…or so we thought when we rocked up for the UB Open Day where we were shooting our latest campaign for the University of Ballarat. The car park space reserved for our talent, Nick Maxwell, Premiership Captain of Collingwood Football Club, had him listed as part of CUBED. (see photo!)

Anyway, the team were shooting Nick as a past student, telling his story about how he Learned to Succeed at the University of Ballarat. Following on from the successful launch of the brand positioning ‘Learn to Succeed’, this campaign will extend the positioning further. We won’t give anymore away just yet, you’ll have to wait until the campaign is in market late September.

Nick also had the opportunity to share his story with an auditorium full of present & prospective students before being whisked off for his acting duties in windy conditions…almost as windy as his early playing days for the North Ballarat team.

A movie that has a painfully slow build. War and peace. A baguette filled with a wonderful assortment of deli flavours. No one like the crusty ends, right?

You can avoid being a crusty end by taking advantage of the University of Ballarat’s mid-year enrolments drive. Because why wouldn’t you want to get a head start on your career?

For this campaign we used some creative media placement for press, a chomping banner ad (hence the reference to baguettes and crusty ends), TVC and radio.

You can check out the TVC here:

We’ve been busy creating some deliciously lovely adverts on behalf of TRUenergy.

These press ads were targeted at bakers with the aim of gaining new small to medium enterprise accounts. With lines such as “it costs money to make dough” and a compelling offer of 19.5% off your electricity bill, it’s no surprise that we’ve already secured over a dozen new accounts as a result…. a bakers dozen that is!

We’ve all heard the saying – you always get what you pay for. And whilst sometimes it’s great to nab a bargain, there are certain services and items that are best not decided upon based on their price.

CUBED’s challenge was to convince employers that price shouldn’t form the basis of their decision when choosing appropriate training for their staff. Rather that the ‘value’ was based on the credentials of the organisation.

We drew a parallel based on a simple insight. What’s the first thing that employers look at when considering candidates for the job? Check the curriculum vitae.

This insight resulted in a DM pack which included a personalised letter outlining the reasons that the University of Ballarat’s qualifications would help their organisation to succeed. A lengthy (literally!) CV was also included, having a fun take on the Universities date of birth, and their never ending list of qualifications.

TAFE enrolments increased by 22.6% from March 2010 to March 2011. That’s over double the objective. A great result that also contributed to increased revenue for the client.

An opportunity was identified to engage with a key ANZ customer segment of those who held margin loans with competitor banks, but had the rest of their banking with ANZ. The bank’s objective was to sell their award-winning margin loan product by highlighting a highly competitive rate and personalised service, as well as the advantages of having all their banking in the one institution. CUBED’s role was to come up with a direct mail piece that would break through the clutter, jump over the gate keeper and appeal to the audience, who held significant potential value to the business.  Whilst also promoting a competitive offer: 1.5% discount off the life of their loan, no associated fees, $250 cash and a Personal Account Manager for servicing.  Phew…what a mouthful!

CUBED’s concept called ‘Boxes within Boxes’ addressed the client’s need for ‘consolidating of accounts’ in a clear and simple manner. So whilst using the analogy of the Russian dolls, we managed to avoid the clichés.  The copy was written in a way that used the opening of boxes like a turning a page, compelling the reader to open further to read more about the offer. CUBED kept the offer as the central focus as it was genuinely a special deal offered only to a select few.  The premium nature of the offer– that it hadn’t been mass marketed to other customer bases – came through the quality, and substance of the box itself.

The package was completely personalised from the front of the box, with the customer’s first name, through to including an ANZ customer service representative’s contact details and also a message that would then allow for them to follow up with the customer.

We exceeded the objectives by 250%, a fantastic result!

Perception is a funny thing, especially when it comes to paper. Being a Production Manager, paper is something I deal with on a daily basis and I’m not talking about the paper your local butcher wraps your salami in – I’m talking about paper to print your marketing material on.

Today’s paper gives the consumer a multitude of different choices. The choice continues into the environmental space. Paper can be fully or part recycled, certified carbon neutral, FSC accredited, acid free, Australian made, made from sustainable forests, made from paper mills using renewable energy, PEFC accredited or made PH neutral just to name a few.

So, depending on the consumer you can see there are a number of choices to be made before commencing print on any job in today’s environment.

Late last year our client, TRUenergy set about producing their first ever newsletter ‘GLOW’. They enlisted our help to undertake the design, copy writing and production management. The newsletter catered to existing customers and offered tips on how to reduce your energy bills, information about smart meters and eco-friendly eating. Naturally, we thought to use a recycled paper to provide a good fit between the client and the content.

Interestingly, although the stock we chose was recycled, as it was a bright white, coated stock, it was ‘perceived’ to be a non-recycled option. Readers wrote in suggesting that the newsletter be printed on a recycled stock, simply because they perceived the superior quality and brightness to be a non-recycled stock option. (In fact Monza Satin was one of the first papers in Australia to gain FSC Certification, contains 55% recycled content, is chlorine free, ISO accredited and now certified carbon neutral). When people think of recycled paper, they imagine grainy, slightly discoloured paper. Basically, we’d outsmarted ourselves.

