Helga’s Brings A Taste Of Late Night Wholesome To The Brats
Since the release of Charli XCX’s studio album, Brat, the brat trend and lime green brat aesthetic has been seemingly everywhere – from TikTok dances, memes and fashion through to an endorsement by the U.S presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
When Charli XCX’s tour poster was banned by the UK’s advertising regulation body, ASA, for “promoting bad things”, the singer-songwriter promptly took to TikTok to clarify, immediately adding a sandwich to the updated tour poster.
With the humble sandwich now central to the Brat 2024 Arena Tour’s promotional material, it was only fitting for a brat sandwich to take centre stage.
“We wanted to create something bratty, but also a little bit wholesome. Something that could bring our brats together for a moment of goodness amidst a big night out.”
Helga’s Marketing Manager, Ryan Guthrie.
So, to show the brats they care, Helga’s partnered with It’s Recess, a cult sandwich shop just off of Sydney’s Oxford Street to develop a custom brat club sandwich for one night only.
Named after one of the iconic tracks on Charli’s new album, the Club Classic[s] is a play on the iconic club sandwich. 11 layers of pure bratty chaos held together by three slices of deliciously soft Helga’s wholemeal bread. Ingredients include crispy bacon, oxheart tomatoes, rocket, chicken, swiss cheese, apple slices brined in pickle juice and a bright brat-green mayo. All served in a custom sandwich bag, of course.
Influencers, content creators and media were invited to an exclusive invite-only preview night to taste test the sandwich and create content for their channels to get word to the brats.
The experience dropped on Friday 6 September where It’s Recess transformed into the iconic brat lime green. For one night only from 10pm – 1am, 365 (another Charli XCX song) Club Classic sandwiches were available and free. You just had to turn up to get your hands on one. And if you missed it – sandwich creator – Tom Smallwood created a tutorial on how to make a Helga’s Club Classic at home.
The campaign was developed by Goodman Fielder in collaboration with Connecting Plots and their social and influencer business unit, a.glo.
“From our team identifying the opportunity, to having an idea and activation in motion with Connecting Plots just 48 hours later – this just demonstrates the power of a close working relationship between agency and client.”
Goodman Fielder’s CMO, Christine Fung.
View the full campaign here →
Connecting Plots Has 4 Entries Accepted Into Campaign Brief The Work 2024
Film & TV Craft – Special Effects
‘Happy To Help’ – Westinghouse
Radio & Audio
Let’s Clean Things Up’ – 30 SECONDS
Film, TV & Cinema (90 Seconds & Under)
‘The Experts in Air’ – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia
Film, TV & Cinema (90 Seconds & Under)
‘Take A Breakation’ – Muffin Break
Chartered Accountants ANZ And Connecting Plots Challenge Perceptions Of The Profession
The accounting profession has a problem. Consideration of the profession is severely lacking in the younger generation, while perceptions are deeply rooted in old truths that no longer apply. To put it quite simply, Gen Z don’t see accounting as ‘cool’.
Despite the importance of accountants in our economy, these preconceived notions have become a significant barrier for students when it comes to making decisions about their future careers. Student enrolments in accounting degrees at universities have almost halved since 2018, leaving a massive gap in the profession’s talent pipeline.
Despite the decline in consideration, overall demand for accounting, audit and finance professionals is predicted to grow significantly, with forecasts showing that we will need an additional 58,000 new jobs in the next 10 years to match demand. Chartered Accountants ANZ, who support the education, development and professional standards of more than 139,000 financial professionals across Australia and New Zealand, need to future-proof the profession by challenging Gen Z’s perceptions of accounting.
As part of a longer-term platform to bring about change for the profession, Chartered Accountants ANZ has partnered with creative agency, Connecting Plots to develop a creative platform and strategic approach that will span future communications, content and campaigns.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint. From launching partnerships with Year13, YES and Explore Careers to establishing this new platform, we are still in the early stages of a much longer journey to change perceptions and drive consideration of a career in accounting.”
