Taylor Thornton

The challenge
When it comes to buying furniture online, Aussies think of Koala as a mattress company.

The objective
Strategically, with ambitions to grow their unaided furniture awareness from 4% to over 10%, Koala needed an above the line integrated campaign that would 1) creatively cut through and 2) prove to Australians their already popular sofa beds are the perfect solution.

The communication strategy
“Life’s good when you’re only 4 seconds from great sleep.”

The work
The campaign ‘When Life Unfolds’ included a suite of TVCs, radio, out-of-home, digital and social, and reminds Aussies that when life throws you a few surprises, it’s always best to have a clever and comfortable sofa bed on hand. To complement traditional channels, a tactical and targeted buy across BVOD, YouTube, and performance media meant that we were able to serve ads to different groups of Australians depending on their age and interests.

To connect the campaign from TV and digital screens, memorable characters from the films were plastered on large format OOH ads across our 5 metro markets.

For those in the car, at home or perhaps sitting in doctors waiting room, we ran cheeky radio ads, showing relatable situations of ‘When life unfolds’, including the story of an unexpected guest that needs a place to stay after a break up and a mum who finds out about Koala’s easy returns policy.

The results
Sofa bed searches increased 5 times, with a year on year increase of more than 300%. Brand searches rose from 6K a day to 10K. Incredibly, our add-to-cart has increased by a staggering 86.2%.

In summary, we reached more than 6 million Aussies, about a quarter of the entire population. And our sofa beds have been selling like hotcakes with sales increasing by 74.4%, which means more Aussies than ever are now enjoying our award-winning sofa range.

Press
Covered by The Stable, B&T, Campaign Brief, Mumbrella, Adnews, Marketing Mag, Retail Blitz.

VP Global Brand Strategy & Creative: Bradley Firth
Creative Director: Taylor Thornton
Integrated Producer: Nikki Jones
Senior Creative: Matt Koo
Senior Brand Designer: Elana Robson
Creative: Drew Dunbar
Media Director: Sally Phelps
Media Manager: Michaella Naicker
Senior Marketing Manager: Miles Thomas

Production House: Clockwork Films
Director: Armand De Saint~Salvy

With 48,000 tonnes of furniture being dumped kerbside each year in Greater Sydney alone, we spotted an opportunity to encourage folks to buy furniture worth keeping.

From a brainstorm to being broadcast on telly in just under 2 weeks (a personal best), the campaign gained momentum, extending to a series of OOH, performance media, and social posts that showed we can balance our trademark tone of voice with the meaningful work we’re doing in sustainability.

Covered by The Stable, B&T, Mumbrella, Adnews, and Best Ads on TV.

VP of Global Creative and Strategy: Bradley Firth
Director: Drew Dunbar
Creative Directors: Marina Vasilieva & Taylor Thornton
Senior Copywriter: Matt Koo
Senior Art Director: Elana Robson
Director of Project Management: Kathy Ngo
Senior Project Manager: Emma Power

Co-written with the talented Clay Andrews (@Claymadethis), Rihanna the Goanna is a children’s book due to be released in 2023.

The story helps parents take their precious joeys for a walk amongst the gumtrees to meet a range of characters native to Australia, showing us all how a few simple acts can save our planet.

As you can see from the video, my newborn son, Rowan, gave some strong feedback during the development phase.

Air Rescue is an action-packed brand funded TV series following the work of the Westpac Surf Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service. From humble beginnings as a Junior Creative through to an Associate Creative Director I’ve worked on 5 seasons that’s included two consecutive years with social series’ featuring over 70 pieces of unique content created to appeal to younger audiences.

From Australia Day videos, cinemagraphs, 360 degree videos and countless TV and webisodes, it’s been one hell of a ride that’s been formally recognized with at The One Show and Spikes among many others.

