Oskar Westerdal

For a generation who have outgrown PlayLand, but still love to play, McDonald’s had lost its thrill.

Tapping into Squid Game’s global hype, we reimagined its iconic Dalgona Candy Challenge with a McDonald’s twist: turning the near-impossible umbrella into an even tougher golden arches ‘M’. Paired with an immersive mobile experience and a big cash win for one lucky player, ‘Dare To Play’ captured fans’ attention and drove mass user participation, increasing store traffic and sales while reconnecting a generation to McDonald’s.


“Suddenly a meal that that should feel ordinary becomes a cultural phenomenon”
Forbes


Recognition
GRAND PRIX – Cairns Crocodiles
GOLD – Cairns Crocs, Integrated
GOLD – Cairns Crocs, Media & Entertainment
GOLD – Cairns Crocs, Film
GOLD – Cairns Crocs, Direct
GOLD – Cairns Crocs, Food & Beverage
GOLD – Strategy
SILVER – Cairns Crocs, Retail
SILVER – Cairns Crocs, Media
BRONZE – Cairns Crocs, Experiential
FINALIST – Mumbrella Awards, Experiential
FINALIST – Mumbrella Awards – Media

With thousands of disease-related charities competing for donations, how do you decide who to help? We confronted the public with a range of life-threatening diseases, posing this exact question.

‘Disease Dilemmas’ puts Australians in the uncomfortable position of trying to choose who they’d donate to. Help the young mother with pancreatic cancer, or the musician with Parkinson's disease? The teacher with a kidney condition, or the student with immune disease? Each execution challenges you to think, interact and ultimately donate to the Garvan Institute, whose genomics research can help them all.


Results
87m impressions
$1.1m earned media value
+61% website traffic
$19m donations in campaign period
+16% donations year on year


Recognition
GRAND PRIX – LIA, Pharma
GRAND PRIX – Asia Pacific Tambuli Effectiveness Awards
GOLD – LIA, Pharma
GOLD – Spikes Asia, Integrated
GOLD – AdFest, Effectiveness
GOLD – AdFest, Direct

SILVER – Spikes Asia, Interactive Design
SILVER – Spikes Asia, Direct
SILVER – One Show Asia, Interactive
SILVER – One Show Asia, Healthcare
SILVER – AdFest, Digital
SILVER – MAD STARS Interactive Non-profit

WOOD PENCIL – D&AD, Outdoor
BRONZE LION – Cannes Lions, Health & Wellness Integrated
BRONZE – One Show, Out Of Home
BRONZE – One Show Asia Print & OOH
BRONZE – One Show Asia Public Service & CSR
BRONZE – LIA, Integrated
BRONZE – Clio Health, Integrated
BRONZE – Adfest, Design Integrated
BRONZE – Adfest, Direct Online/digital
BRONZE – Adfest, Media Integrated
BRONZE – AWARD Awards, Health Awareness
CRYSTAL – MAD STARS, Direct
CRYSTAL – MAD STARS, Brand Experience & Activation

MERIT – One Show, Direct
MERIT – One Show Asia, Print & OOH Craft
SHORTLIST – Cannes Lions, Digital Design
SHORTLIST – Cannes Lions, Health & Wellness Direct
SHORTLIST – Cannes Lions, Health & Wellness Outdoor
SHORTLIST – Cannes Lions, Health & Wellness Film craft
WINNER – BestAds, Best Interactive
WINNER – BestAds, Best TV
WINNER – BestAds, Best Outdoor

Contagious – Campaign of the week

Forty Winks have been sending Australia to sleep for over 40 years. But in 2023, decreasing market share and a lack of appeal with the younger market triggered a wake up call to win over a new generation of sleepers.

With nearly 50% of all adult Australians experiencing recurring sleep issues, Forty Winks made it their mission to help the millions of sleep-deprived Aussies ‘Go to better sleep’.

The campaign introduces audiences to ‘The Unslept’ – an uncanny horde of some seriously tired people, each one exhibiting some of the most common sleep issues Australians Face.


“Epic”
Little Black Book

“Refreshing”
MediaWeek

“Inspired, 9/10”
Mumbrella

“Unlike ANYTHING”
The Stable


Results
+15% BedMATCH appointments (2 x target)
No. 1 Black Friday Sales ever ($21M)
+18% year on year sales


Recognition
SHORTLIST – One Show, Film
FINALIST – B&T Awards, Best TV Campaign
FINALIST – Shots APAC, Direction
LONGLIST - One Point Four, Commercial
WINNER – BestAds, Best Film
WINNER – BestAds, Best Radio
WINNER – Shots APAC, Commercial of the Month

WINNER – The Work, Film Over 90 seconds
WINNER – The Work, Film Under 90 seconds
WINNER – The Work, Cinematography
WINNER – The Work, Sound + Music
WINNER – The Work, Editing

Editor’s Choice – Muse by Clio
Editor’s Choice – Smart Company
Highly commended – MediaWeek

Over 100,000 LGBTQIA+ Australians live in regional areas, where vast distances and a lack of visibility can leave many feeling isolated. While hundreds of brands show up during Sydney’s annual Mardi Gras week, Tinder – the leading dating platform for all Australians – set out to connect and celebrate remote rainbow communities all over the countryside, permanently.