So, with the second edition of ‘Glow’ just around the corner, we’ve revisited our stock and are printing exclusively on Ecostar, a stock that is 100% recycled (from post-consumer fibre), made carbon neutral, process chlorine free and has FSC and ISO accreditations. But most importantly, it’s perceived as recycled.

If you’re wondering why the name Hocking sounds familiar when you think of real estate, it’s because it should. And that’s because the name is synonymous with experience and quality of service. The name has been in the game for a long time. The name is Greg Hocking.

After branching out to establish his new agency with a focus on results, client service and experience (simple things that we all know are too often overlooked by many businesses) Greg (of Greg Hocking Holdsworth) sought CUBED’s services to assist with the new agency’s marketing and advertising activities.

The new team offered a fresh and innovative approach, but the current branding just wasn’t quite communicating that. Our challenge was to re-fresh the current look and feel and give it a modern edge. Through the design, we also needed to communicate the prestige offering of not just the service delivered by the team, but of the spectacular properties on offer. The tasks ranged from a re-fresh of the previous logo and a new look and feel spanning various collateral including sales boards, press listings, business cards, letterheads, property booklets, and various DM pieces.

Since the establishment of Greg Hocking Holdsworth in January 2011, the team’s focus on results (much like our own approach) combined with their new branding has been instrumental in seeing their business grow. So much so, that they’ve outgrown their office in Bridport Street and can now be found at 332 Montague Street. So if you’re in the area be sure to pop in and say hello to Greg, John and Bruce.

“I feel famous!” proclaimed Hannah as she stepped up to the mike…

“University” said Matthew in his Harvard Scholar voice.

“Semester” said Tim in a scarily convincing lady impersonation.

So, some of these didn’t make the final cut, but yesterday we popped around the corner to our friends at Bang Bang Studios.

It was time for the recording of some upcoming radio adverts for the University of Ballarat. As one of the concepts required a vast array of voices, CUBED and UB agreed the best way to approach this would be to use some in-house talent. The CUBED team members stepped up to the challenge, many recollecting fond memories of speech and drama days. Everyone had a go at recording a few words – some enjoying the spotlight a little more so than others (I’ll leave it up to you to guess who).

This was also a fantastic opportunity for some of the newer starters to experience just what goes on in a studio. Some were a little disappointed at the lack of scantily glad girls and bottles of whisky, but we all left feeling suitably impressed with not only our own performances but that of Bang Bang’s. Initial edits have already been turned around, and everything is sounding primed and prepped to go on air in a couple of months to launch UB’s Mid-Year campaign.

Mid-year is a drive for anyone who is already in the workplace and looking to upskill, or may have simply missed out applying or being accepted at the start of the year. If this sounds like you or someone you know, be sure to keep an eye on the University of Ballarat leading into the start of June.

It feels like yesterday when the boys in black and white proudly lifted the trophy after an exhausting but brilliantly played second 2010 AFL grand final.

The excitement, the cup, the Collingwood supporters’ enthusiastic chant “go the pies*” (*which, said very quickly with minimal emphasis on the consonants, sounds a little like “othepiiiiies”), are part of my memories from that wonderful time (even if I am Bulldogs supporter!).

So, you’ll imagine my delight when our creative director Bruce announced we’d be developing a slick, first-of-its-kind digital platform for the most important magpie of them all… captain Nick Maxwell, aka Maxy.

Maxy was after a website that allowed him to get closer to his fans, share content and videos, blog, promote the charities he works with, and provide a platform for interested parties to book him as a guest speaker and footy trainer. He also wanted to promote his involvement in the Toyota AFL Dream Team (he is a 2011 Dream Team ambassador and playing in six different Dream Team leagues). Clearly captaining a professional sports team isn’t enough for Nick.

The team at CUBED rose to the challenge, developing the interactive strategy and implementing a content management site housing all the requirements to develop Nick his own brand, which encapsulates that iconic moment Nick lifted the cup in front of tens of thousands of fans.

Nick’s site is live and his Dream Team leagues are already full (good luck getting in next year!) but it’s worth subscribing to updates as Nick promises some exclusive video content and his blog, which is written by a host of volunteers (not all pies supporters), is a very entertaining read and constantly updated. Regardless of who you barrack for, perhaps it’s time to learn a little more about the captain of the reigning champions.

TRUenergy asked us to create a letter to inform potential customers of their ongoing 10% discount.
We thought that was a huge offer, so we crafted the letter with that initial gut feeling.
We supersized an average A4 letter to A3, that’s 140% your average letter size.
And the response? TRUenergy received the greatest number of calls in the past 4 years.
Now that’s a big reaction.