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CD: Shelby Craig, Simon Jarosz, Gemma Hunter

Awards

Silver - The One Show - Branded Entertainment/ Television Branded Content - 2014

Cristal - Cristal Awards - Best Film, Series or Non-fiction Program - Branded Entertainment - 2014

Sapphire - Cristal Awards - Best Use or Integration of Experiential Events - Branded Entertainment - 2014

Winner - Australian Banking and Finance Magazine - Campaign of the Year - 2014

Winner - Campaign Brief Magazine 'The Work' - TV and Film - 2014

Bronze Global Festival of Media - Best Entertainment Platform - 2014

Highly Commended Festival of Media Asia - Best Entertainment Platform - 2014

Shortlist - Spikes Asia - Corporate Image & Information - 2014

Silver - Spikes Asia - Use of Brand Integration into a Program - 2017

Shortlist - Spikes Asia - Corporate Image - 2017

Together with the talented director Cate Stewart, we created a mockumentary, behavioural study commentating on the dramatic and sometimes difficult interaction between couples in the living room. The film pays homage to the 1980s and a popularised series on Netflix – see if you can guess.

Results

The story had people talking with Facebook fans commenting “story of our lives”, and “This is way too accurate! Hilarious!”

The video was shared 185 times and 43,583 people watched the video to the end. It achieved 208,337 engagements and over 4000 people clicked through to find out more.

We sold 13,215 units of a completely new product that no one had ever heard of and restored peace and control to thousands of living rooms across Australia.

Awards

The story was shortlisted in the 2017 A-List Hollywood Awards for copywriting in TV/Cinema/Online/Mobile.  

The online video has been featured on Best Ads on TV.
bestadsontv.com/ad/83781/Playstation-Life-in-the-Living-Room-Will-Never-Be-The-Same

Senior Creative: Taylor Thornton

Creative Director: Simon Jarosz

Director: Cate Stewart

The effects of the Australian Bushfire Crisis were felt far beyond immediately affected areas. With smoke bellowing around hundreds of Australian wineries for weeks thereafter, grapes were irreparably damaged through what’s called “smoke taint” – a phenomenon which gives them a peaty, bitter, or sour flavour.

In the best case scenario, these smoke tainted grapes would be used for cask wine, but in most scenarios they were disposed, causing a massive loss in crops and profit for affected wineries.

The idea

Instead of letting the grapes go to waste, we worked closely with MIRA Wines to create The Lost Vintage: a rosé made from smoke-tainted grapes found in their Hunter Valley vineyard.

20% of all proceeds go back to Pokolbin RFS, with the remainder going back to MIRA Wines, helping them replenish their crops for next year’s vintage.

Inspired by hand-marked cleanskin bottles, The Lost Vintage branding is rough around the edges, imperfectly perfect, and has a distinct hand-crafted quality – much like the wine inside, each varietal having its own label which reflects the flavour and profile of the wine.

Building The Lost Vintage brand from scratch, Marina and I were responsible for finding a partner for the idea, creating The Lost Vintage brand and all related branding materials such as social and web, the PR launch and direct marketing campaign to promote the brand and initiative.

The results

We’re proud to say that in just three days the entire range was pledged, with customers as far as Europe and America, we’ve managed to capture and export the ingenuity and relentless Aussie spirit.

What the punters on social said

Reddit (where everyone goes to speak their mind):
mekon18 “Fantastic marketing! I would love to taste this.”
D1zz186 “love this idea.”
jggearhead10 “Amazing. Was lucky enough to have been in SA just before covid hit hard everywhere (late Feb '20). The devastation from the bushfires there was no joke and was humbled to see it for myself. Glad to see some folks are trying to make the best of a terrible situation”

Instagram:
@emskiebear this is the coolest idea I've ever heard in my goddamn life 😍🤤
@laurahrrr you’d best believe I’m going to buy every 2020 wine I can get my hands on
@vintage_connections_ Sneak preview privileged to have just tried this remarkable wine... bold and delicious. Heaps of fruit and much to think about... oh yes.🙌

Creative partner: Marina Vasilieva

In the press: https://www.theshout.com.au/national-liquor-news/the-lost-vintage-rises-from-the-smoke/

https://www.agfg.com.au/article/where-theres-smoke-theres-wine

Sticking it to sports companies

For decades we’ve been blasted with ‘aspirational’ messages from companies constantly reminding us the only life worth living is outside our comfort zone.

