Sensis says ‘Don’t ask Susan’ in new B2B content marketing advertising campaign via Isobar
Sensis is releasing a new B2B content marketing advertising campaign today via Isobar, poking fun at the often ridiculous advice small businesses receive about online marketing.
Directed by John Pace, ‘Don’t ask Susan’ consists of seven online videos, starring ex-Blue Heelers actor Julie Nihill as the lead character, Susan.
The Content Marketing team at Sensis audited the B2B content marketing landscape and found a distinct lack of emotive-based content in the marketplace – it was overwhelmingly rational.
The first video ‘Want to get a website up?’ sees Susan explaining why the Internet is simply just a ‘fad’ and offers what she thinks is far superior marketing advice. Nihill’s comic timing brings to life the awkwardly behind-the-times character of Susan.
Sensis executive general manager, James Ciuffetelli, says the campaign will resonate with small business owners across Australia.
Says Ciuffetelli: “The campaign really showcases what a lot of small businesses go through when seeking advice on marketing online. It’s often coming from a friend-of-a-friend at a BBQ, rather than from an expert.
“We’ve been running a hugely successful B2B content marketing program for more than two years. We all know people prefer humorous content – and it’s far more likely to be shared. From our research into the content marketing landscape, we feel that using humour will really give us cut-through.”
Sensis uses a combination of channels to reach small to medium businesses (fewer than 200 employees) and help them with their online marketing, including:
• A fortnightly newsletter, Nutshell, which goes out to over 300,000 subscribers Australia-wide
• Downloadable eBooks, with titles including ‘Beginner’s guide to websites’ and ‘How do I get found on Google?’
• Articles, written by ex-journalist Cath Vallence, subject expert guest writers and high-profile bloggers, such as Trevor Young of PR Warrior
• Videos, including online marketing tips for small businesses, trends and updates
Rob Barnett, associate creative director at Isobar says working with someone as talented as Pace and experienced as Nihill made all the difference to the end result.
Says Barnett: “We had a lot of fun on-set. Julie was an absolute trooper and really understood what we were trying to create with Susan’s character.”
The campaign has seven different videos and will be pushed out via social media, Sensis channels and influencers over the next 14 weeks.
Client: Sensis
Agency Marketing Manager: Kate Dalby
Content Editor: Cath Vallence
Director / Writer: John Pace
Agency: Isobar
Associate Creative Director: Rob Barnett
Copywriter: Fraser Nelson
Art Director: Lauren Moran
Account Director: Amanda Kramer
Account Manager: Tish Tambakau
Producer: Tomma Morris
Strategic Planner: Alice Green
3 Comments
That is hard to watch.
Hope the comms via other channels is effective for Sensis, because these are dire – and there’s five more to come. Ouch
This issue with this is Sensis employees are the ones who give the bad advice because their reps have to hit their targets and are underqualified.