Basically, there aren’t enough GPs in rural WA. WAGPET (Western Australian General Practice Education and Training) identified that medical grads were drawn to metro medical careers over rural placements. And regional WA was set to experience ten times the metro GP shortage. Our campaign needed to:
Rebrand the country GP and change perceptions around what it means to practice medicine in rural WA
Create a suite of films that increased enrollments in the Rural Generalist Program
Our answer to the brief
With a limited pool of new medical grads, we needed to show (rather than tell) the benefits of the Rural Generalist Program. With a suite of films, we could emotionally connect with the audience at a pivotal point in their decision-making process and promote the program as medicine with meaning.
Sure, filming four stories in two days, plus B-roll, emergency room footage, and drawing out emotive stories from medical professionals may seem challenging … okay it was challenging but that’s not uncommon for a content campaign of this magnitude.
Lush understood the intangible elements of the campaign that we needed to communicate: the emotion, the heart, and the belonging … We have been able to speak directly to our industry colleagues and beyond.
Sonia Miller, WAGPET Chief Executive Officer
When it came to filming techniques, we ditched the tripods and artificial lighting in favour of a doco-style shoot. The talent were given little to no coaching before their interviews, giving us the raw and authentic reality of working rural.
Genuine interviews are so much more powerful when you’re asking people to connect to your film. We needed graduates to see themselves in the stories we were telling.
Alex Lush, Head of Production
Did we mention it went viral?
With no budget for ad placements the campaign tracked over 6,500 views within a week. 100% organically. The films held up a mirror to the students’ underlying motivations – showing them an emotional narrative they actually wanted to watch.
When creative content has the power to save a whole industry
When you hear the words ‘live export’ (or type them into Google), there’s a fair chance that you’ll be flooded with imagery of distressed animals and emotive language that’s nothing short of shocking. At the forefront of the controversy was Emanuel Exports, but all Australian livestock farmers, truck drivers, suppliers, welfare officers, and even consumers were impacted by the coverage that saturated media channels within a matter of days. Their industry was hit with a terrible blow.
But, only one story had been told. As storytellers at heart, Lush was ready to work with the live export industry and tell the honest untold stories of everyone involved. These people, and their stories, became The Livestock Collective.
The biggest challenge to face the sheep industry in decades
Veterinarian and Animal Welfare Compliance Officer, Dr. Holly Ludeman was right in the thick of things when the controversy aired, having spent most of her career in the live export industry. Within 12 months, live export was completely stopped at certain times of year, Emanuel Exports had their licence suspended, and massive reviews kicked into action.
While the industry hung in the balance, there was little to no response given from the people who made up the live export trade. “There were many little voices speaking out,” explains Ludeman, “but they weren’t effective. There was a fear around voicing our side because it was seen as such a high risk to go out against the activist groups who were so well funded.” The team at Lush saw an opportunity for all of these ‘little voices’ to stand together and start telling their not-so-little stories.
Lush brought on Nic Hayes, Media Stable Managing Director, to ensure that the content marketing strategy had the power of traditional media behind it. It was clear that the media had become a space of heat and conflict for the live export industry; however, Lush knew that there was another story to be told.
A brief that goes straight to the heart
Ludeman has always been clear that she works for the animals. It’s her job to ensure their health and safety, championing for animal welfare alongside Australia’s strict regulations, especially when it comes to the live export industry.
When Ludeman approached Lush, it was with one clear objective: to change the hearts and minds of Australians regarding live exports. “I had seen some really powerful videos made by Lush so I knew that they had the ability to capture factual footage and conduct meaningful interviews,” said Ludeman. “I had the idea of a social movement campaign but at that time I wasn’t brave enough to go forward with it.”
The truth about transparency
Creative Director, Gavin Carroll, knew that true transparency was the only thing that would work to educate Australians and help to combat the emotive images they had already seen.
“No area was ever closed off to us. Nothing was contrived, no one ever stopped us filming or directed us into certain areas to film a particular scene that had been set up or manipulated in any way. We were there to observe and tell a true story,” said Carroll.
More powerful together: the birth of The Livestock Collective
“The idea behind creating The Livestock Collective was to bring together industry,” said Carroll, “so the Australian public and the government could see that there are educated people and a strong legacy behind this industry. Farmers have done it for 40 – 50 years, but then there are people involved in the industry that you may not have realised, like the truck drivers, suppliers, vets, and a whole wool industry.”
Lush’s content marketing strategy required a unified response from people all along the supply chain with humanising stories that had the power to create empathy.
Inviting politicians and media on board
To launch The Livestock Collective, Lush worked with Ludeman to create an engaging invitation that was impossible to refuse, in the form of a video blog. “Once we had created the footage on board a ship, I sent it out to every politician in W.A., asking them to come and have a look at a loading vessel,” said Ludeman.
