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Fly Buys and Clemenger BBDO tap into the ‘animals in advertising’ zeitgeist with shopping-related take on the Butterfly Effect

The recent Why Telecom campaign recorded a series of curly customer questions and then, to make the whole thing slightly less boring, decided to employ the services of a range of talking animals. And the new Fly Buys campaign by Clemenger BBDO has also gone heavy on the creatures—and on Butterfly Effect references—to show that “Every time you swipe, something a little bit good happens”. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtBtOou6dYcIt’s been a while between drinks for Loyalty NZ as far as above the line campaigns go, with the award-winning ‘Dream a Little‘ campaign launched five years ago. Since then, Fly
Buys head of customer engagement Chris Lamers says it has focused primarily on new product development (for example, Fly Buys Music, Fly Buys Flats and partnerships with the likes of Air New Zealand and Visa). And while it had a record year last year, both in terms of redemption and card issuance, he says research showed the Fly Buys brand was in need of a little bit of love. So the new campaign aims to remind people of the bonus they could receive just for carrying
out their every day shopping habits, and, like Telecom and Droga5’s effort, which Lamers admits caused some slight annoyance when it launched a few weeks back, aimed to bring what is generally a fairly mundane activity to life in an engaging way. 

“The
great thing about Fly Buys is that for no extra cost and little effort we give
our members something—points that add up and allow them to choose whatever
they want from our huge range of rewards. Fly Buys is about creating a little
bit of good in Kiwis’ lives. The
idea is that every time you swipe your Fly Buys card, somewhere a little bit of
good happens. In the case of the ads it might be thousands of monarch
butterflies flocking to a tree, or a tender moment between a couple of birds.
In reality, it’s that your card swipe gives you Fly Buys points,” he says.

On first viewing the ad makes the shopping experience look fairly grim, with fluorescent light galore and a range of emotionless swipes taking place at some of Fly Buys’ major partners like New World and Mitre 10 Mega. Some would say it’s good to see a bit of truth in advertising for a change. But, as Lamers says, this was done on purpose in an effort to create a juxtaposition with the fantastical animal scenarios that follow. 

He says it tried a few options to show the ‘something a little bit good’ idea, like finding $5 on the ground (if you’re ever losing the crowd when telling a story, finish off with “and then I found $20” and you’re guaranteed to win them over), but he says that came across a bit worthy and trite. And while it’s very early days yet, with the campaign launching last night and shown off to the Fly Buys members last week, he says the research indicates it should go down well.  

Lamers says the Fly Buys brand is unashamedly Kiwi and the language of their
marketing and communications reflects this. And it’s not just the ad that’s bringing joy. He says it has re-recorded all its voice prompts for its call centre “just to be a bit more human and less corporate” and to try and ensure that everyone finishes their phone call slightly happier than when they dialled, something he admits is a tough ask when you receive as many calls as Fly Buys. 

“We
want to make sure that when you receive some kind of communication from Fly
Buys or see one of our posters we use words and phrases that actually reflect
how we actually talk. We talk about ‘sweet deals’ and giving members a ‘heads
up’ and use language like ‘heaps’ and ‘awesome’. It reminds our members that
Fly Buys is for them and they receive the benefits.”

Lamers says the campaign is also about finding ways to share “those moments of good”. It has already put up an ‘edible billboard’ in in the Wellington airport made up of lollipops that could be taken, and over
the next few months he says Fly Buys will be bringing the idea to life via
experiential activities around the country.

Credits: 

Marketing team: Chris Lamers and Katherine
O’Connor

Production Company Flying Fish

Executive Producers James Moore, Neysa Horsburgh, Guillaume Raffi

Directors Psyop (Todd Mueller & Kylie Matulick)

Live Action Producer Penelope Sinclair

Director of Photography Ginny Loane

Visual Effects

VFX Company MPC

Producer Nicole Fina

VFX Supervisor Ross Denner & Benoit Mannequin

Lead Technical Director Ross Denner

Lead Flame Benoit Mannequin

Compostior(s) “Will Voss Johnson, Katerina Arroyo”

Previz “(Generalists) Nikki Mull, William Schilthuis, Adam Leary, Felix Balbas, “

Modeler(s) “Kunal Sarkar, Prashant Nair”

Animator(s) “Ian Wilson, Jonah Austin”

Texture “Damian Boyle, David Mayhew, Inigo Vimal Roy, Raju Ganesh S.”

Lighter(s) Fred Durand

Roto “Brinda Ravichandran, Sathya Narayan”

Tracker(s)

GFX Fur: Dameon Boyle

Particles “John Cherniack, Cristian  Hinz Welkens, Edward L.”

Editorial

Editorial Company Psyop

Editor Brett Nicolletti

Agency

Agency BBDO Clemenger

Executive Creative Director Philip Andrew

Creative Director Brigid Alkema

Art Director Brigid Alkema / Emily Beautrais

Copywriter Mitch Alison / Alex Metson

Producer Martin Gray

Associate Producer

Account Team Julia Walshaw / Brendan McElroy / Louise Cheeseman

Telecine

Telecine Company MPC

Colorist Mark Gethin

Music

Music Company Liquid

Composer Pete Van Der Flute

Executive Producer Tamara O’Neill

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