FoodCo Appoints Connecting Plots as Creative Agency Following Competitive Pitch
The company, which owns global bakery and café brands Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue, appointed the independent creative agency in June 2023 following a competitive pitch.
As part of the remit, Connecting Plots will build better synergies between brand and retail advertising across campaign and always-on comms for both Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue brands.
“We were extremely impressed with how Connecting Plots’ thinking stretched across brand and retail in paid, owned and earned. They demonstrated they get our business and will make every brand impression in every channel more consistent and impactful.”
FoodCo General Manager of Customer & Marketing, Fatima Syed.
Connecting Plots are currently working on new creative platforms for both the Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue which will be rolling out in market over the coming months.
“FoodCo is an impressive business amassing a strong franchise model across multiple brands. Fatima has assembled a strong marketing and digital team with a clear plan for how they intend to grow their business, so it’s exciting to be able to partner with her and media agency This Is Flow in the year ahead.”
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips.
Read more on AdNews → Mediaweek → Mumbrella → Campaign Brief →
How Renovating a Campaign Is Helping Difflam Take On Strepsils
Ah, the dreaded razor blade throat. We’ve all been there, and it’s definitely not ideal. Thankfully, there’s always been Difflam for soothing relief. However, when it comes to those initial tickles and discomfort, it seems like everyone’s first thought is Strepsils.
To tackle this issue, Difflam expanded their product range by introducing non-medicated lozenges and launched an advertising campaign positioning themselves as the ultimate solution for any stage of a sore throat.
Unfortunately, the campaign didn’t perform, failing to resonate with consumers in conveying the emotional benefits of using Difflam.
That’s when Connecting Plots was brought in to renovate the creative and connect the Difflam story perfectly across every channel for both brand and product specific messaging.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Reinforce Expertise As 'Sommeli-Airs' Of The Air
In a highly competitive category that’s hard to navigate, the new campaign by Connecting Plots seeks to unlock the assurance of an expert opinion, with the MHIAA Air Experts behaving like wine sommeliers – but with air.
It’s the third iteration of ‘The Experts in Air’, a brand platform that takes a humorous and light-hearted approach to presenting MHIAA as the true experts of the air-conditioning by stating that to truly understand air, MHIAA takes air exploration to the extreme.
“We understand that most Aussie’s are only in the market for an air-conditioner a few times in their life, if ever and that the brand affinity seen in other product categories isn’t as strong. So why not have some fun in what is usually a pretty conservative category and grab the attention of immediate and future customers so they can make an informed decision when the time is right.”
MHIAA Marketing Manager, Jenny Perello.
The brand strategy continues to focus on long term growth through distinctive and consistent brand building, underpinned by MHIAA’s heritage, credibility, customer satisfaction and the fact they are the most independently awarded air-con brand in Australia; with over 14 awards from CHOICE®, Canstar Blue, Finder and Product Review. The campaign also looks to uplift short term sales with a cash bonus promotion targeting both consumers and installers, who are highly influential figures in the sales process.
“Over the past three years, we’ve built on ‘The Experts In Air’ platform with a unique brand of humour to unashamedly claim category-leadership. When in doubt, you ask an expert and with their heritage and awards, that’s exactly what MHIAA are – our job is to convey that in a fun and compelling way that helps them stand apart.”
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Dave Jansen.
The campaign is running across TV, BVOD, YouTube, radio, social, online, POS and owned channels, working closely in collaboration with media agency Speed.
Read more on AdNews → B&T → Campaign Brief → Mumbrella →
Australian Eggs appoints Connecting Plots as creative partner following competitive pitch
The pitch process tasked the independent agency with elevating the versatility of eggs in order to encourage Australian families to increase their weekly egg consumption.
Consumer research conducted by the member owned not-for-profit company identified the need to tell an engaging and enduring story that demonstrates how to elevate every meal with an egg.
“We were really impressed with Connecting Plots’ creative approach and their ability to bring an insightful idea to life cohesively across every touchpoint”
Australian Eggs Managing Director, Rowan McMonnies.
Connecting Plots were awarded the business in late May, with a new brand platform and integrated campaign in development for release in the coming months.
Who doesn’t love eggs? It’s a real privilege to work on a product that truly touches the homes of so many families across the country,” says Connecting Plots CEO & Founding Partner, Tom Phillips. “The marketing and R&D work that the team at Australian Eggs do directly supports our Aussie eggs farmers, so it’s an important challenge to ensure our new brand platform drives a direct business impact for that farming community.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips.
The new Australian Eggs campaign will launch in August 2023.
Read more on AdNews →, Mediaweek →, Campaign Brief → and B&T →.
AdNews Better Workplaces - Connecting Plots' renovated 'marijuana den'
The office of independent creative agency Connecting Plots, according to neighbours, was once the scene of a major drug bust.
While the Plotters HQ was an unassuming industrial space in Beaconsfield, Sydney, when the agency purchased it in 2019, staff soon found out the building’s twisty history as an ex-pizza factory and ex-marijuana den.
Unlike most agencies, Connecting Plots kept the renovations “in the family” as the space was designed by the company’s three owners, Tom Phillips, Sophia Kang and Dave Jansen, with help from their partners who have a good eye for interior design.