This strategy was hugely effective, giving The Livestock Collective a platform to communicate directly to the state’s leading decision makers and public influencers. The team at Lush filmed the whole process and offered communications guidance to ensure that the messages were aligned with the overall content marketing strategy.
This thread of honesty and education continued as farmers were next to tour the vessel, followed closely by 6PR and Channel Nine who were offered the exclusive media story. “The exclusive media launch was made into a feature with Oliver Peterson on the 6PR drive show and Nine News … Once the other media networks got wind of the exclusive, they all wanted the story.” With stories running on ABC, Channel 7, Channel 10, and SBS, The Livestock Collective was starting to make its mark.
Driving content further: the creative strategy
The key was to get the right attention at the right time. Lush brought on Nicolle Jenkins, The Hub Managing Director, to work alongside their communication strategy and launch a dedicated website for the Collective in just five days. A suite of videos then went live on the website which showcase the whole process of live export.
“The most important thing was that we were there to observe, so we shot everything in a documentary style,” said Carroll. “We also set up time-lapse cameras on the boat for 16 days to capture the whole journey across to the Middle East.”
Ludeman also filmed the sheep each day as well as the instruments that measure the humidity, the temperature, and the conditions under which they were living. With all of this raw material, the production team at Lush has created over a dozen video clips for the website, ten social media videos, eight video blogs, and a longer form video specifically for release to MPs.
Lush on tour
Alex Lush, Manager of Video Production, and Carroll, spent eight days filming in Kuwait and Dubai, conducting 23 interviews and getting an intensive lesson in sheep health. “We gained training around what a stressed animal looks like and the behaviours they exhibit if they’re distressed. It was amazing to see how calm the animals really were throughout the whole journey,” said Carroll.
The urgency around the campaign was all to do with the government agenda. Ministers were set to decide, by the end of February 2019, if live exporting was going to continue or if new restrictions were going to be put in place, making it a completely unviable business for all involved; from stock managers to truck drivers, shearers, and vets.
Telling the untold stories: the results
The brief called for a change of hearts and minds among the Australian population. With The Hub at the wheel, executing social media communications, the team have been able to gauge public opinion. In just 28 days, The Livestock Collective gained:
73.8k impressions on Twitter,
Reached 81.6k people via Facebook,
Reported a post engagement of 27.2k
The top two videos posted to social media – the supply chain video and the stockman video – collectively reached over 63k people with over 13k post engagements, and 400 shares.
The initial video blog that was sent to WA politicians gained over 90k views in just two weeks of being posted to social media platforms.
When it comes to media statistics, Hayes reported that Channel Nine viewer numbers went up 30,000 the night that The Livestock Collective was launched to the public.
“Last weekend, I was camping and a farmer heard I was in town, so he came and found me to say, “It’s amazing what you’ve done; thank you.”
Dr Holly Ludeman, Veterinarian and Animal Welfare Compliance Officer
“We are getting so much positive feedback from other industry people, especially farmers on the ground. There are now ten organisations officially backing The Livestock Collective and people genuinely want to talk to me to keep the initial momentum going. I was even invited to be on a podcast!” said Ludeman.
A good marketing content strategy can give people a voice and spark meaningful conversations. A great content marketing strategy has the power to propel those voices onto a platform larger and more influential than you can possibly imagine.
With so many people affected by social distancing restrictions this April, this left a big question for Legacy WA. What do we do for ANZAC Day, and how do we get the donations for the families and veterans in need?
“We were on the path of doing what we would ordinarily do around our Anzac day campaign period,” says Vivian Blanches, Legacy WA’s CEO, “shaking the tins and collections around the CBD area, train stations, Bunnings and shopping centres all around Anzac Day.” With the onset of COVID-19, however, it took the option of face to face collections away from them, and so they came to Lush.
We needed to get their message out to bring in donations and find a creative solution to avoid cancelling their biggest event of the year.
The solution? To tackle the ‘virtual event’ space.
“We spoke to Legacy WA around the changing trends in media consumption,” says Clare Reid, Lead Copywriter at Lush. “People were staying at home and still trying to engage in face to face events that they would normally attend in person, online – so we pitched an online Anzac Day commemoration for families.”
The problem was finding the right ‘voice’ for such an event, getting funding, and pulling together a live-streamed Anzac Day event during the height of COVID. Once a sponsorship proposal had been put together, Lush CEO Glenn Bergsma got on board and connected Legacy WA to businesses with the values to create long-standing working relationships moving forward.
The project as a whole didn’t have a green light until the sponsorships came through. Once this occurred, we had 12 working days from start to finish; including media PR, key messaging, brand conceptualisation, and a splash for the YouTube page, plus pre-production, production, and post-production of the live stream.
