Comm Bank goes into schools with ‘world first’ Virtual Reality pilot
The Commonwealth Bank is taking its brand into Australian schools with a “world-first” virtual reality pilot program building on its decade-long Start Smart initiative.
The VR push will see the bank provide VR headsets and specially-designed storybooks for students to take home and immerse themselves in key elements from classroom lessons linked to the program.
Aimed at raising the levels of financial literacy among students, the pilot will involve 1,500 year one and year two students from 24 primary schools across the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8P9pVg7f1I
The initiative, dubbed The Teleporter Adventures, centres on a book, Sammy the Space Koala, written by award-winning Australian children’s author, Ursula Dubosarsky, and use a cardboard VR headset the bank has called a teleporter.
The story follows Sammy as he travels through the galaxy in search of a magical present for his grandmother’s birthday.
The concept was devised by M&C Saatchi and is a hybrid of the classic storybook and and the emerging world of virtual reality.
Kylie Macfarlane, Commonwealth Bank’s general manager of corporate responsibility, said the concept was seeking to find new and engaging ways to get children interested in understanding finance.
“We know that around 10% of Australian 15-year-olds have not reached even a baseline level of financial literacy, which places them in a clear position of disadvantage in a world where you need to be able to make sensible decisions about money in order to be financially secure,” Macfarlane said.
“Start Smart is all about helping young people become financially capable. The program is now educating more than half a million Australian students every year.”
Credits
- Executive Creative Director: Michael Canning
- Copywriter: Jonathan Flannery
- Art Director: Paul Gregson
- Brand Manager (CommBank): Andy Sutherland
- Executive Manager (CommBank): Tamisine Heath
- Creative Technologist: Simon Kent
- Digital Producer: Emma Wetton
- Account Service: Kezia Quinn & Anna Hunt
- Project Director: Danielle Mountford & Lauren Thompson
- Customer Experience: Jason Crane & Rasmus Pant
- Product Experience: Tricky Jigsaw
- Author: Ursula Dubosarsky
- Senior Print Producer: Greg Hyslop
- Digital Designer: Rod Robles, Kim Janson & Kentaro Yoshia
- VR & Illustration Partner: Fin Design + Effects
- Illustrator and Character Designer: Tim Streets
- VR Artists: Shane Bower, Mike Thompson, Tim Streets
- Music & Sound Design: Bamm Bamm Wolfgang
- Social Content Production: Zoe Paulsen & Mick Perry
- Post production (film): Heckler TV
- 3D Producer (film): Aborah Buick
- 3D Designer/ Animator (film): Simon Robson & Holger Gutknecht
- PR: Edelman
