Case Study: Soldier On National TV Commercial
How we helped Soldier On promote their fundraiser through a national TV commercial campaign
Newcast Studios a big believer in corporate responsibility. Every year we reach out to a charity to offer in-kind assistance to help market their brand or initiatives. In 2016 we wanted to create a national TV commercial with Soldier On, a charitable organisation that assists those who return after serving our country; the veterans and their families to secure their futures. You can see what they do here.
Soldier On has some impressive supporters, however, in addition to their regular activities they desperately need wider financial support. They had to appeal to a national audience because they wanted to raise money to support veterans and their families. Network 10 and Southern Cross Network offered Soldier On the advertising space, so now they just needed the advertisement.
Proposal
Newcast’s production management team worked with Soldier On’s marketing team to identify a theme; to tell the story of a returned but injured veteran and his family. Gary (our veteran) was put forward and kindly accepted an offer to be the face of the national campaign. We filmed on location at Soldier On headquarters in Canberra, using their own staff and their families. Because of time constraints, we had to shoot the commercial in 3 hours.
Creative
The scene opens with a close up of Gary’s face. His face is grey and he also looks pained, the audience is left unsure of where he is. We blurred the background because we wanted to highlight the disorientation his injuries can cause. As the camera slowly zooms out, Gary is snapped out of his grey moment into the colour of everyday life. His young daughter and wife surround him and hand him a snag sanger. The camera zooms out further as we reveal he is at a BBQ with friends and family, and it’s the same fundraiser that helps other veterans and also their families.
Outcomes
“As supporters of Soldier On, Newcast Studios kindly produced a television advert free of charge for us. Because of them, we were able to promote our national ‘Host a BBQ’ campaign last November. The commercial made sure a huge number of BBQs were held across the country. The campaign was a huge success, raising close to $100,000!”
If you have a similar campaign in mind for your charity or business, we’d love to hear from you.