The pitch to all of the sponsors was primarily that we wanted them to be a part of an opportunity to connect to the Western Australian public through a not-for-profit who was supporting some of the most vulnerable people in this particular time. Also to make sure that we were still able to remember those veterans who have given their lives, because that is the cornerstone of Anzac Day in the Australian calendar.
Vivian Blanches, CEO, Legacy WA
Reframing the Legacy WA narrative.
Vivian Blanches, CEO of Legacy WA, says “traditionally we look after widowers and children of deceased veterans. But in the past couple of years, we’ve been trying to change or pivot so that we can also support the families of living veterans who are incapacitated in some way, shape or form.”
This opened up a new messaging and new reframing for Legacy. The new generation of messaging needed to evolve to retain relevance with the new market, the younger veterans, and young family members of veterans affected in more recent conflict, loss or struggle. “A lot of the content that we saw visually, such as the interviews that were done, were with young kids whose parents aren’t from World War II; they’ve come from recent conflict. So, in regards to the virtual event, it was about crafting a narrative around their experiences as well,” said Clare Reid.
Through research and branding strategy, a clear brand alignment was found and fed through all the messaging; from media, the organic socials, the landing page and even production and scripting. By presenting families that were of that younger cohort, and families from the next generation of veterans, we began the process of changing Legacy WA’s messaging moving forward.
“This is the beginning of what will be a continued effort to change the narrative of what we do,” commented Vivian Blanches.
Five days to go live.
Once the messaging and pre-production were in full swing, we had 5 days to create 12 different pieces of content, and then turn it into a live event. With no time to hesitate, the team got to filming; starting at five o’clock on Monday morning and finishing late with a Friday night rehearsal, with all the photography, footage and filmed segments in place.
Remembering the production process, Alex Lush said, “It was totally crazy. I was in contact with the families who were sending stuff to our Dropbox folder, whilst I was out filming with the Governor; not only their iPhone interview footage, but also photos to go with the footage, that we then had to edit into a proper package to play during the live stream.”
There were three or four families that we spoke to as well, and they were brilliant. A couple of the sons from the Gallagher family actually did the recording. They helped their mum and did a great little piece to camera, of the two of them, about what Legacy meant to them, about losing their father, about the fact that their brother is now in the forces.
Alex Lush, Manager of Video Production
We’re live.
When Saturday’s live stream came around, broadcasts were scheduled on Facebook Live, YouTube, through Legacy’s landing page, and even on 6PR. “We engaged Nick Hayes from Media Stable. He came on as media partner and was able to get some great media coverage in the lead up to the event,” says Clare Reid. “He was able to also secure a live broadcast through 6PR at the same time as we were broadcasting, which was a great match to our audience.”
The amount of media coverage leading up to the event also helped in terms of impact and audience reach; including a few segments on Channel 9 promoting the event thanks to Nick Hayes.
What’s next?
For Legacy WA, it means continuing on this path of a renewed message and brand ‘voice’; opening up to this new market of younger veterans and young family members of veterans affected by more recent conflict. “This virtual event was a step in the right direction to show how their brand can evolve to stay relevant and keep moving forward,” explained Clare Reid.
I have never produced anything like this before. I’ve never been involved with a production like this. For Lush to have pulled this off with the people that it did, it’s absolutely amazing; and with the constraints and restrictions around COVID as well. Everybody was all hands on deck for this particular project, and it was unbelievable. If we can pull this off on that short notice, in these conditions, then we can do anything for Legacy.
During COVID, the Council on the Ageing Western Australia (COTA WA) came to Lush with an important issue. Some seniors are manipulated and abused, often by family members taking advantage of their psychological or financial vulnerability. Termed elder abuse, the World Health Organisation estimates that close to 16 percent of people over the age of 60 are affected.
COTAWA’s objectives:
Reach seniors and help them understand what constitutes abuse
Initiate a call to action for seniors, families, and carers to seek help via their website and hotline
Raise public awareness of the issue
When people feel lectured to, there’s a tendency to tune out. If it looks and sounds like other PSAs, it’s easy for it to become white noise.
Mike Drysdale, Creative Content Strategist
Our approach
When developing strategy and messaging, Lush was mindful of previous marketing efforts and the need to align this content with all other campaign assets. Then there was the budget to consider. “We didn’t know what was possible for the funds we had, so we were really guided by the agency on how we could deliver impact and achieve a bigger bang for our buck”, says Christine Allen, COTA WA CEO. The funding was dependent on securing a government grant, so Lush and Mentor Marketing undertook preliminary work to assess possible parameters. After thorough research on elder abuse, and consultation with other interest organisations, the creative team got to work producing a TVC that shattered the current perceptions.
“The biggest challenge facing COTA was the perception that elder abuse didn’t demand the same amount of priority or attention as other forms of abuse,” says Mike Drysdale, Creative Strategist. “The challenge for us was to try and find a way to reframe elder abuse so it could be given the importance it deserves.”