Chartered Accountants ANZ Chief Marketing Officer, Chelsea Wymer.
Through qualitative research, Connecting Plots discovered that students don’t think a whole lot about their future profession, nor do they know (or care) much about accountancy. But they are incredibly passionate about their interests, which are wide and varied. The task at hand was to show them how a career in accounting could help turn these passions into their career.
After all, behind every superstar athlete, every brand we love and every show we binge watch, there’s a financial expert. They may not be in the spotlight, but Chartered Accountants are the backbone of some of the most exciting industries across the globe. The new platform ‘Make Epic Things Happen’ shines a spotlight on these unsung heroes, repositioning accountants as the stars of the show by featuring them in an epic movie trailer.
“From out in the field to festivals, from global conservation to gaming, the new campaign provides context for the real work of accountants that our audience can understand, relate to and aspire to become. We wanted to inspire the next generation to see that people in accounting make epic things happen every day.”
Connecting Plots Creative Partner, Matt Geersen.
The new work launched in cinema in July 2024 before one of the year’s most anticipated film premieres, Deadpool & Wolverine. The film has already smashed box office records, grossing a staggering $438.3 million globally, including a record-breaking $17.6 million at the Australian box office in its first week.
The campaign will continue to roll out across careers events, online video, YouTube, Meta, Instagram and TikTok, OOH and targeted display media over the coming months.
View the full campaign here →
La Famiglia Unveils New Brand Platform, Positioning Garlic Bread As An Irresistible Indulgence Via Connecting Plots
A quick search for ‘garlic bread’ on Reddit reveals the internet’s unwavering fascination with this delicious treat – crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside, garlic bread is truly the eighth wonder of the modern world.
However, despite the widespread love for garlic bread, particularly their own, which took out top honours in the Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘Great Australian Supermarket Garlic Bread Taste Test’ in 2021, La Famiglia has not seen this translate into growth.
Research indicates that consumers don’t see garlic bread as a necessity and tend to only consider garlic bread as a pairing for Italian cuisine. This association is only exacerbated by La Famiglia’s Italian name and branding.
The new brand platform, ‘To Die For’ aims to establish a unique position in consumers’ minds beyond the typical Italian associations, elevating La Famiglia garlic bread from non-essential to irresistible by owning the extreme lengths people will go to for a taste of it.
“We know people love our garlic bread, there’s an almost cult-like obsession with it. The challenge we’re facing is lack of top-of-mind awareness and being seen as more than just a side to Italian food. Moving away from this is a critical step in growing our portfolio – showing that it’s a must have regardless of the occasion and cuisine.”
Goodman Fielder Head of Portfolio, Rose Milan.
To launch this new positioning, independent agency Connecting Plots has introduced a mascot willing to risk their life for a taste of Australia’s favourite garlic bread.
“Everyone loves La Famiglia garlic bread. Even those who probably shouldn’t, like our vampire. He’s a playful representation of just how irresistible the allure of our product is and a unique new angle for La Famiglia that is distinctly, un-Italian. We look forward to doing more with him in the future and building out the brand platform.”
Connecting Plots Creative Partner, Matt Geersen.
View the full campaign here →
Changi Airport Group Launches Campaign To Drive ANZ Visitation In First Work By Connecting Plots
For ANZ travelers, the tyranny of distance means that outside of the obligatory boarding pass instagram post at the airport, there’s little joy to be found until we reach our final destination. Unless of course, you happen to be traveling via one of the best airports in the world. With seemingly limitless experiences, the award-winning Singapore Changi Airport offers the chance to start the holiday early.
The new campaign celebrates the wealth of activities and experiences available across Changi’s four terminals and Jewel, its multi-dimensional entertainment and retail complex. From swimming pools to a mirror maze to robots serving the latest whisky, it is so much more than just an airport. It’s ‘a departure from ordinary.’
