Origin makes switch to ‘useful’ with new brand platform via Special
Energy utility Origin has positioned itself to “become more useful” with a new brand platform developed by Special.
Serving as the underlying idea behind the brand’s transformation, ‘All Kinds of Useful’ also looks to change the way Australians view and engage with their utility company. It positions Origin as a provider that “makes things easier, simpler, and more useful”.
The brand platform has been nearly 12 months in the making, with conversations first beginning when Special won the creative account in May last year. The agency’s chief strategy officer and partner Bec Stambanis told Mumbrella it has been a “labour of love” for both the client and agency.
“They were really clear at the time that they weren’t after another sea of sameness and category campaign, this was an organisational shift they were making,” she said. “So we all were quite aware that this was gonna take a lot of thought and time to really get it right.”
She said there’s often hollow messaging out there from companies and the team at Origin were clear they didn’t want to be a part of that.
“Origin was very quick to acknowledge how people are feeling in general about big companies,” Stambanis told Mumbrella. “Most people feel pretty frustrated, pretty apathetic, they don’t feel like [the companies] care about them.
“So we started with that core truth and set out to change it. They said they wanted to start by trying to win trust and respect of customers by being really, really useful, and then take them on a journey.”
The campaign brings to life the idea of a world made more useful by the flick of a switch. The hero film features moments where the ‘useful switch’ makes life easier – like clearing up a confusing parking sign, making a dog kennel solar-powered, or fast-tracking a long waiting line.
The ‘useful switch’ is also made lively through the simple OOH executions.
“There were a few principles from the get go, the minute we started talking to Origin and even when we were pitching for the account, that we knew we needed to truly own ‘useful’,” Stambanis said. “We wanted every piece of advertising to be useful, and simple, and when that principle was brought to life, we could really start to see such a striking out-of-home concept.
“And the switch is playing a really deliberate role to talk about a moment in time where the entire organisation is switching to useful, and it shows this isn’t just a campaign that’s going to go away, this is really an idea that is powerful and different.”
She admired Origin’s “bravery” for undertaking this shift, and said it is being implemented across the business – from the engineers, to head office.
“It gives a very clear path and north star of where Origin’s heading,” she told Mumbrella. “We’re getting great feedback from employees who really feel like they can live this useful principle.”
Origin’s chief marketing officer, Catherine Anderson, said in a media release on Thursday: “All Kinds of Useful is a powerful platform to help shape everything we do – including how we design our products and services, how we communicate, and how we find the right solutions.
“Making things simpler, easier, and more useful can be transformative, and our campaign aims to playfully showcase how this can be achieved with the flick of a switch. These transitions also reflect our own transformation from a utility company to a truly useful company.”
The campaign is live across broadcast, BVOD, social, and OOH channels.
Stambanis also teased that there are “big things ahead”.
She said: “There’s going to be some interesting ways that you’ll see ‘useful’ pop up in the world, where the advertising is actually being really useful and giving something to customers… So some really interesting special builds and things that are coming out.”
Credits:
Client – Origin
Chief Marketing Officer: Catherine Anderson
Head of Brand & Creative: Stephen Thompson
Head of Partnerships, Media & Planning: Sarah Kutrolli
Creative, Media & Sponsorships: Matthew Hunt
Brand & Sponsorship Campaigns Manager: Vyon Contos
Creative – Special
Agency: Special Australia
Partner/CEO: Lindsey Evans
Partners/CCO: Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber
Partner/CSO: Bec Stambanis
Managing Director, Melbourne: Sasha Firth
Executive Creative Director: Ryan Fitzgerald
Creative Directors: Leti Bozzolini and Justin Butler
Team Lead: Felicity Touzeau
Business Director: Ayesha Kithulegoda
Head of Film & Content Production: Sophie Simmons
Head of Stills Production: Nick Lilley
Senior Integrated Producer: Katherine Muir
Senior Producer: Di Williams
Head of Design: Adam Shear
Design Director: Dan Jones
Designer: Sarah Ristevski
Finished Artist: Jen Bailey
Creative Services Manager: Leigh Cuda
Film Production
Production Company: Finch
Director: Michael Hili
Producer: Anna-Tara Clark-Sneddon
Executive Producers: Corey Esse
D.O.P: Stefan Duscio
Editor: Leila Gabbi , The Editors
Post Production/VFX: The Editors
Flame/Online: Jamie Scott
Grade: Matic Prusnik
Production Design: Leah Popple
Sound: Electric Sheep
Music: Original Composition, Electric Sheep
Switch Production
Design: Electric Art
Animation: Electric Art
Sound: Sean Wilkinson, Rumble Studios
Media – Atomic 212°
Group Account Director: Kate Nicholls
Strategist: Jan Janas
Planning & Trading Director: Umar Hafiz
Planning & Trading Manager: Shreya Thakkar
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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topics
All Kinds of Useful
Bec Stambanis
brand platform
Campaign
creative
oOh
Origin
Origin Energy
special
Special Group
useful
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