‘Footy country’ was developed as a creative campaign to activate Telstra’s sponsorship of AFL (Australian rules football) and NRL (rugby league) – both colloquially referred to as ‘footy’. It’s an ad about a ragtag country footy team.

To most of the world football = soccer, but confusingly in Australia we use ‘footy’ to refer instead to AFL (Australian rules football, the dominant code in the states of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia) and NRL (rugby league, the dominant code in New South Wales and Queensland).

Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications network, covering a million square KM more of the country than any other network, mainly in regional and rural areas.

And while the vast majority of Australians live in metropolitan and coastal areas, culturally, country Australia holds a special place in the nation’s heart. It is the spiritual home of the Australian spirit and character – one of tenacity, optimism, humour, and hard work.

It’s also where the authentic ‘heart’ of football is, in grassroots clubs where the community rallies together whether it’s on the pitch, supporting from the sidelines or volunteering at the club canteen.  

And country footy is also the lifeblood of the game nationally. While just 28% Australians live in regional and remote areas, 50% Dally M Winners (NRL player of the season) and 60% Brownlow Medal Winners (AFL player of the season) are from the country. 

In choosing to eschew footage of star players and base our football story in its rural heartland, we were tapping into something deeper and more relatable to Australian audiences: the belief we approach sport in the same way we approach life – show. up, give it everything, help each other out. 

Footy is a crowded space, and while Telstra has long been a sponsor of AFL and NRL, its approach had historically been a badging exercise, featuring giant logos pitchside and regular brand spots in broadcasts.

Our task was to develop a genuinely entertaining campaign that would reconnect with everyday Australians by giving Telstra a distinctive and authentic voice in footy culture. By doing this we hoped to significantly increase Telstra’s sponsorship awareness and boost brand consideration among footy fans. We set ourselves three key objectives:

1. Creative impact: Outperform creative norms for likeability, as well as distinctive and humorous advertising

2. Sponsorship Awareness: Increase unprompted sponsorship awareness of NRL from 22% to 26% and AFL from 6% to 10%

3. Brand consideration: Increase consideration of Telstra from 52% to 60% (among fans aware)

Telstra was a long-time sponsor of NRL and AFL but was punching below its weight in sponsorship awareness. And our ethnographic research reinforced it was seen by many as a corporate brand that was out-of-touch with everyday Aussies.

But as Australia’s biggest network, Telstra had long been committed to connecting the parts of the country others couldn’t reach. And these country areas were universally recognised to be the spiritual heart of footy culture. Where footy wasn’t just about what happened on the field, it was what brought the community together off it. And where tenacity, teamwork and a sense of humour still meant more than fancy facilities and cutting-edge coaching techniques.

While other brands aligned themselves with the elite, we instead set out to re-establish Telstra as part of the cultural fabric of football - by giving country footy the credit and support it truly deserved.

‘This isn’t just country footy – it’s footy country’: in country Australia, footy isn’t just a peripheral pastime – it’s the fabric that binds the community together.

Our idea celebrates country Australia’s role as the spiritual home of footy, where our game is at its purest. There’s no stadium or bigtime sponsors. Just two towns, two teams and 80 minutes. 

We do our best to bottle this feeling for fans by telling the story of fictional footy team -The Waubra Emus: 

When the team bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere, it looks like our beloved Emus aren’t going to make the big final. Luckily, the entire town of Waubra comes to the rescue – rallying a team of ring-ins made up of past player from around the community. They haven’t touched a ball in years, but that won’t matter. Because as they say in Waubra: Once

The success of telling the story of country football in Australia relies on one thing – authenticity.

Our fans aren’t only steeped in the culture and history of the game, but also grew up playing on teams in towns just like the one featured in our film.

Every detail mattered. One wrong note and the rest of the symphony was irrelevant.

The answer was crafting a world of people, places and props that made the fictional town of Waubra and their beloved emus feel like they had been there since football began.

The whole spot was shot in the rural football hub of Golburn, NSW. All lead actors are residents cast from the town itself. And crucially, we didn’t just create uniforms for the current players and fans. We invented three generations of team uniforms, fan gear and memorabilia dating back to the 1960’s.

Despite running for just four weeks, ‘Footy country’ quickly established itself as one of Australia’s most loved ads - and prompted Telstra to invest $8m in grants to regional footy clubs. 

1. Creative impact

55% respondents said it was “the best ad they’d ever seen”, smashing norms for humour and distinctiveness. The campaign “reflected the best parts of Australian life and humanity in general”, earning coverage on popular TV and radio shows and winning Mumbrella’s ‘ad of the year’.

2. Sponsorship Awareness

The campaign exceeded its targets and outperformed every other footy sponsor:

Increased NRL prompted awareness from 66-80% and unprompted from 22 -27%

Increased AFL prompted awareness from 43-54% and doubled unprompted from 6-12%

3. Brand consideration

It boosted consideration among NRL fans from 52% (unaware) to 66% (aware), and among AFL fans from 50% (unaware) to 64% aware (Vs general population 52%).

Not bad for a bunch of