The creative team conceptualised a scene whereby an unconscious, hospitalised patient was being exploited. With an aim to shock viewers first, Lush then drew a parallel to elder abuse. “We wanted to hold a mirror up and say that while it might not look exactly the same, abuse like this is happening more than you know, and here’s where you can go find out more about it,” says Drysdale.
The TVC aired from August to October 2020 with an accompanying digital and print campaign. “Within days the stats on COTA WA’s website had gone through the roof,” recalls Brendan Lobo, Client Services Director. “The number of people clicking through and seeking out information was phenomenal. We went with a brave creative that made people stop and think about elder abuse in a different way.”
I had great feedback on the TVC from stakeholders and particularly the state government, who funded the campaign. We thought it was really impactful and just about everyone we’ve spoken to has seen it.
A fresh take on road safety, delivered in five short films
Each year, lives are lost in accidents on WA roads. The Insurance Commission of WA’s long-running Belt Up campaign promotes wearing seat belts to reduce the severity of injury in a crash.
We needed to communicate this to grassroots community sporting clubs. By delivering the Belt Up message directly into the hands of players, we hoped to strengthen appreciation for the safety that seat belts provide.
Key to this video production project was delivering a fresh take on this well known road safety message, connecting emotionally with the audience.
Bringing the worlds of sport and road safety together
The online video series that we created features a variety of grassroots community sporting clubs, using local sportspeople rather than paid actors to establish a genuine connection with the audience.
We aimed to bring the worlds of sport and road safety together in funny, surprising, and relatable ways. The solution? We highlighted everyday situations away from the road in which one might wish to have a seat belt for safety. We wanted the audience to see themselves in these scenarios and have a visceral reaction to that feeling of safety. Through this, we sought to build an appreciation for the real-world circumstances where a seat belt truly can save your life.
From accidents on the field to an encounter with a snake in the clubhouse, life presents many unique challenges. This campaign highlights that we don’t always have an easy way to stay safe; and when we do, we should use it.
The Belt Up message is one that’s been heard many times before. Therefore, we crafted the campaign to cut through; positioning the audience to see road safety through a new lens that hits closer to home.
Encouraging road safety to sporting communities
Each of the sporting groups highlighted in the campaign shared it across their social media pages. As a result, it generated a high quality of organic reach to its desired audience.
The final outcome evoked a strong positive reaction, particularly from the netball, football, and rugby clubs featured. The Insurance Commission of WA will continue to roll out the video throughout this year, creating a lasting impact.
Reframing the volunteering narrative for younger generations
Volunteering WA needed to define a campaign that could inspire a younger audience to volunteer. The goal was to raise awareness of the value of volunteers to the WA community, re-engaging and re-mobilising people as well as attracting expressions of interest from new volunteers.
We sought to speak to the young adult demographic aged 18-27 by reinventing volunteering as a pathway for purpose, progress, wellbeing, and social connection.
Encouraging motivation through collaboration
We knew we had to tell a simple story, one that was relatable and met the audience on their terms. That meant tapping into their pre-existing desire to make positive change and connecting that feeling with volunteering.
We teamed up with two of the most influential and aspirational young brands in Perth and formed a true collaboration that would drive the campaign. Cold Nips, a not-for-profit association and Oli Clothing, a fashion label started in Northbridge, came together to help us put a unique and fresh stamp on volunteering for the new generation.
Oli Clothing volunteered their time to develop merchandise, branding, and a style guide for the newly formed VWA Volunteer Society.
A volunteering event to inspire positive change
We organised and documented a social volunteering day at the beach with Cold Nips and OzFish. Attendees received an Oli X VWA shirt and collected seagrass fruit to help restore and regenerate seagrass meadows.
The resulting integrated campaign consisted of two mini-docos, the above social volunteering event, a website portal, loads of photo and video content for Facebook, Youtube, and Tiktok, merchandise including the Oli X VWA shirts, audio ads on Spotify, and the development of three new styles of volunteering (social, expert, and upskill).
Cross-platform engagement and new volunteer applications
The Volunteering WA campaign ran across social media, video, and audio platforms. It strove to motivate people to leave their online platform to find out what all the fuss was about.
Achieving substantial engagement on Tiktok and Spotify, the campaign strongly resonated with its audience. However, its biggest impact stemmed from Facebook and Youtube. These two platforms led to 1252 clicks on the website’s volunteer application buttons over 2 months.
“YouTube is primarily an awareness channel, so being able to get people to move from there to the site and actually undertake an action is extremely great.”
Meningococcal disease is one of very few diseases that can kill in less than 24-hours. It’s also the most prevalent in five-year-olds and under. Meningitis Centre Australia wanted to create a piece of content that could speak to these children in a way that they could relate to; in turn, speaking to their parents and caregivers.
