Sealord 'Swim like a fish'

Sealord had an image problem, with consumers connecting the brand with the negative aspects of trawling and over-fishing. They needed some love, and this idea did just that. Days after its release on air, Sealord's Social Media pages were suddenly inundated with glowing comments from New Zealanders far and wide, all loving this simple but heartfelt story. Recall and preference shot up to a staggering 80% in post campaign research. The brand spot was followed by two shorter, product-specific commercials also featuring the father and daughter, which drove sales upwards and further increased the effectiveness of the campaign.

Sotheby's International Realty

Film co Southern Studios asked me to collaborate on a project to capture the essence of Queenstown-based Sotheby’s International, especially their family roots to that part of the world. Despite the global name of Sotheby’s, their early origins were far more humble and Kiwi - all of which made for a compelling story.

Pathfinder, the ethical Kiwisaver

Pathfinder had a huge ethical point of difference to all the other Kiwisavers, it was just that no one knew about it. Like all startups they had a small marketing budget to play with, but to help get them noticed we created a launch video that looked a million dollars, but cost considerably less thanks to the savvy use of free library footage - 99.9% less you might say. While we don’t always recommend this as a marketing tactic, it answered the brief and gave us the chance to show that, even with only an all powerful script to work with, we can still turnaround something priceless.

NZ Police - Maori language week

NZ Police are always looking to build better relationships with the public. One of those relationships is with the Maori community. So, when the country celebrated Maori language week, a week in which everyone is encouraged to speak Te Reo, we decided to transform an ordinary Police car using the Maori word for Police - Pirihimana. The car quickly found a huge following: on the streets, in the press and of course on social media. The public made their own versions, while the Pirihimana car even found its way into the hit video game - Grand Theft Auto.

Melanoma NZ - #wereyouthere?

Melanoma NZ wanted to target Kiwi males aged 50+, a group who rarely checked their skin for cancer. My insight was simple. Back in the day when this group was young, they religiously soaked up the sun and suffered through the agony of burnt skin every year. The idea was to use the power of nostalgia to get their attention. Key influencers on social media like Dick Frizzell, Sean Fitzpatrick and Tim Finn posted images taken from major outdoor events in the 1960's, 70's and 80's - like Sweetwaters Festival, the Rolling Stones concert at Western Springs, Round the Bays and the big summer sporting matches. The question they asked was, 'Were you there?' Their followers answered in their thousands, tagging themselves and their mates in the photos. These people then received a follow up message telling them they weren't alone on those hot summer days, because Melanoma was there too. Results showed many booked a skin check the next day.

EECA EV ‘Tiny’

EECA, the energy conservation and efficiency arm of the government, wanted to sell people on the future of the electric car by talking about its impact on the environment. We knew this to be quite small, so we employed a camera technique called 'Tiltshift' that made everything appear in miniature. We also employed the man who invented it, in order to create a stunning visual masterpiece we called 'Tiny'.

BP 'Peter and the Rabbit'

Who loves a fuel company? Well, this campaign for BP changed the game and attracted the kind of brand love most clients can only dream of.

ARA Institute internal video

Mechanic was asked to come up with an internal video that would help sow a more positive culture within ARA Polytechnic, something they didn’t have because of a disconnect between the many campus sites. The idea was to get all the faculties to come together to create a unique ‘alphabet’ that spelt out our campaign line, ‘Advantage You’. It worked incredibly well, creating a real sense of camaraderie.

Got A Trade, Got it Made

This web content was created to direct school leavers to the Got A Trade site, to open their eyes to the idea of working in a trade rather than taking the expected path to University, and therefore a hefty loan. It had to be inspirational, easily viewable on Facebook and Snapchat video, and it had to be engaging. The idea to surprise two students from either end of the country and take them on a excursion to see what a job in the trades was like, did all that and more.

Pink Batts

Whatever happened to the guy in the Pink Batts tv ad years ago - the one Kiwis loved? Well, this happened. A new campaign that reveals how life changed for the Pink Batts guy after being ‘discovered’, leading to him now in a ‘executive marketing role’ at the company, still dressed in his suit of Pink Batts of course and still in love with the brand.

Springfree Trampolines

This iconic Kiwi brand, now a global one, needed help to showcase its emotive side in a campaign that ran during the 2020 Olympics, in 2021. Simple, delightful and in the end, highly impactful without having a big production budget - pure Gold.

Destination Queenstown

Designed to lure a domestic market to Queenstown and written by Mechanic during lockdown using existing footage, ‘Come to me’ has now become a wide-ranging campaign line that invites NZ to the home of adventure. Emotive, uplifting and above all, enticing - the film has already made it onto One News and Breakfast programmes, buying a lot of free media in the process.

Film Company: Two Bearded Men