Men from Uncle pull off spectacular ATM brand hijack
Marketing agency Uncle has pulled off an audacious ambient stunt, rebranding 16 of Sydney’s ATMs for its client Tax Today in a 3am raid.
The guerrilla marketing project saw a team fit specially prepared boards around ANZ, NAB and Westpac machines in Sydney’s CBD during a 3am mission.
The message on the boards – designed to promote the same-day tax refund service provided by Tax Today – was “Get your tax refund this fast”.
Uncle – which is a year old – used freelance creative Adam Hunt for the project. In May, Hunt’s anti discrimination ad created for The Gruen Transfer became hugely controversial after the ABC refused to air it.
Uncle director Rupert Pay said that the only hitch was when a policeman became suspicious of a photographer used by the agency to photograph the process. Although police ripped one down immediately, some of the boards were up until at least 11.30am the next day, he said.
Pay said: “I recommended to the client that we should do some sort of ambient stunt and Adam came back with some ideas. The ATM is the perfect visual metaphor for instant cash.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=vuRQACV8m3k
Pay conceded that he had angered some of the brands involved. He said: “As you can imagine I did get some phone calls. But we were very careful to not use any adhesive or cover up any information.”
He added: “I think we’ve found a new medium. There should be people rubbing their hands together and thinking they’ve got a great new opportunity.”
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Great idea and an apt metaphor. But aren’t there laws against defacing property, even if its impermanent?
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Come on you’ve got a love a bit of guerilla advertising.Shame we’re all usually too scared of the ‘ramifications’ to even suggest it to a client.
Great to see a client with the balls to say yes. Nice one Uncle.
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I’m sure these photos will look great on Uncle’s website.
I know it’s boring to think of marketing and advertising as a business and not a creative fancy, but I’d be interested to know how the success of this execution will be determined. ROI? Brand awareness and perception metrics? Good old fashioned CPM? I haven’t heard of this anywhere else but here so presumably not via value of PR generated.
Ok yes I’m being more than a little facetious. It is a nice creative idea, but it looks like they forgot to have the rest of the conversation. Guerilla marketing can work but it needs to have scale and context in keeping with business objectives. Presumably, this ballsy client wants more of the tax return business so will be interested to learn how many more people called them today.
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Hi Rachael,
You may prove to be right, but it’s too early to judge the PR component just yet.
As a lucky Mumbrella reader, you’re getting the sneak preview as I think we’re the first to report it. I understand that the PR push begins about now so you might see this story appear on other outlets tomorrow.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
D’ya mean other marketing and advertising outlets Tim? Surely it’s reaching potential customers that matters via more mainstream outlets? If this happened this morning and was done by 11.30am, I would have expected reportage on this before now (and it sounds like they had to tell you about it…you didn’t know about this because of all the buzz?). Feels like a flawed PR strategy to me.
I wish them every success and hope that ‘heaps’ of predisposed customers call them to do their tax returns.
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Hi Rachael,
I do mean mainstream outlets.
Although I don’t have the inside track on their PR strategy, I’m assuming they’ll be trying for consumer PR.
If they succeed in getting that, it probably won’t matter to the client whether it came via a word in the ear of journos, or spontaneous buzz.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Let’s hope no one famous dies over night then. ;->
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Or has a big memorial service…
I wonder how many journalists will report this. Am I wrong to suggest that doing something that’s supposed to be audacious and then sending out a press release telling everyone what you did is a little bit lame? If they get press for the client then they’ve got a lot of free coverage out of it but if not I guess it’s a pretty cheap stunt and there’s not that much harm done. One possible problem is that with consumers being told to be on the lookout for anything “different” about ATM’s in the wake of card skimming could it possibly have a backlash effect?
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Definitely illegal. And as they’re claiming credit, a prosecution should be a slam-dunk.
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NOT a fan of this approach at all. “Guerrilla marketing” sounds so cool, but if I was ANZ, NAB or Westpac I’d be pursuing every possible form of legal action against Uncle. One also wonders how Tax Today would feel if someone hijacked its own advertising, or hijacked Tax Today’s Web site and plastered their logo over TT’s logo.
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meh. I’m a fan of guerilla advertising, but this doesn’t excite me
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Have we completely lost our sense of humour? Aren’t we taking this a bit too seriously? Can’t we rebel against precise measurement for just 24 hours?
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A clever idea in my book. There’s not too many exciting ways to dress up tax
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Ho hum.
Jojo: Yes, it’s a ‘clever’ idea, but it takes more than being rebellious or risky to be a really clever idea.
Tim: But what’s “spectacular” about it. Hitting every ATM in the CBD would be spectacular.
Kate: The execution isn’t particularly amusing because it’s not very surprising, doesn’t leave me wanting, and makes me feeling “so what?”
Could be crucified for saying say so at a time when irreverence is still a lingering trend, but don’t you think the copywriter could have tried/worked a bit harder/smarter?
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Ballsy move.
If they had hit EVERY ATM in Sydney, then they’d probably draw too much attention to themselves from the fuzz. A select few in high profile areas was a good choice for awareness, but not saturation.
Nice to see a client trying something new. Especially from the traditionally boring tax department.
Mental note to self. Get tax return sorted.
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Hard to beat blowing up ATMs as a stunt.
Would a big bully bank prosecute a small agency or bunch of boring tax accountants? Not if they’re smart. They’re already as popular as herpes.
Rather than a slam dunk, the PR value would be gold.
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1. Re The Stunt – personally I think it was a nice media idea – legal or not – and I wish I’d thought of it.
2. Re the comment by 11:56am “They’re already as popular as…” HILARIOUS. RAOFLMAO
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Brilliant creative idea, but I feel it lacks the scale required for meaningful impact on brand or revenue. Still waiting to see it break in mainstream media.
Interesting business model too. Would argue that those who need cash ‘now’ would be more likely to lodge dubious claims. I hope the client is vigilant!
… or has insurance!
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ATMs usually mean “grab the cash and run”. A. Not sure how many people are grabbing their cash at 3am. B. Can’t remember the last time I looked at what’s on the window around the ATM C. Haven’t looked at the creative carefully, but for those who had a quick read while they were grabbing their cash, wonder how many thought “great, my bank now offers tax return services….”
I think this one of those great creative ideas that everyone gets excited about, but I would be really interested to see the results in terms of a case study.
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Now the Chaser boys can copy that idea and use it in a skit?
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Brilliant idea but there’s one flaw
Did anyone see any of the ATM customers look up and notice the sign around the machine they were using?
I think the boards blended in too well and weren’t noticed.
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so why is the talk about this stunt about the team from uncle. shouldnt it have been about the client. who was the client again, and i’m wondering how much money they wasted on this. does pr within trade titles add value or is it to add to the company that did the stunt
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Very creative idea, and a huge money spinner for a flotilla of lawyers too!
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Watched all the news bulletins last night and weirdly this didn’t make the news.
Checked the newspapers too – couldn’t find anything
The client must be rapt about funding PR for the agency.
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Guerilla advertising?
An expensive flop and waste of money if the reaction, or lack of, by the public is any indication.
Just another PR stunt for a “creative” agency using a client’s name and money to push their “creative credentials”.
You have to worry when the major thrust relies on generating PR for the stunt and not for the product. It appears the only publicity generated is in the advertising sphere, not mass market. Fat lot of good that does for the client.
Let’s get a dose of reality happening here, folks.
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i’d never heard of Tax Today until now, had anyone else?
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