Kudos to Flybuys and Thinkerbell for seizing the moment with a redemption campaign as more and more Aussies look for ways to tighten their belts in the lead-up to Christmas. Extra kudos to Thinkerbell for adding absurd humour to the call to think twice before spending cash and pay with points instead during Australia’s busiest shopping period.
The hero film of Don’t Buy It, Flybuy it, directed by Phebe Schmidt from The Sweetshop, gives literal life to the Flybuys Rewards Store by personifying it through a shopping cart-inspired robot with a deeply insistent voice:
Thinkerbell chief tinker, Tom Wenborn, stated “We’ve found a fun, fruitful and enduring campaign that Flybuys can use moving forward, and that reflects people’s wants, needs and trends. The campaign serves as an opportunity to showcase the best bit of Flybuys, redeeming stuff, while helping savvy members with their spending, especially during the festive season.”
Thinkerbell, that runs media, creative, strategy and PR for Flybuys, also helped to create the first Flybuy It Rewards Store on Oxford Street in Sydney, to launch the campaign. The corner store created an experience beyond advertising and turned everyday items into must-have free rewards.
The store gave members direct access to over 500 real rewards, allowing Flybuys to engage with its members in a unique and tangible way. Within the same day of going live, the store made headlines, such as ‘Completely free’: Insane reason for massive queue in Sydney in news.com.au.
Flybuys also encouraged members to redeem their Flybuys points rather than shopping at other retailers with a series of cheeky and subversive companion-boards to promote its Don’t Buy It, Flybuy It campaign. The boards responded directly to other ads’ messaging and reshaped them to become a message for Flybuys – standing between people and their wallets in real-time.
Thinkerbell’s national head media thinker, Hannah Nickels, commented, “Having an integrated media offering means we can better stretch an idea across every touchpoint, subverting media norms to get Australians talking about Flybuys and more importantly be rewarded.”
Credits:
Creative, Media and Earned Agency: Thinkerbell
Client: Flybuys
Production: The Sweetshop
Director: Phebe Schmidt
Social & Content: Medium Rare Content Agency
