Visa launches Urban Survivalist reality show via Colenso BBDO and Clemenger BBDO, Sydney
Visa, together with Colenso BBDO & Clemenger BBDO Sydney, has today launched Urban Survivalist, a branded entertainment series starring one of Australia’s most successful comedic exports, Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show, Crazy Rich Asians).
Urban Survivalist puts one celebrity contestant, in one foreign city, for 24 hours with the intention of seeing how he survives with no warning and no wallet. What the producers don’t realise is that he is carrying his mobile phone.
Over the three episodes, much to the disappointment of the crew, Ronny shows how easy it is to get by with nothing but a phone, resulting in a reality series that doesn’t quite go to plan. As it turns out, it’s the crew – and the show – trying to survive, not the contestant.
Says Jac Phillips, head of marketing for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, Visa: “The purpose of this campaign is to build awareness about the convenience, acceptance and security of Visa mobile payments. By entertaining our audience at the same time as educating them on the benefits of paying with Visa on your mobile phone, we believe we’ll get the cut through we need.
“So, we’ve put humour at the heart of our approach. Data tells us humour is a key driver in generating brand fame and driving effectiveness, and at Visa we are good at having fun!
“To help bring the comedy and the fame, we knew we had to work with a well known comedian and who better than rising global star, Ronny Chieng.
“Ronny worked closely on the scripts with our creative team, which included Ronny Chieng: International Student collaborator, Declan Fay. We are thrilled with the results.”
Urban Survivalist will be seen in cinema, TV and premieres exclusively on the internet. The campaign will also be supported by an activation at Manly Wharf in partnership with Pedestrian TV.
To find out more about Urban Survivalist, or about Visa’s mobile payment solutions, please visit www.visa.com.au.
Client: Visa ANZ
Creative agency: Colenso BBDO and Clemenger BBDO Sydney
9 Comments
Lucky there’s Cinema in the mix, because you’d need to force feed this.
“Data tells us humour is a key driver in generating brand fame and driving effectiveness.”
God help us all.
can’t believe Colenso put their name on this. Absolutely woeful. I expect it from Clems Sydney, not not Colenso.
… wow
Don’t throw the baby out with the press release on these. The client’s comments are woefully un-human, but the spots aren’t trash because of them.
That being said, at the Campaign Brief comments section we are good at having fun! Gag.
It’s a bit of fun. But by the first episode I didn’t feel compelled to watch the rest – already got the gag (and very prominent message / product placement).
I imagine that in hell, this would be the only show available on Netflix, Linkedin would be the only form of social media, and Mumbrella the only news publication.
I await season two with bated breath.
“and at Visa we are good at having fun!”
“The purpose of this campaign is to build awareness about the convenience, acceptance and security of Visa mobile payments. By entertaining our audience at the same time as educating them on the benefits of paying with Visa on your mobile phone, we believe we’ll get the cut through we need.”
Okay we have a confused marketer here. Let’s break this down further.
Awareness of convenience, acceptance and security – yeah nah, talk about mixed messaging.
Entertaining and educating to get cut through – yes, these videos will cut through all the other noise, get real.