Food delivery app Menulog has delivered a second serve of NRL greats in its latest integrated campaign as official broadcast sponsor for the 2021 State of Origin Series, bringing to life the uniquely Aussie sporting tradition: the sledge.
In a first with Channel Nine, Menulog is creating twenty contextual and unique TV ads, hyper-urgent social videos that react live to State of Origin gameplay, based on Australia’s rich banter history and deft sledging skills.
Following last year’s campaign that saw stars remix Menulog’s ‘Did Somebody Say’ jingle, this year Menulog is bringing the country’s fiercest rivalries off the field, recruiting footy legends Andrew “Joey” Johns, Wendell Sailor, Paul "Chief" Harragon, Matt Bowen, Brett Kimmorley, and Billy Moore to deliver contextual sledges over text during Origin 2021.
Sledge topics will include reactions to immediate on-field gameplay, old grudges, politics, player stats, the infamous ’95 Brawl, and insider perspectives amplified across TV, social, digital and PR.
As part of the integrated campaign, Menulog launched the #OrginSnackdown social media and PR activity, kicking off with a competition giving Aussies the chance to have Origin Sledgends, Wendell Sailor and Paul Harragon delivered to their door as lounge room commentators and personal sledging mentors.
In addition to delivering Sailor or Harragon to the doors of two lucky winners, Menulog will be putting on the ultimate Origin Game Two viewing party, fully catered with a personal bar and "one-stop-Origin-merch-shop" for two winners and nine lucky mates each.
To enter, consumers need to share their most witty food-pun sledge on Facebook Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #OriginSnackdown.
With Menulog’s second year as a broadcast partner for the State of Origin series, marketing director Simon Cheng says he wanted to push the brand further.
“We wanted to build on the success of last year’s State of Origin TVC with a campaign that celebrates a uniquely Australian sporting tradition and taps into our love of banter, especially around key sporting moments around State of Origin time," Cheng says.
“There are few things that divide Aussies quite like footy rivalry and this reaches fever pitch during State of Origin. We wanted to harness this competitive spirit and deliver the lighter side of the rivalry between fans by heroeing the great tradition of sledging.”
The campaign came together with Menulog's creative agency McCann.
“We had a lot of fun working with the NRL legends and mining them for good stories," McCann chief creative officer Ben Coulson says.
"We have quite a few ideas ready to go before kick-off tomorrow night, but we’re most excited to see how the games play out - and have pens ready to respond as it happens.”
Credits
Menulog
Simon Cheng - Menulog Marketing Director
Fiona Bateman - Head of Brand
Lisa Brown - Head of PR and Communications
Ashlee Lynch-Marson - Marketing Manager
Duncan Fredericks - Public Relations Manager
Kia Petrenko - Head of Growth Marketing
Perry Neilson - Social Media Marketing Manager
McCann
Ben Coulson – Chief Creative Officer
Roshni Hegerman – Executive Strategy Director
Isabella Best – Senior Account Manager
Daniel Miller – Creative Director
Christian Duffy – Creative Director
Chris Nguyen - Senior Copywriter
Melina Flood - Senior Producer
Nick Withford - Editor
CUB
Dean Ginsberg – Director
Katrina Olsen – Senior Producer
James Carr – Executive Producer
Finchco Agency
Alexandra Bryant - Managing Partner & Creative Principle
Sally Heydon - Senior Account Director
Niki Aquino - Senior Account Manager
Antonia Minutolo - Senior Account Executive
Connecting Plots
Dave Jansen - Creative Partner
Chris Johnson - Creative Director
Lewis Steele - Head of Social & Content
Gemma Barr - Integrated Project Director
Julia Kenny - Copywriter
Alexa Burchell - Art Director
UM
Hayley Pyper - Senior Client Partner
Jack Davidson - Integrated Partnerships and Sponsorships Director
Rahma El Sayed - Senior Integrated Planner
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