Whybin\TBWA launches new brand campaign for Mercury Energy featuring performer Tiki Taane
Whybin\TBWA has launched a new brand campaign for Mercury Energy featuring the unique talents of Tiki Taane performing ‘Over the Rainbow’.
The campaign introduces Mercury Energy’s new brand positioning of New Zealand’s ‘Good Energy’ retailer and proceeds from the sale of the single – available for download from iTunes – go directly to the Starship Foundation.
Mercury Energy’s Star Supporter’s Club allows Mercury customers to donate to Starship through their electricity bill. The Club has grown to almost 30,000 members, and when combined with Mercury Energy’s annual donation it is the largest single source of funds, from a retailer, for the Starship Foundation.
Says Mercury Energy general manager, James Munro: “The essence of this campaign is ‘Good Energy’, something that’s well and truly alive in New Zealand. All Kiwis have a good energy story – whether it’s the time someone stopped to help you when your car broke down on the side of the road or the stranger who returned your lost wallet complete with cash.”
“We all felt that partnering with Tiki to support Kiwi families when they needed it most was a great way to celebrate such a strong Kiwi concept,” he adds.
The Good Energy campaign from Whybin\TBWA leads with a 60 second TVC supported by a fully integrated experiential campaign. It encourages all Kiwis to show their “good energy” by purchasing Taane’s song, as proceeds raised go directly to Starship Kids.
Says Whybin\TBWA CEO David Walden: “This campaign signals Mercury Energy’s intent to harness and share New Zealand’s Good Energy in everything that it does as a brand. Mercury is an amazing brand that touches a lot of Kiwis and this ‘Good Energy’ campaign is designed to share their point of view with the nation.”
“I reckon New Zealanders will really like it. It contains some iconic Kiwi images and the song is absolutely beautiful, so if you haven’t bought it I urge you to download it now, knowing the proceeds will go directly to kids in need,” he concludes.
Agency: Whybin\TBWA
ECD: Andy Blood
Account Director: Mandy Eckford
Agency Producer: Jackie Clark
CEO: David Walden
Production Company: Exposure
Directors: Kevin Denholm & Chris Clark
Producer: Hamish Skeggs
DoP: Ginny Loane
Editor: Tim Mauger
Grade: Toybox
Visual Effects/ Post Production: Blockhead
Animation: Flux Media
Animated Characters:
Buzzy Bee – Lion Rock
Hairy Maclary – Penguin Group / Lynley Dodd
The Little Yellow Digger – Scholastic / Betty & Alan Guilderdale
Audio Post Production: Franklin Rd
Music: Tiki Taane
Song: “Over The Rainbow” Publishers Over The Rainbow, Written by H.Arlen / E.Y.Harburg, © 1938 EMI Feist Catalog Inc.
Voice Over: Moana Maniapoto
16 Comments
Awful. Mercury does Disney. Like a bad fairytale for mentally impaired adults.
Anyone who thinks New Zealanders are full of good energy doesn’t read this blog.
Explains why my rates have gone up. Again.
What I find most disturbing is how many people put their name to this piece of bumbling crap.
Spew fest.
Nice. A decent feel good ad. Rest of yaz – if you can’t say anything nice…..
Only one creative?
Strange, considering how many different ideas are in the ad.
“The Good Energy campaign from Whybin\TBWA leads with a 60 second TVC supported by a fully integrated experiential campaign. It encourages all Kiwis to show their “good energy” by purchasing Taane’s song, as proceeds raised go directly to Starship Kids”.
It’s not that integrated; there’s nothing on the TVC about raising money for Starship. And please explain the ‘experiential’ bit….
This is shit, just shit.
Two directors?
Looks like both of them got their treatments through.
And on a side note… I like Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Over the Rainbow a lot better. I’ll bet you a million bucks they used that version as reference. And a pity Taane’s version wasn’t too different.
The industry is in the shit…. my dad just rang me and said “you didn’t do that TV ad with all those toss pots in it did you singing about their power bills”… I am re-training as a dog handler for the Police.
only thing i don’t like about it is the forced and clumsy energy-energy endline.
why not just mercury. good energy. i love that a heavily tatooed maori with a guitar is fronting an ad for a huge corporate, that’s actually very, very cool.
Oh, dear…. man alive!! keavans above!!…. what is this about? This has gotta be the lube before they slide in the privatization.
is it really cool to use tiki as the front man when BNZ used his ad (also lamely) years and years ago? Or does it just say that tiki is the master of cashing in (and good on him for that). Power bills are a grudge spend, don’t pretend that people like them. I too completely missed the starship thing when i saw the ad.
Wow – The last few comments are so dumb, trying so hard to sound intelligent. I prefer this blog when we were just being nasty for the sake of it. Even the lecherous comments about the pretty interns hit an all time low. No wonder clients think we are *****.
shouldn’t the cloud be shaped like a POO instead of a kiwi?
In response to Remember Copywriters? There’s not much about this ad that is forgivable but to be fair they are allowed to use their name, which is Mercury Energy. Good Energy (utter bollocks that they will claim as an ‘insight)’ is a whole lot more offensive than Mercury Energy.