Converted into an office within just two months, the office still shows its warehouse roots with exposed brick and a controlled colour palette of textured blacks and browns such as leather and wood.
We wanted to keep it simple but sophisticated and create a space that invited creativity and diverse thinking.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips.
Being fiercely independent Connecting Plots wanted to create a space where like-minded agencies and businesses could share the agency’s space and create a culture of collaboration.
We wanted the office to be somewhere where fellow indie agencies who are starting out or scaling their businesses could come, network, share a drink and swap insights, problems and experiences.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips.
Connecting Plots currently shares the space with its sister production company Infinity Squared as well as The Park, a UK-based experiential agency, and We Are Gather, a business that designs large scale consumer events.
Previously, the space was also shared with PR agency We Are Different when it was just three but it grew and has since moved.
The office includes just more than 40 open plan desks and approximately 35 people combined across the four businesses. With the agency currently on the hunt for another small indie agency to fill up those final few extra desks.
We only built our mezzanine last year and it’s been a game changer. We use the space for anything and everything – from escaping our desks to work in a comfy booth, having an impromptu meeting, doing training and company-wide presentations, client workshops or just as a space to hang out for a drink at the end of a long week.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips.
Read the full article on AdNews →.
Connecting Plots Acquires Indie Agency Two G’s
Two G’s became part of Connecting Plots on Tuesday 11 April, with their current clients including Amazon Prime Video, Mad Mex and Penguin Books Australia.
John and Matt are both highly awarded integrated Creative Directors with more than 15 years experience who both live and breathe brand, digital and social worlds to create culture-shaping, made-for-channel creative.
Matt and John are a true representation of our old meets new philosophy. They bring a unique mix of brand and creative with channel-centric thinking across social, digital and technology. We’re thrilled to have them join us.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips
The pair have extensive experience at both traditional and digital-centric agencies including VML where they were paired together to creatively lead the agency’s major accounts. Between them they have worked with clients from all categories, including McDonalds, Toyota and Coca-Cola, and won all the major awards – with highlights including multiple Cannes Lions and golds at One Show.
We’re thrilled to be joining Tom, Dave, Sophia and the team. They’re fantastic people making fantastic work and we believe in their vision for the agency and can’t wait to help bring to life their new ‘Imagination In Every Impression’ positioning.
Connecting Plots Creative Partners, Matt Geersen & John Gault
Sydney Royal Easter Show Says 'Find Your Happy Place' In New Creative Platform Via Connecting Plots
This new campaign follows the Royal Agricultural Society Of NSW appointment of Connecting Plots as its new creative agency of record following a competitive pitch that took place in November 2022.
In their first project for RAS, Connecting Plots have created ‘Find Your Happy Place’ a creative platform that builds upon the heritage and creative direction that the Sydney Royal Easter Show has followed since 2017 – the home of childhood wonder and joy, punctuated by the mnemonic device, ‘Happy and you know it’.
There’s a lot of nostalgia associated with the Sydney Royal Easter Show. We wanted Connecting Plots to leverage that heritage and capture the wonder and joy of childhood while also making the campaign feel new and contemporary.
RAS Head of Marketing, Frances Jewell
The new creative platform has been brought to life through the entire customer experience with a strong visual identity that builds upon the iconic elements from the Easter Show including the ribbons from the agriculture awards and hero brand colours of red and purple. Meanwhile the iconic ‘Happy and you know it’ theme song from previous campaigns has been evolved into a playful whistling device that carries throughout the different creative.
In order to understand how to evolve the existing campaign direction, we conducted research with a partner company to analyse the previous campaigns to see what we should keep, change and build upon. From these learnings, we created the organising platform ‘Find Your Happy Place’ that evolved the existing creative and showed that, with all the different experiences on offer at the showgrounds, there truly is a happy place for everyone.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Dave Jansen
The ‘Find Your Happy Place’ creative platform has been designed to create consistency and cohesion across all of the show’s collateral. The visual identity has been applied across every single impression, from TVCs, social, radio and OOH through to media kits, selfie photo frames and the spectacular nightly drone show.
The Sydney Royal Easter Show and the ‘Find Your Happy Place’ campaign will run until Monday 17 April with pre-sales already hitting an all time high.
Connecting Plots Take On Wasted Ad Dollars Launch of New Technology Platform; a.glo
The launch of a.glo supports the agency’s new positioning, ‘Imagination In Every Impression’ which challenges the industry’s old habits and specifically targets the recurring and systematic problem of wasting advertising dollars by using creative that isn’t fit for purpose.
In the current economy, proving a greater ROI has never been more important. This point has been further highlighted by the recent Next&Co Annual Digital Media Wastage Report which showed that approximately 41% of digital ad spend in the last year was “wasted”. Increasingly complex channel requirements means that clients need more tailored creative to ensure they are performing in these channels to achieve stronger results.
