Australia Post has been dogged by the stigma of being perceived as an outdated and utilitarian brand that only enters the minds of consumers when issues arise. Australia Post needed to be seen as more of a unifying force for communities as the backbone of communication between people across the huge continent.

While Australia Post wanted to reinstate a sense of pride, integrity and humanity into what it does every day, we knew the traditional approach of showing trucks, parcels and logistics in action was not going to engage on an emotional level and convey that sense of being a vital part of Australian life. We knew that the real story was in the dedicated individuals who keep the postal network going and maintain its constant presence.

Connecting people: that is what Australia Post does. Our idea was to take that and use it to connect the audience with Australia Post’s own people by showcasing some of the incredible journeys they have been on in their lives.

To do this, we created diverse, character-led, short-form documentaries. Each film was connected to important content streams within the business: ‘diversity and disability’, ‘female empowerment’ and ‘supporting rural and First Nations communities’.

Our team collaborated with an up-and-coming documentarist, Adam Finney, whose work has been awarded for its honest, but optimistic, portraits of people. We cast six remarkable characters who would take us to 15 locations across four states, covering a total of 19,000 kilometres. The result was a collection of five inspiring films, aptly titled Journeys.

Classic storytelling about people was our strategy. To truly deliver our emotive and heartfelt stories we had to engage and hold the audience, with each film lasting around three minutes rather than the few seconds ads normally get. Giving a glimpse into the daily lives and challenges faced by our individuals was our way of instilling the sense of credibility and pride in Australia Post.

Through our research, we learned that to change the audience’s view of Australia Post, we needed to move beyond the rational aspects of the business to show it at the centre of authentic and compelling narratives. We departed from previous approaches that focused on postmen delivering mail to shine the spotlight on the unseen but crucial individuals behind the scenes who keep everything moving.

The approach would satisfy the audience’s craving for engaging storytelling and do so through a lens that is inclusive and diverse.

We needed honest and inspiring stories. All our films celebrate triumph over adversity. Michael Osman proves that physical disability is no barrier to a successful career, while Kylie Doyle has defied assumptions about gender in not one, but two careers. Greg Richardson details his unwavering commitment to securing a bright future for his son Michael, despite his disability. Gary Williams reveals how lessons learned in the boxing ring have guided him through more than 50 years of service. Kylie Smith shares her reflections on building community in an outback town as a First Nations Australian.

Critical to the execution of our strategy was to capture our real people delivering beautifully honest and inspiring performances while in front of the camera. This can be a challenging task, particularly with a non-professional cast. To achieve this, we used documentary film-making talent and techniques to get the best out of our subjects.

The long-form narratives of Journeys have delivered impressive results and captivated our audience, achieving a 97% completion rate on Connected TV. In addition, we have attained 1.6m YouTube views so far, also with strong completion rates and exceeding targets by 136%.

Brand metrics have been well above the benchmark, with Journeys in the top 10% of those recorded since 2020.

Furthermore, Australia Post’s Advertising Effectiveness report revealed that the campaign has strengthened the brand’s reputation as a reliable business that supports and connects Australians.

Journeys has enabled Australia Post to highlight its mission of serving communities, resulting in a brand transformation that genuinely resonates with those who have watched the films.