When we first approached Lush, what we wanted was something that would engage young kids on the importance of vaccination and hygiene… They worked their magic. It was unbelievable. It ticked all the boxes.
Lisa D’Cruz, Chief Executive Officer, Meningitis Centre Australia
The deliverables:
Animated TVC
Script and song development
Storyboarding
Character animation
Customising music and song writing
The key campaign messages around hygiene and getting vaccinated needed to be translated into a format that an early childhood audience could a) understand and b) remember. This is where the catchy tune came into it.
A key component of the TVC was the custom music and song writing. And, just a warning, it 100% gets stuck in your head. This creative strategy meant that we could engage with kids on their level while also showing them the importance of washing their hands, not sharing drinks, and getting vaccinated.
Gavin Carroll, Creative Director
Character design and development
The animation was initially concepted on the playfulness and vibrancy of being a kid. The character style then extended into colour, texture, shape, and movement in order to create a unique style that would first and foremost engage the primary target audience, kids.
Splashing in puddles, running and jumping, climbing – these childlike movements shaped how we developed the characters for the TVC. They each needed to have a personality that kids could relate to and almost mimic the cartoons they already watch regularly.
Davide Boscolo, Senior Creative, Lead Animation & 3D Artist
It’s so interactive with the kids. They’re loving it. So, the outcome for us was beyond our expectations.
Lisa D’Cruz, Chief Executive Officer, Meningitis Centre Australia
Raising Happiness with WA’s iconic parenting brand
For many West Australian parents, Ngala is a household name. The organisation is a go-to destination but the brand itself was facing an identity crisis that saw their 130-year-old organisation perceived solely as “just a baby sleep clinic.” There was also a feeling that the brand’s visual identity was too clinical. It lacked heart, meaning, and a holistic brand story.
We were looking for a brand identity that would really resonate and tell our Ngala story
Yvonne Tessensohn, Brand and Marketing Manager, Ngala
The deliverables:
Strategic research and brand positioning
A compelling and enriching brand story
A new tagline for the brand
Visual brand re-design
Brand style guide including photography style guide
Brochure, letterheads, and business card templates
Ongoing communications and content plan
Our answer
The art of research-informed branding
Upon winning the pitch against three other top tier agencies, Lush’s strategic team began the deep research required to reposition the brand.
We needed to get into the hearts and minds of this generation of WA parents, Ngala employees, and key stakeholders in order to create a brand that everyone could connect with. Ngala prides itself on being an evidence-based organisation, so we really needed to balance the IQ of the brand alongside the EQ that millennial parents were seeking.
Brendon Lobo, Client Services Director, Lush.
The strategic brand work gathered insights from a staff workshop, one-on-one interviews, online parent surveys, stakeholder engagement, and consumer research. This research-based approach continued through to the creative process with tagline testing.
Creative testing is always a big part of our process and Ngala’s new tagline required input from parents all over Australia. It was really remarkable to see just how symbiotic the responses were around one direction in particular; happiness.
Michael Drysdale, Lead Creative Strategist, Lush.
The results
A tagline co-written by the audience
The tagline, Raising Happiness, meant something different to almost everyone who read it. For some parents it meant meeting certain developmental milestones, for others it was having nourishing social engagements, finding purpose in their lives, and yes … even getting a good night’s sleep.
The tagline itself has become the linchpin of Ngala with all of our external stakeholders, from the parents to our supporters, our funders, our supporters. It’s a tagline that really resonates with everyone.
Yvonne Tessensohn, Brand and Marketing Manager, Ngala
The essence of the tagline was then developed into a longer narrative and became the brand story for Ngala:
The story of Ngala is a community story. It’s the future of Western Australian families who are guided by our 129 years’ experience in parenting and child development. This guidance has the power to give parents and carers a sigh of relief, a feeling that they’re in safe hands with our team. But this is just the beginning. We believe that parenting can be a joyful and rewarding experience, while children are given the best opportunities in life. This is what we call, Raising Happiness and it takes a village.
As a connected team of parenting professionals across WA, our actions towards Raising Happiness are based on research, evidence, and learned experience in this space. Your children will face challenges, seek out opportunities, and triumph over hurdles, all the while discovering their world. Ngala is there to support you on this journey with your child, every step of the way.
In the same way that your child’s world is made up of a collection of experiences and encounters, our story includes all the people who make up Ngala, including you. You are the story of Ngala. You are Raising Happiness.
Visualising the brand identity
The colour pallet, font style, logo design, and photography style all worked together to create the new visual brand identity for Ngala. The colours were inspired by the native flora surrounding Ngala HQ and the iconic hues of the West Australian sky, while the logo represented the union of parent, child, and community (of which Ngala is part).
This visual brand identity, combined with the written assets, modernised the historic WA brand and empowered Ngala to connect with a new generation of Aussie parents.