“We’ve been incredibly excited to bring this campaign to life. The work really captures the breadth of extraordinary experiences available that make Changi Airport more than your standard transit airport, but one that becomes part of the holiday experience itself.”
Changi Airport Group Vice President of Corporate & Marketing Communications, Kelvin Ng.
“Changi Airport really is a departure from ordinary. Being able to enjoy such a wide range of incredible experiences while breaking up your journey is an enticing proposition for travelers from Australia and New Zealand.”
Connecting Plots Creative Partner, Matt Geersen.
The new work is the first to come out of independent creative agency, Connecting Plots since it was officially appointed as ANZ creative agency of record in August 2023 following a competitive pitch.
View the full campaign here →
Mad Mex Give Away Burial Plot To Combat Permanent Food Comas Via Connecting Plots
Not for the faint of heart, the cult-classic is back by popular demand, returning for its 14th year for a limited 6 week period until 21 July. During that time, the iconic double-sized burrito will come with a free can of Liquid Death, promising to murder both your hunger and your thirst.
Anyone daring enough to take on the challenge will go in the running to win a grand prize to die for – their own personal plot of land in a cemetery. Entrants just need to purchase a Big Burrito combo, go to the website and write the inscription for their own tombstone in 25 words or less to go into the running to win their very own burial plot.
The campaign uses popular content creators @lach_mac and @jonbernardk to deliver eulogies for friends and family who tackled the combo, while the ever-popular satirical institution, The Betoota Advocate is publishing bespoke content to give the combo mass appeal.
“While Aussie property prices soar and cost of living grows more expensive than ever, the cost of dying just got that little bit easier. Partnering with killer brands like Mad Mex and Liquid Death gives us the creative freedom to push boundaries for greater ROI – we’ve had a lot of fun bringing this to life across creative, influencers and content partners.”
Connecting Plots Creative Partner, John Gault.
The campaign aims to drive foot traffic and sales during the limited period, while also starting the brand on its journey to bring the “Mad’ back into Mad Mex.
“The Big Burrito is a staple of our marketing calendar. We were excited to step things up this year and partner with the team at Liquid Death to really embrace the food coma that is more or less guaranteed when you down a 1kg burrito with a 500ml tallboy. Kudos to Connecting Plots for bringing the madness and developing a campaign that’s made us all a little uncomfortable – in a good way.”
Mad Mex General Manager of Marketing, Nick Cook.
The campaign is rolling out across social, digital, POS and owned channels, as well as across PR, influencers and content partnerships.
View the full campaign here →
a.glo launch 'Influencers Reimagined' to combat absence of science in influencer marketing.
Influencers aren’t a new concept. Take your boy Jesus for example.
For over 70 years businesses have leveraged people of influence in marcomms as a strategy to build their brand and grow their bottom-line.
The $250B Creator economy has been a ‘gold rush’ on a new type of influencer, one who operates autonomously and can deliver immediate short term results but who has very little understanding of how brands are built over time.
Put simply, the long-term impact of using influencers is unknown.
‘Influencers Reimagined’ reimagines the brave new world of influencer marketing with a twist of long term brand building to identify the real potential – making it invaluable in delivering bigger brand and business impact in both the short term and long term.
Connecting Plots Recruits TBWA\Eleven's Kent Pearson as Managing Partner
Widely regarded by industry peers as a visionary in social and influencer marketing, Pearson has held senior positions at leading agencies including TBWA\Eleven where he was Head of Social & Content and Managing Partner at GROUND where he supercharged client growth for Bumble and Pet Circle.
At a time when the influencer industry is booming and the use of vanity metrics to quantify success has become commonplace, Pearson’s remit is to weaponise social and influencer to deliver brand growth and sales for clients to make their businesses shine.