If you think about Meta’s ecosystem alone there are upwards of 20 ad formats. And against those formats, there are 6 different strategic objectives you can buy against that each require tailored creative solutions. Anything from different messaging, allowances for sounds, moving image, different calls-to action and more. Multiply that again by Snap, TikTok and YouTube, and this number goes to well above 40. So a ‘matching luggage’ approach of creating a 30” TVC and a 15” and 6” cutdown simply doesn’t cut the mustard.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips
Phillips believes the siloed approach of how advertising, media and production agencies are set up is to blame and is leaving money on the table.
Clients are approaching us directly or via our platform partnerships to fix the same problem – their creative for these channels isn’t performing and is often an afterthought.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips
The new platform a.glo combines creative, brand, media and production thinking to deliver full-funnel, fit-for-channel and fit-for-purpose creative solutions that are proven to work.
But this specialist service is not new. The team behind a.glo have been doing this in partnership with Meta, Snap and other platforms for over 5 years across a variety of verticals including Financial Services, Consumer Tech, FMCG, Retail and Automotive.
The service utilises best practice marketing diagnostics to help unearth where the wastage is and what the opportunities are in order to devise a strategic roadmap based on the nuances of achieving the business objectives within different channels. Clients’ existing creative and assets can then be re-engineered to create optimised best practice creative that deliver to the varying strategic objectives without the need for extensive production requirements.
And the return far outweighs the investment.
A great example of a.glo in motion is where we worked with Meta across 12 auto brands to test platform optimised content vs. non-optimised content. Meta found that the majority of adverts uploaded to Facebook and Instagram weren’t created social-first, resulting in huge inefficiencies and poor performance. By putting it through the a.glo process, we were able to increase reach by 200% for the same budget, reduce cost per lead by 50%, reduce cost per finance conversion by 45% and reduce cost per model page visit by 54%.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips
a.glo can be extended to platform partners, direct clients and agencies to ensure best-practice social and digital can be easily accessible for brands across Asia Pacific.
Read the full interview with Co-Founder Tom Phillips on Mediaweek →.
30 SECONDS Outdoor Cleaner Launch New Potty-Mouthed Creative Platform Via Connecting Plots
Tasked with creating an enduring creative platform and through-the-line brand experience, the activity has been developed by Connecting Plots to bring a unique and relatable identity to the New Zealand brand within the Australian market.
30 SECONDS has experienced strong growth and category-leadership in recent years, in part due to back-to-back La Niña events causing exponential growth in mould and mildew.
While we’ve established a strong footprint within hardware retailers, the task has now turned to cementing 30 SECONDS as the go-to outdoor cleaner in the minds of Aussie consumers. That’s why we turned to Connecting Plots to build the brand and create consistency across our entire brand experience.
30 SECONDS Chief Executive Officer, James Pearson
The new creative platform ‘Let’s Clean Things Up’ champions the satisfaction of seeing a specialist cleaner at work, bringing a fun and unashamedly Aussie spin to an otherwise low-interest category.
At the heart of the campaign are the loveable, stubby-wearing and house-proud gnomes Gneil and Gnoelene, two no-nonsense ‘Spokes-Gnomes’ on a mission to show home loving Aussies how to clean things up – in their own inimitable way.
Knowing that 30 SECONDS operates in a low-interest category, we needed to get people’s attention and stand apart from competitors in every single impression, from radio through to pallet wraps. Gneil and Gnoelene are already doing just that with their colourful turn of phrase.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips
Giving the brand a distinctive, slightly potty-mouthed tone of voice, Gneil and Gnoelene act as a cohesive branding device throughout the 30 SECONDS brand and customer experience ranging from video, OOH, radio, social, digital and website through to in-store activations, sales collateral and internal communications.
The campaign has been developed in collaboration with media agency, Co.gency, with client, creative and media working closely together since the onset of the campaign.
It has been a pleasure to work hand-in-glove with both 30 SECONDS and Connecting Plots from the initial brief. We explored a range of media options to find the right balance of reach and impact for the creative platform. I’m excited to see Gneil and Gnoelene come to life in different ways across each of these channels.
Co.gency Managing Partner, James Currah.
The new campaign launches this week with a series of extensions and innovations planned for the loveable characters into 2024 and beyond.
Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Appoints Connecting Plots as Agency of Record Following Competitive Pitch
The Royal Agricultural Society Of NSW has been an influential force in the establishment and progression of Australian agriculture since its foundation in 1822. The first project, which is currently in development with Connecting Plots, will be the iconic Sydney Royal Easter Show.
We were really impressed with the way Connecting Plots used research and data to inform their creative approach and their design and production thinking to crack our brief. They showed a great deal of care and insight in how to bring their thinking to life perfectly in every channel and every touchpoint.
RAS Head of Marketing, Frances Jewell
Connecting Plots has been tasked with the branding and development of a creative platform that encapsulates the spirit of the Sydney Royal Easter Show and celebrates everything that makes it an event everyone can enjoy.
It’s a real privilege to partner with such an important non-for-profit organisation. Many of us in the agency are from rural communities and some have agricultural backgrounds, so it’s good for the soul to be helping promote the great work of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW and its pinnacle event, the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
Connecting Plots Co-Founder, Tom Phillips
The Sydney Royal Easter Show will run from Thursday 6 April to Monday 17 April.