“When someone says I can’t or shouldn’t so something, it makes me a bit angry and gives me more drive to go out there and do it.” Derek Rabelo is blind. He surfs and skates at pro level anyway. In two 7 minute films, JWT Sydney has given Nutri-Grain ownership of his unstoppable attitude to life. A suite of films has been built around them.
Rabelo’s story is the first of a series created by JWT with partners Finch, Mindshare, Liquid Ideas, and VML. It’s a repositioning of Nutri-Grain campaign from Iron Man Food to the brand for young people with grit, guts and gumption. For teens, having a do or die attitude is the top of the tree. “The only limits are those you place on yourself,” is a clever mantra for the brand to hold.
Simon Langley, executive creative director of JWT Sydney noted, “This is truly a big idea that gives the brand a new role in teens’ lives. Beyond making it relevant, it’s an idea that makes this a brand they will want to spend time with. In doing so, we have changed every element of the mix, from positioning, to pack, to new iconography around the Nutri-Grain bolt, and the whole communications model with the move into content publishing, all carefully honed to earn teen attention and engagement.”
JWT executive planning director, Angela Morris, added, “It’s a big responsibility to reposition an iconic brand and Nutri-Grain needed to reconnect with an audience that’s been pretty indifferent to cereal advertising. Moving to a belief based platform gives the brand reason and right to shift away from talking at them from the breakfast table and instead to have a more meaningful and relevant dialogue in the teen’s world.”
The campaign includes both long and short form content, supported by TVCs, digital, online, PR and social executions. The executions are built around the attitudes of go for it teens who have to conquer emotional, social or physical barriers. The campaign’s core content was created by JWT and Finch.
John Broome, marketing director at Kellogg, commented, “This is an important piece of work for Kellogg. JWT has created a new strategic and creative platform, which delivers a major foray into branded content. Nutri-Grain is a power brand that needs to stay relevant to teens, so we wanted to inspire them by bringing to life powerful stories of individuals who have shown courage, strength and determination – even in the face of adversity.”
The first content piece launched on February 12 and is supported by a range of pre-rolls, on pack activity and a TVC which goes live on Sunday, February 25. The social media campaign is being managed by VML, using the hashtag #liveunstoppable.
To accompany the TV and digital launch, Nutri-Grain is holding a major event at Manly from 12-15 February as part of its sponsorship of the Australian Open of Surfing (AOS). The official breakfast cereal of the AOS will be showing Rabelo’s documentary at a pop-up cinema on Manly beach. Rabelo is also meeting Aussie fans and taking to the water at Manly Beach on February 12 with other Nutri-Grain surfing ambassadors including Ellie-Jean Coffey, Holly Coffey, Jackson Coffey, Kyuss King and Alex Hayes.
Sponsorship and event elements were created and executed by Mindshare and Liquid Ideas. Mindshare has also activated a broadcast sponsorship on MCN.
The campaign launch coincides with the release last week of a national study by Nutri-Grain in conjunction with ReachOut.com, which showed that Aussie teens are great at setting goals – they just have a lot on their plate and need some support and inspiration to achieve them. According to the findings, one in five Aussie teens or 19% said that there’s nobody in their lives who inspired them and only 45% said they’re optimistic about their future.
Campaign credits:
Creative and Strategy: JWT
Executive creative director:Simon Langley
Associate creative director/writer: Will Edwards
Associate creative director /art director: Chris Badger
Head of broadcast: Amanda Slatyer
Executive planning director: Angela Morris
Production: Finch
Media, sponsorship and digital: Mindshare
Web, social, digital activation: VML
Public relation: Liquid Ideas
Packaging design: Loop Brands