As a business, we have a strong track record in growing our clients’ businesses in digital and social channels – it’s how we started. As influencers grow, we’ve recognised the need to apply the same rigour you would to any advertising or marcomms and have the best specialist talent leading the charge. Kent has a reputation for his technical understanding and strategic know-how. He is supremely talented in connecting influencer and content creator activity to business impact. We are beyond excited to have him join the team and grow the a.glo offering further.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder & CEO, Tom Phillips
‘Glow Up, Glow Out’, a.glo’s new influencer offering has been designed by Pearson and applies marketing science and full-funnel thinking to influencers and content creators in campaign and always-on activity to achieve long-term brand effects and short-term goals.
The new influencer product has already been rolled out to a number of clients and is part of a string of capabilities now offered by a.glo including always-on performance creative and media, always-on social media management and channel specific creative. a.glo also holds partnership accreditation with Meta and Snap Inc. and is a foundation partner of the TikTok Creative Exchange (TTCX) which helps advertisers connect with experts to create native TikTok videos for ad campaigns.
I’m thrilled to be joining the team during this exciting time for the business. Tom and Dave have built a great reputation for social that delivers genuine business impact and I’m excited to bring my expertise to build upon that specialist social and content offering further.
a.glo Managing Partner, Kent Pearson
Connecting Plots Wins Three Cairns Crocodiles
Gold – Travel/Leisure Campaign
‘Find Your Happy Place’ – The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW
Silver – Radio & Audio
Let’s Clean Things Up’ – 30 SECONDS
Bronze – FMCG Campaign
‘The Experts in Air’ – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia
Connecting Plots Welcomes Craig Page & WeirdWorks
Craig Page, esteemed integrated strategist and founder of strategic consultancy WeirdWorks, joins Connecting Plots as Strategy Partner to lead the company’s strategic services.
Page, who founded WeirdWorks after holding strategy leadership positions at Saatchi & Saatchi, CX Lavender, VMLY&R and R/GA, will join the Connecting Plots leadership team alongside Client Service Director, Emma McJury; Creative Operations Director, Sarah Miller; and Creative Partners, Matt Geersen and John Gault whose agency Two G’s was acquired by Connecting Plots last year.
Craig is highly-regarded and comes with a wealth of knowledge that will certainly help grow our clients’ businesses and evolve the Connecting Plots service offering. The work that Craig has been doing with his own consultancy, WeirdWorks, marry perfectly into our growth ambitions and we’re thrilled that he’ll be bringing this offering into Connecting Plots.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder & CEO, Tom Phillips
With an illustrious track record of growing brands and transforming organisations through the integration of brand, creative, channel and experience strategy, Page has worked with a diverse range of clients including Westpac, Australian Defence Force, NBN, NRMA, Pizza Hut, Colgate, Arnott’s, McDonald’s, Wine Australia, Telstra, Rip Curl and Google.
The pace since founding WeirdWorks last year has been insane, so this chance to join forces is a perfectly-timed, win-win-win opportunity – for Connecting Plots to offer clients’ holistic brand thinking across their entire ecosystems, for WeirdWorks to offer clients’ the ability to put their strategic consulting into practice, and for me to enjoy working with this awesome team of brilliantly-talented and fun-slash-weird-in-a-good-way people.
Connecting Plots Strategy Partner, Craig Page
The new appointment comes as incumbent Strategy Partner, Tim Collier departs after more than 6 years of dedicated service.
It’s bittersweet for us – Tim’s been with us since day dot, weathered many storms and shared in plenty of the successes we’ve had along the way. He’s left an indelible mark on Connecting Plots and is a major factor in its success to date.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder & CEO, Tom Phillips
6 years is a long time in this game. We want to thank Tim for his commitment, loyalty and brilliance over that time. I’ve learnt a lot from him, he’s become a good mate and he’s shared A LOT of stories… I look forward to having a beer with him in the future and not talking about DBAs and Howard Gossage. We all wish him every success in his next role.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder & CCO, Dave Jansen