Inspired by over 150 ‘big things’ across regional Australia, we built the first inclusive monument for regional Pride. And through Tinder, turned it into a virtual destination that brought isolated Aussies together from every corner of Australia, connecting thousands who were previously too far apart.


“A beacon for self-expression and diversity”
ABC

“The perfect addition to Australia’s big attractions”
Time Out

“A larger than life show of support”
Australian Pride Network


Results
281 million earned impressions
100% positive PR sentiment
14pts brand perception lift
Tinder’s most successful brand campaign ever


Recognition
SHORTLIST – NY Festivals, Direct, Best Ambient
SHORTLIST – AWARD, Media, Events & Stunts

Most people living with Motor Neurone Disease (ALS) end up paralyzed and unable to communicate with anything but an artificial 'computer' voice, pre-recorded messages or words mechanically stitched together. All of which sound unnatural. Powered by breakthrough voice cloning technology we created Project Revoice, a program to digitally re-create the unique essence of any voice and give people with ALS the ability to speak freely and naturally in their own voice.


Results
900m earned reach
41m people joined the conversation
Over 700 articles written globally
Over 500 people joined the program in the 1st month alone

Recognition
GRAND PRIX for Good – Cannes Lions
BLACK PENCIL – D&AD, Digital Design
BEST IN DISCIPLINE – One Show, Audio
GRAND – Clio Awards, Digital
GRAND PRIZE – New York Festivals, Innovation
GRAND PRIZE – New York Festivals, Digital
GRAND PRIX – Spikes Asia, Innovation
BEST IN SHOW – AWARD Awards

GOLD LION – Cannes Lions, Data
GOLD – One Show, Radio & Audio Innovation
GOLD – One Show, Radio & Audio Experiential
GOLD – One Show, Health
GOLD – Clio Awards, Product Innovation
GOLD – Clio Awards, Direct
GOLD – Clio Awards, Health
GOLD – Clio Awards, Digital Technique Health
GOLD – Clio Awards, Digital
GOLD – Clio Awards, Sound Design
WEBBY – Experimental & Innovation
WEBBY – Best Use of Machine Learning

SILVER LION – Cannes Lions, PR
GRAPHITE PENCIL – D&AD, Impact
GRAPHITE PENCIL – D&AD, Digital Marketing
GRAPHITE PENCIL –D&AD, Direct
GRAPHITE PENCIL – D&AD, Experiential
SILVER – One Show, Direct
SILVER – One Show, Health
SILVER – Clio Awards, Film Health
SILVER – Clio Awards, Innovation Health

BRONZE Lion – Cannes Lions, Health
BRONZE Lion – Cannes Lions, Data
BRONZE Lion – Cannes Lions, PR
WOOD Pencil – D&AD, Not for Profit Advertising
WOOD Pencil – D&AD, Service Design
WOOD Pencil – D&AD, Digital Marketing

2024 hit McDonalds Australia hard. Sales were down. Guest count was down. Our comeback hinged on importing America’s Grimace Shake —18 months after it went viral, starring a mascot Aussies hadn’t seen or cared about in decades.

But there’s one thing Aussies always get excited by — celebrity arrivals. The bigger the name, the bigger the turnout. So we transformed Grimace from retro mascot and viral meme into a loveable megastar. This was not just a product launch, it was a full blown cultural phenomenon.

“A tribute to the iconic character”
Herald Sun

“A rockstar welcome”
Mumbrella

“All hail Lord Grimace”
Pedestrian

Results
605% ROI
4.5M shakes sold (5 x target)
153.7M Reach
71% Shake category uplift
Macca’s most successful shake promotion ever


Recognition
GOLD – Cairns Crocodiles, Effectiveness
FINALIST – Mumbrella Awards, Best Use of Retail

During the worst labour shortage in over 50 years, McDonald’s Australia needed to recruit a record 14,000 crew members in just four months and overcome young Aussies’ negative perceptions of working at “Macca’s”. From our insight that people make the workplace, we launched ‘Mates make it Macca’s’ – an unmistakably Australian concept powered by local crew insights from around the country.

