We wanted to tap into the raw emotion that the Olympics evokes and to present consumers with something they had never previously experienced, all while putting Optus at the heart of the idea. We discovered that once an athlete has been accepted onto the Olympic team the first thing they do is make a phone call to a loved one. We set about a process to record these (via an app), emotionally charged calls and shared them with Australia.

We worked closely with the Australian Olympic and Paralympic Team, individual sporting bodies as well as athletes and coaches to find individuals willing to share this special moment.

We then set about making beautifully simple films of the athletes’ training which became the backdrop to the calls. We also produced highly arresting radio spots. We also used them for the poster campaign which occupied major billboard sites in capital cities.

Other than minimal editing the calls we captured were left alone to retain their authenticity. The footage that accompanies them was pared down to allow the audio (the calls) to remain the hero of the piece. The social videos, TVCs, radio spot and billboards ran in the weeks preceding and during the Games within Olympic programming thus giving viewers an amazing insight into the athletes’ journeys. Where possible we matched execution featuring certain athletes to programming which featured that individual. We even cut longer versions of the social videos for those who wanted to know even more.

Because of their authenticity, the resulting TVCs, social videos, radio spots and billboards engaged the nation and stood out against other Olympic ads. The social content was the most measurable element of the campaign and where it really excelled, so here are some stats. Our videos achieved a 62% view-through rate and a cost-per- view of just $0.02 per view. The Engagement Rate was 1.67% (132% increase on our video engagement benchmark of 0.72%). The sentiment was also overwhelmingly positive, 98% positive in fact. The cherry on top was the AOC awarding the campaign its highest honour, the Gold Medal, at its Inspiration Awards.