Everyone has a story to tell about the small island off the coast of WA. For some, it’s an annual family holiday where you can leave the iPad at home and enjoy some barefoot adventure; for others it’s a sustainable tourism destination that evokes a mindful experience; and then there’s the Aboriginal significance of the island that carries deep spiritual and historic importance.
To write the content for Wadjemup / Rottnest Island, we needed to dig deep. What position did they hold as a brand, what did they stand for, and who did they currently exist to serve? Then, the strategic work moved into the brand’s future – what could the brand become?
The deliverables:
A compelling and enriching brand story
A brand tone that is clear and consistent
A matrix of messaging to use across the whole brand
“We will have a North Star”
A direction forward to deliver on the Aboriginal culture brand pillar
Brand hierarchy that can be translated across marketing
Cohesion between the brands (destination and RIA) and knowing how they work together
Our answer
Strategic thinking to guide editorial output
The strategic brand work gathered insights from a staff workshop, one-on-one interviews, online surveys, stakeholder presentations, and consumer research. The media and cultural conversations around the island’s significance also played a large role in the strategic output for the brand.
As we began to gather insights into the island, the brands, and the experiences people were seeking; we saw a clear opportunity to re-write the brand story of Wadjemup / Rottnest Island, Our strategic direction then synchronised the destination brand and the governance brand with very clear identities and roles to play.
Michael Drysdale, Lead Strategist.
This research-led brand strategy expanded the idea of who comes to the island and why they come, laying the foundation for the editorial work moving forward.
Not what you say, but how you say it
The tone and personality of the destination brand shifted quite dramatically. From laidback, nostalgic, fun, and carefree – to engaged, respectful, contemplative, and careful.
Our strategic and editorial teams often work very closely together, and this project was no different, Together we created a brand tone and story that could hold the historic and cultural significance of the island while inviting people to experience exactly what they were seeking – awe and wonder.
Clare Reid, Senior Copywriter
The results
The significance of a powerful brand story
The strategic output continued with brand architecture work that unravelled confusion around co-branding, sub-branding, and affiliated group branding. And the editorial output continues to bring the brand story to life in content online and offline – brand messaging, website copy, blogs, brochures, welcome packs, SMS’s, stakeholder reports, online booking copy … wherever the words are required to travel.
This island is so rich in stories, and we have the opportunity to tell them all. From sustainability and biodiversity to family connection, history, and cultural significance; Wadjemup / Rottnest Island is embarking on a journey that we’re very proud to be a part of.
APM (Advanced Personal Management) came to Lush with a tight deadline and a desire to create an anti-corporate corporate video. While they historically led the way in content marketing, their competitors had caught up. It was time to rethink the creative strategy and break repetitive patterns for the next content campaign. The objectives were set:
Highlight the support APM offers for people with a disability/illness
Create an anti-corporate corporate video that sets APM apart in style and delivery
Propel APM back into their position of leadership and innovation
Our creative (and technical) approach
We disregarded the standard testimonial style in favour of a show-vs-tell perspective. We became part of the subjects’ worlds and, in that, acted as a catalyst between the audience and the people who APM have helped. With 24 hours in Bundaberg and 6 films to shoot, our team really embraced APM’s campaign focus ‘Let’s Get to Work’.
We needed to pull APM out of that saturation and produce client stories that pushed the boundaries and offered a new perspective.
Alex Lush, Head of Production, Lush.
Our creative direction meant authenticity propelled us far beyond choreography. We broke the corporate formula by moving from brand key messages to human voices, from artificial studio lighting towards natural light, and we ditched tripods for off-the-shoulder filming. This meant that APM were now able to own a film style and break away from their competitors while strengthening their visual brand assets.
We came to Lush because we needed something that had the power to break the moulds of tradition. Yes, we wanted to show what we do and how we support people with disability and illness, but we also needed to find the essence of our brand and bring that to market too.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service WA approached Lush to create a video, primarily for social media, about special training their pilots and crews were doing, to raise awareness of the importance of safety in everything they do.
When treating critically ill patients on a flight there’s quite a lot going on, so having their pilots, nurses and doctors prepared in case another emergency takes place is extremely important. The RFDS wanted a video that made the audience feel RFDS is committed to ensuring the safety of employees and patients.
The Solution
The Lush team went to the shoot armed with two cameras and multiple Go-Pros so we could capture the environment in which the RFDS was training and get a real sense of the danger they can find themselves in.
The Result
RFDS wanted an upbeat film, so we ensured they had great imagery, epic music and a punchy edit. The result is an exciting and visually impressive video that captures attention wherever it is shown, including on social media.
Rio Tinto wanted to showcase one of their community engagement programs, Dollars for Doers, through a series of videos highlighting the different projects and programs it has supported.
Dollars for Doers rewards employees who volunteer 50 hours or more of personal time per year for a Western Australian based not-for-profit organisation. Successful applicants receive a $500 grant for their nominated organisation.