All in all, the campaign helped Macca’s hire 26,311 new crew in the four-month window, smashing campaign targets and proving once and for all that burgers and fries don’t make it Macca’s. Mates do.

Results
366 earned pieces of coverage
352K Aussies played the mobile game
+250% applicants above target
+21% applicant conversion
26,311 hires in 4 months

Recognition
BRONZE – Spikes Asia, Creative Strategy
BRONZE – Effies APAC, Youth Marketing
FINALIST – Effies APAC, Restaurants
SHORTLIST – One Show 2023, Integrated
SHORTLIST – One Show 2023, Creative Effectiveness
SHORTLIST – NY Festivals 2023, Direct x 2
SHORTLIST – NY Festivals, Mobile Creative
SHORTLIST – NY Festivals Marketing Effectiveness x3

Gaming fans can make or break a game release. So to launch the biggest game in PS5 history, PlayStation needed a launch worthy of the hype, or they would face losing fans forever.

In response, ‘The Spectacular Save’ was created – a seven-meter truck suspended in mid-air by the webs of not one, but two Spider-Man characters while NPC police stood guard, turning the Sydney CBD into a scene from the game.

Content of the stunt quickly went viral, propelling Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to become the number one selling video game in the country.

Results
No. 1 thread on Reddit r/gaming
368m earned impressions
80k activation visitors
2.5m copies sold in 24h

Recognition
SILVER – Clio Entertainment, Special Events & Stunts
SILVER – Clio Entertainment, Experiential
FINALIST – AWARD Awards, Use of Events & Stunts
FINALIST – Mumbrella Awards
FINALIST – Mumbrella CommsCon
WINNER – BestAds, Best OOH
WINNER – The Work, PR
WINNER – The Work, Social Media
WINNER – The Work, Experiential
WINNER – The Work, OOH

At Charles Sturt University, it’s not what we say that makes a difference – it’s what we do. So when the Human Rights Commission revealed one in five Australian university students have experienced sexual harassment or assault, we turned zero tolerance policy into practice by creating ‘Subject Zero’, an interactive subject teaching sexual conduct to all students, with zero tolerance for failure.

Results
21% increase in website traffic
56,947 online attendance
The most-enrolled subject on CSU campus, ever.


Recognition
BRONZE – AWARD Awards, Equality
WINNER – BestAds, Best Ambient
WINNER – BestAds, Best Interactive
WINNER – The Work, Experiential + Immersive
WINNER – The Work, Out of home
WINNER – The Work, Direct

Charles Sturt University is Australia’s number one institution for graduate employment, with a clear focus on practical learning instead of just theory. But despite strong credentials, the university has so far struggled to bring this proposition to life. By leveraging their hands-on approach to learning, we relaunched the Charles Sturt brand under the new platform ‘It’s what we do’.

Results
The campaign inspired a record number of student applicants to make Charles Sturt their first preference university, smashing campaign targets by over 300% .


Recognition
WINNER – UAMCD Awards, Best Marketing Campaign 2020
FINALIST – Effies, Brand Value
FINALIST – Effies, Challenger Brands

The nbn™ is Australia’s largest-ever infrastructure project and, according to ABC News, a “national object of ridicule and source of intense frustration”.

But with 12 million homes and businesses now ready to connect, a rapid climb in the global download speed rankings, and a stronger-than-expected showing during COVID, it was time for the nbn™ to shake off its past perceptions and prove it had changed.

So we condensed more than a decade of policy, politics and PR into a simple, confident statement that the entire organisation could rally behind: ‘Made For More’

Results
Made For More is the best-performing nbn™ campaign ever created, with an all-time high positive sentiment and an all-time low negative sentiment.

Australia is at the top of Americans’ bucket list, but despite being Australia’s national airline, Qantas was struggling to get more people Down Under. By digging into data from the U.S. State Department we discovered a key local insight that no one in the travel industry was talking about – 3 out of 5 Americans don’t have a passport. So we gave them one.

By booking their trip at Qantas.com and entering a simple promo code, Americans got $135 – the full cost of a new U.S. passport – taken off their ticket.

Results
Earned reach: 225 million
Earned media value: US $1.3 million
20% of qantas.com annual traffic in 10 days
+158% bookings to Australia year-on-year

The most effective Qantas campaign of all time.

Recognition
SILVER – Adstars, Data Insights
BRONZE – Clio Awards, PR
BRONZE – AWARD, Digital Promotion
WINNER – Mumbrella Awards, PR idea of the year
FINALIST – Webbys, Promotions & Contests
FINALIST – New York Festivals, Activation & Engagement
FINALIST – Spikes Asia, PR
FINALIST – Spikes Asia, Use of Digital
FINALIST – Adfest, Best Use of Online