aussie Safety Campaign

How many dumb ways to die are there? So many! Which is exactly what Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) wants their city-goers and train passengers to keep in mind. Preceding Air New Zealand’s more recent take on updating safety announcements, a Victoria state transportation company decided they needed a viral campaign to help lessen train, platform, crossing and station incidences along their busy rail network.

While some people are busy criticizing the compilation of freak accidents musically depicted throughout the commercial, clever underlying psychological tactics are at play to help define this company’s mission. By initially over-exaggerating potential causes of bodily harm during random activities, viewers start becoming hyperaware of their own behaviors, so that they can then relate to the examples of injuries at train stations towards the end of the ad. This hyperawareness gives MTM a good repositioning strategy in that it moves the fundamentals of transport safety back into the foreground, thus making the travel experience safer and more conducive to everyone. This repositioning may also help alleviate any previous doubts on safety monitoring.

Winner of seven Webby awards including, Best Viral Marketing Interactive Advertising & Media, Best Public Service & Activism (Social Content & Marketing), and Best Animation Film & Video, just to name a few, this ad truly puts Australian creativity on the map with help from McCann Australia (Melbourne advertising agency). With this ad they have found a successful way to communicate safety tips to Australian commuters, and they produced a safer public transport system, with some reports claiming up to 30% reduction of “near miss” incidents.

Having personally learned of the campaign in March 2013, the catchy tune and funny, memorable characters have since become the face of their own brand. The “Dumb Ways to Die” game and iPhone application were launched in May 2013, which was followed by multiple apparel items. I would not be too quick to throw on the gear, but if I ever need some entertainment while waiting for the train, I’ll be sure to download the app and brush up on my station safety knowledge, and have a little fun while doing so.

And remember, there are so many dumb ways to die, so just don’t let “getting run over by a train” be one of them!

Christine Drpich
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at The University of Sydney Business School

Analysing “Compare the Meerkat”

This campaign for www.comparethemarket.com (UK) is a brilliant concept that has been rolled out through multiple executions in the UK – 19 to be exact. It featured a TV spot, companion website and social media links. It generated such a buzz amongst the general population in the UK, that it is unprecedented within the Insurance Comparison Industry. It is arguably one of the most successful long-running campaigns in the UK. It has been running for five years and has resulted in the entering of the catchphrase, “Simples,” from the main character, Aleksandr Orlov, into the Oxford English Dictionary.

The campaign has now been rolled out to the Australian market and is on its 3rd execution here. It has been voted 2nd in the Ipsos ASI People’s Choice Awards August 2013, but it remains to be seen if it will have the run-away success here that it did in the UK.

The version of the campaign – Commercial 10, I have featured is an all-time classic (as many of them were), and this one really resonated with the audience. It features Aleksandr visiting his ageing Russian relatives in a retirement home.

I have applied the SCORE framework for my analysis as follows:

SIMPLE – the clear single-minded idea is once again (as in the prior 9 ads), that Alexandr is attempting to illustrate the confusion people are experiencing in mixing up his website www.comparethemeerkat.com (UK website) with the insurance comparison website www.comparethemarket.com (UK website). It reinforces the web address in an unforgettable way.

CREATIVE – the fact that the ad ran for 19 different executions illustrates the effectiveness of the creative.

The character development of the meerkats is incredibly detailed and tells their story. I have also shown the 6th execution which illustrates their migration from the Kalahari to Russia. It ends with the classic tagline used in so many of their ads, “Simples”. This became a saying in the UK that was used in so many work and social situations – a classic ‘water cooler moment’.

The repetitive use of the copy – “comparethemarket.com” in the 10th execution between the crazy old retirees makes the message memorable. The Russian accenting and phrasing in all the TV, website and social media copy further develops the personality of the characters and the brand.

The campaign was incredibly ORIGINAL and made an insurance comparison brand one of the most memorable and top-of-mind brands in the UK. It's goal was to double the Compare the Market business and the campaign helped its owner, Douw Steyn, achieve an estimated fortune of £420m. It was also voted the most liked ad of 2012.

The ad was obviously RELEVANT to its broad target market – adults requiring insurance aged 17+. The meerkat’s fame has most certainly transferred onto the brand. The website is now ranked the 4th most visited insurance website in the UK, up from 16th in January 2008. Aleksandr has 80,753 fans on Facebook; 62,971 followers on Twitter; and even has a LinkedIn profile.

The ad is ETHICAL. The only problem that occurred during this campaign was in August 2009 when the Guardian newspaper ran an opinion piece accusing the advertising of racism for mocking Eastern European accents. The Advertising Standards Authority stated that this was the only complaint they had received from this one author of the opinion piece.

Overall, one would have to agree that this ad is incredibly effective and forms part of a much larger successful campaign. Most importantly, the ads are memorable and likeable. The consumer response was so great that people started using the www.comparethemarket.com website just to receive a free meerkat toy of their choice. It seems everybody wanted one.

Elizabeth M.
National Account Director - Blaze Advertising (Y&R Brands)
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

A new way to advertise the ‘old school’

You can’t really get more old school than a book. So how, in this day and age, can you capture the attention of people with declining attention spans who are addicted to screens and checking their emails?

Bookworld captured my attention on two separate occasions. Now, that may seem pretty normal; we all encounter ads in our day-to-day lives. However, these were two occasions during which I usually am not easily distracted.

The first occasion was around 5:30am on a rainy Sydney morning. I was out for a run. Like all good runners, I religiously use my apps to track my speed, distance and stamina. I take my track record so seriously that I sometimes don’t even stop at intersections (if I’m sure there are no cars coming!). However, on this particular morning, something caught my eye. Bright, simplistic and cheerful, a bus shelter ad seemed to call out to me, “Mates Rates. We’ll beat Amazon by 10%, Guaranteed.” I thought – no way! I sacrificed my best speed and did a double take. When I turned around, I saw that the other side of the ad was full of books! How cool!

The second time happened when I was waiting to load a music video on YouTube. Anxious to get my Beyonce fix, I was irritated at the growing frequency of ads on the website. Usually I hover over the ‘Skip’ button, grinding my teeth as I count down to the moment I am no longer forced to watch. However, this time was different. 10 seconds passed. 20 seconds passed. I was still watching. I had watched the whole video! And it wasn’t a short one either. Totalling in at 1:37min, the ad defies the statistics of our declining attention span. Below is a short version, or you can watch the long version, here.

With their cheerful message and honest approach, Bookworld has done a great job at capturing the interest of potential customers. Due to initial successes, there’s no doubt they will be capitalising on this great way of advertising: creating great interactive moments, moments worth sharing, that encourage word of mouth and conversation around the brand.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at The University of Sydney Business School