The Solution
Lush needed to create a series of videos that showed the difference the program is making to people’s lives by telling the stories of those involved – and that meant getting out to where these programs operate.
The Lush team visited the various projects, filming with Rio Tinto staff and those who have benefited or are benefiting from the Dollars for Doers program. This involved traveling into the North-West of Western Australia for several days.
The Result
We created three original videos plus a fourth “highlights” video for Rio Tinto that can be used not just to honour those people and programs who earned a Dollars for Doers grant but also to encourage others within Rio Tinto to become volunteers.
Buy West Eat Best is a campaign developed by the West Australian Government to encourage people to buy locally grown fresh produce.
In October 2018, the campaign was celebrating its tenth anniversary, so they were having a month-long celebration, including several key events.
As part of that, the campaign team needed a video that explored the campaign’s history, landmarks and achievements while appealing to several different audiences, including government, growers, retailers, farmers and more.
The video had to work across all levels and be usable after the event for an audience that was both domestic and international.
The client requested a montage of two to three minutes and was able to supply a lot of footage and photos.
The campaign team also wanted to show that, while Buy West Eat Best was going from strength-to-strength, it could be even bigger and bolder and WA could lead the way in this field. They wanted the viewers to feel both proud and inspired.
The solution
The Lush team worked on some concepts and sent various examples of timeline-based videos through to the Buy West Eat Best team. These sorts of videos use date graphics, pulling the viewer through the narrative.
The examples we sent actually had people talking in them, which always makes a video more watchable and engaging. Then Lush discovered there was an opportunity to film some key players who were all going to be in Perth for a function the campaign was hosting. We sent a crew down to interview these people and capture some key messages we could insert into the film.
We chose some upbeat music and a design that could accommodate the campaign’s photos and footage.
We created not only the main celebratory video but also a series of shorter videos for social media.
The result
The result was a fantastic video that communicated Buy West Eat Best’s key messages in a way that both inspired and created a sense of pride in the audience.
Lush nailed the brief. It had such a great pulse and movement throughout it.
Centurion is the largest heavy haulage provider in Australia and in 2018, the company celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The team wanted to mark the occasion with a video that could be shared with staff to recognise the company’s incredible journey.
The Centurion team supplied photographs and information covering five decades of company history – right back to the purchase of the original truck by the Cardaci brothers who started the business in 1968.
The solution
The Lush team came to grips with Centurion’s history quickly but needed to bring that history to life. The best way to do that was with good storytelling – and who better to tell a story than the people who were there?
Having identified the stories we knew would resonate with Centurion’s internal audience for this video, we set up an interview so we could get these magnificent stories on camera.
While all the images supplied were fantastic and covered a lot of ground, we were able to create graphics that carried the story and could fill in any gaps very quickly.
The result
Lush created a video that captivated Centurion’s internal audience and appropriately celebrated an inspiring story about how one of WA’s largest privately-owned diversified groups (CFC Group) came into being.
It was important the story captured this feel, and the Lush team did a great job of distilling down a considerable amount of information into a narrative that really captured our journey to where we are today.
Adrian Firth, national marketing and communications manager for Centurion
Black Swan State Theatre Company wanted to share their 2019 Season Launch announcement with a wider audience, especially younger people. Lush was asked to come up with a way not only to achieve that, but also to provide a way for audiences based interstate and internationally to be involved in the fun.
The Solution
Lush suggested creating a Facebook Live Launch video to capture the event online in real time. Facebook Live is a channel that has never been used by Black Swan previously, so not only was this a new approach in terms of embracing a new technology, but it also provided an opportunity to build a deeper engagement with viewers and evoke excitement around the 2019 Season Launch.
In the lead-up to the event, Black Swan posted calendar reminders on their Facebook page to create a buzz around the launch and for viewers to see updates and get more news on the event. On the back end, the Lush team worked with Black Swan to film the event and schedule Facebook Live ahead of the launch.
The result
The 2019 Season Launch was a huge success. One of the many benefits of using Facebook Live was being able to see real-time engagement metrics. Black Swan recorded more than 1,000 views, likes, reactions, shares, mentions and comments. Having access to these invaluable insights as well as the ability to engage with their audience during and after the event was met with great enthusiasm by the audience and Black Swan.
Maria Sioulas, Black Swan’s marketing and audience development manager was thrilled with the result.
Red Lily Renovations had not previously done much in the way of online advertising, as most of their work came through word of mouth. While that kind of recommendation is fantastic, it doesn’t lead to consistent results.
Red Lily’s Jolene Griffiths wanted to take the business further and felt a Facebook campaign was the right option to achieve those goals. Lush — The Content Agency had previously developed some videos for Red Lily, so Jo turned to us to develop a campaign that would put her business in front of her target audience.
