Trade Me has released its latest campaign focusing on its motors and property sectors. The two-video creative is part of a new partnership with Clemenger BBDO and Colenso BBDO, as the brands work together to further cement Trade Me as a place that has ‘someone for everything.’
The first work released by the partnership focuses on the Trade Me belief that there is someone for everything, no matter what it is. Although Trade Me is known nationwide for its motor and property offerings, Regan Savage, acting chief customer officer says it was about adding emotion to it.
“We had a few different ideas going back and forth, this was the one that really showed the more human side of it.”
The spot is two videos in the same style, with a humorous back and forth between the seller and the potential purchaser.
“Humour is always consistent for the tone of Trade Me, it has been from day one, it’s always been a strong New Zealand identity brand,” Savage says. “Having some fun with it, and finding the comedic streak is very important.”
Savage says that communicating Trade Me’s values was an important step for these campaigns, which do easily reflect the laid-back style known of the brand.
“If you can create a positive emotional response from your advertising, well that’s half the job done from a brand perceptive… Trade Me is an upbeat brand, and people come to us for a simple experience. It’s important that our communications reflect that and what we’ve done here is a good encapsulation of that experience; keeping it simple, light and effective.”
This marks the first works released with Clemenger BBDO, which was chosen by the Trade Me team as one who could help keep them honest to the brand, as well as build the story.
“We had a really tight time frame, so we had to get to know the entirety of Clemenger. I had never worked with them before, and they had never worked on Trade Me before either, so there were lots to get to grips with. Yet they had a really good vision for the Trade Me brand from day one, although this particular execution wasn’t the first in our minds from the outset, it feels consistent to the creative vision they had from the start.”
A fun fact from the Trade Me team was the production company found the car on Trade Me as a live listing. The listing promoted a conversation between the seller and earlier owner, which discovered that the owner was selling it for the same reason as the actor, to move on in a more family-friendly manner.
Savage says the new campaign captures the ‘Kiwiness’ of the brand, yet for them and Clemenger it was important to do it in a way that provided value to the viewer rather than just a cookie-cutter story with branding.
“What we agreed was really important, was the success of the partnership, and taking Trade Me from a brand that is really well known and adding more meaning to it. We wanted to add emotion, but do it in a way that was meaningful to the actual experiences that our customers have. We’re not telling a story that is just trying to make people feel something, and then hitting them with the logo at the end. The whole thing is about the Trade Me experience.”
Credits:
Client: Trade Me
Brand marketing manager Sarah O’Leary
Brand campaign manager Caroline Brown
Acting chief customer officer Regan Savage
Agency: Clemenger BBDO
Chief creative office Levi Slavin
Group creative director Beth O’brien
Group creative director Thomas Darlow
Senior project director Kate Smart
Producer Phil Liefting
Strategy director Bethany Omeri
Group business director Rachel Turner
Managing director Brett Hoskin
Production company: Goodoil Films
Director Dave Wood
Producer Lee Thompson
Media Agency: MBM
General manager Annabelle Wilkinson
Business director Charlotte Freeman
Business manager Mikayla Shaw