Westpac Chopper

Summer Campaign for Westpac Rescue Chopper Service

This is the brief I had been waiting for;The live brief. When Dom Hickey the Planning Partner at DDB gave me the brief I didn’t know anything about the Westpac Rescue Chopper. I didn’t know how lucky I was to get a chance to work on something so iconic.

The aim of the brief was to raise awareness about the Westpac Chopper program. Westpac has supported the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service (WLRHS) Or Westpac Chopper for 44 years and this gives way to an opportunity to emotionally connect with the Australians on a deeper level. We had to Reinforce their continued support to the ‘Australian way of life’. We were taught in Miami Ad School that the client brief will have a problem stated but it is the job of the Strategist/Planner to redefine the problem of the brief. I was looking for a real problem to solve.

I remembered reading about the challenge banking sector was facing around trust and reputation and decided to take a deeper look into the matter and understand its root cause. I learnt about the trust gap in Australian banking. Trust is the most powerful currency for any financial services company. This is the real problem the bank was facing. So I redefine the problem of the brief as: How can we raise the goodwill for Westpac through Westpac Rescue Chopper Service?

The rescue chopper is the best service to advertise and build trust. Heres why: it saves peoples lives, it’s completely free, and it’s iconic. The brand archetype is a hero. It is a genuine initiative which can help build goodwill. Whoever in Westpac thought of partnering with Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is a genius.

I studied about the history of Westpac and the rescue chopper. I thought we could do a TV show for the Westpac Chopper. We could show how the Westpac Chopper rescue team risks their lives to saves the lives of Australians. It will raise awareness and trust and people would love to watch it. Yes, I knew it that I nailed it. But to my utter disappointment that this idea has already been executed and Air Rescue, the TV show has been on air since 2003. I was crushed.

I realised how deeply grateful people are to the Westpac chopper team and the bank for the service that is so valuable and priceless. I found something common among survivor stories I read and a personal experience which helped me uncover a useful insight.

Insight: After a close brush with death people have a new found respect for life.

Strategy: Westpac Rescue Chopper have saved more thank 20,000 lives. We should have survivors tell their stories; why they needed to be rescued and about their new found respect for life. We could add humour.

People trust people and survivors sharing their stories is authentic and will inspire people to trust the Westpac chopper service, which raised the goodwill for Westpac.

Proposition: Westpac Rescue Service helps you live another day the Aussie way

Creative thought starters:

Show why the person needed to be rescued (he was doing something adventurous or stupid like driving drunk) and how he was rescued and he continues to live an Aussie life drinking and partying (but doesn’t drive drunk anymore). In the end the person could thank the Westpac rescue team for saving his life. The support of the bank for running this rescue team is implied and need not be stated so that the message feels more authentic.

I presented the strategy to the clients. They were so receptive and genuinely interested to know the students’ ideas. They appreciated me for the strategy. I felt honoured to have got this change and thank Westpac, Dom Hickey, Peter Peppin and Miami Ad School for this opportunity.

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