The solution
The videos we had previously made for Red Lily were well received, so we decided to create a campaign on Facebook that would put the unique strengths of Red Lily on display.
Red Lily has done some brilliant work and as it is a visual “product”, we felt it was well suited to the mobile-centric, highly visual feeds of Facebook.
Additionally, Jo had a really clear picture of whom her ideal type of client was. We used these attributes to create a custom audience that targeted people who we knew fit the profile of “the right sort of client” for Red Lily.
The result
We reached more than 17,000 people, resulting in more than 700 unique visits to the Red Lily website. From there, we tracked 11 confirmed leads from the campaign. We are very pleased to say that, after four weeks of the campaign, it has been necessary to slow things up so Jo can catch up with the number of appointments she has.
Jo said both the campaign and the videos have been instrumental in winning her a large amount of business.
I’ve had been blown away with the effectiveness of the Facebook campaign and have had as many enquiries in one month as I would have had in six months.
Jolene Griffiths, Red Lily Renovations
“Additionally, when a client enquires, I send them the video testimonials Lush created so they can get to know me and our design process. I believe these videos have helped secure the design meetings – because the clients get to know us and how we work. I never imagined we would have opportunities like these, but they are here, and they keep coming.”
Lush was asked to deliver content for the “Inspiring Women” campaign for Kailis Australian Pearls, who wished to celebrate their 40th anniversary by embracing the pearls of wisdom offered by two women from each of Kailis’s three primary audience demographics.
Evolving over the last forty years, Kailis has become the trusted source for the world’s finest Australian South Sea pearl jewellery.
They wished to showcase pearls of wisdom offered by women from their three primary audience demographics of millennials, those in their 40-50s and the ‘gifters’ who are later in life. Kailis wished to show the women as the heroes of the content, with the jewellery beautifully but subtly placed. The content would in some way be reflective of the values of the Kailis brand. The final outputs were for their website, their Brand Book, social media and digital signage.
The Solution
Lush tasked Kailis with providing the values and characteristics they wanted to bring out in the content from the six women. From there, we formulated questions for the talent and spoke to each one prior to filming to identify the most engaging and relevant stories.
Having landed on the creative look and feel for the shoot, Lush painted our infinity white screen studio in a mid-grey and props were sourced. With one of the talent being Kylie Radford, fashion designer and founder of Morrison, Lush decided to predominantly dress the women from this label. Meanwhile, pre-production for product and portrait shots was underway with testing carried out in the studio both on the grey background and in individual light tents against a backdrop of textured paper to secure just the right look.
With hair and make-up on hand, our crew of DOP, camera operator, sound engineer and lighting technician, and producer took the day interviewing the six Inspiring Women. Each woman was prompted with questions about their lives, generating answers reflective of the Kailis values as well as bringing out quirky, thoughtful and inspiring answers to reinforce that these are intelligent women wearing today’s ‘thinking woman’s’ brand of jewellery. Filming with each individual was followed by a half-hour photography session.
The Results
Lush created hero films with each woman, mixing each with hero shots of talent and jewellery.
Lush made two 30-second clips for each woman that concentrated on the values of the Kailis brand and could be used for social media purposes.
Lush also created a video web banner for Kailis’s campaign site and supplied all imagery for the 2018/19 Brand Book.
Emma Kerley, senior brand and marketing manager at Kailis Australian Pearls said:
“One of the most professional creative agencies I’ve had the pleasure of working with. The Lush team went above and beyond to ensure the production met the high standards expected of a luxury brand, like Kailis.
“The shooting schedule went over several days, including filming and photography, and involved a large cast of talent. The Lush team kept things running smoothly – and helped us tell the incredible stories of an inspiring group of women in a campaign that has real substance. We’re thrilled with the result and have since worked with Lush on other projects.”
Video Production
Underwater, drone and slowmo film create cinematic feel
Hero creates wearable water safety gear like inflatable rashies and wetsuits. The Hero team initially came to Lush – The Content Agency for a video production to promote their products but soon wanted more.
Hero also needed five testimonial videos, each targeted at a different market, to help them spread awareness about how great their safety products are.
The solution
To help the client keep within budget, we were able to use some footage from the original video production, and then got five people who had tried and tested the product to come into the Lush studio. We asked them some simple questions about how they responded to the product, taking into account the demographic they represented.
We then mixed the interviews with the earlier vision, which was very cinematic in style, incorporating drone, slow-motion and underwater footage.
The result
We were able to create five very simple testimonials the client was delighted with.
“Lush are a professional outfit who worked early mornings, under extreme weather conditions, and at every point went the extra yards to ensure we got the right shot for our film,” Hero’s founder, Peter Oliver, said.
“Their efforts and advice were invaluable and it really helped kickstart our campaigns.
“We would highly recommend Lush – The Content Agency to anyone wanting marketing advice and content production.”