After a year of turmoil, we at Koala thought we’d give it a rest, literally. Rather than guilting people to “be more” and “do more”, instead we gave them permission get comfy AF with our furniture.

The Integrated Campaign features Aussie actor and comedian Luke Cook across a series of TVCs, Large Format OOH, Social Content, and Digital Media.

VP, Creative: Andrew Cameron
CDs: Marina Vasilieva & Taylor Thornton
Writer: Matt Koo
Art Director: Elana Robson
Photographer: Pip Cowley
Director: Madeline Kelly
Production: Revolver Will O’Rourke

We used the epicentre of Australian satire, The Betoota Advocate (Australia’s answer to The Onion) to create wildly satirical articles that mixed colloquial and questionable language to spread our real food message. One of my proudest moments as a copywriter was receiving client approval on the line ‘fuck knows where those Buddha bowls come from anyway’. With loads of banter and genuine brand mentions these stories are changing the way we KFC communicates. 

ACD: Taylor Thornton

Rugby League is a bloody tough sport. It’s even tougher when you’re trying to juggle holding down a full time job and being an elite athlete. There’s only 4 teams in the NRLW at the moment but we’re confident this is just the beginning. Meet the Incomparables.

Creatives: Marina Vasilieva, Damon Porter, Taylor Thornton

CDs: Josie Burns, Matt Ennis.

Director: James Chappell

Launched in market December 2018, ‘Symphony of Service’ shows the poetic and dreamlike delivery of an entire cruise ship working in harmonic rhythm to deliver a memorable guest experience. Set on-board the Majestic Princess; the newest and largest ship to sail out of Australia, the story extends much further than introducing a world class vessel with state of the art features, the narrative unveils to show how the soul of this beautiful cruise ship comes to life through the warmth, dedication and personalised attention to detail of the crew.

Symphony of Service features an original soundtrack that was composed and performed by classical musicians (a violinist and cellist) that regularly perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

The campaign be progressively rolled out across TV, cinema, print, social media and digital platforms throughout 2018 and 2019. 

Creative: Alastair Anisimoff

ACD: Taylor Thornton

CD: Simon Jarosz

Production: Airbag and Hogarth

Music and Sound: Uncanny Valley

Trade press coverage; Campaign Brief, Mumbrella, Adnews, B&T

Throughout our careers we are all faced with the long hours and the innumerable setbacks but it’s the experiences and projects like these that change us forever.

‘There’s something I want to tell you’ is a documentary series and a public health campaign on behalf of the HIV Foundation Queensland that screened in cinemas and online. The films provide a unique glimpse into a minority previously silenced and reveals heart wrenchingly raw wounds, yet somehow, against the odds, our characters are brimming with irrepressible life. The documentary series was requested to be played at the 20th International AIDS Conference Vigil in Melbourne.  

Cinema and online films reached 80% of gay men in Queensland, Australia.

The number of people tested for HIV in Brisbane jumped 36% in 2014, with a further 1992 people taking advantage of rapid HIV tests on offer in clinics across the city.

Fours year later, the stories are still being circulated in QLD in a variety of formats.

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CD: Shelby Craig

ECD: Gemma Hunter

Director: Mikey Trotter

Awards

Bronze x2 - BADC Awards - Sound Production Craft - Original Compositions/Jingles - 2014

Silver - BADC Awards - Cinematography Production Craft - 2014

In a time when banking institutions are perceived as caring more about profit than people, it’s no surprises that young Aussies don’t care much for banks. I was the lead creative in launching Westpac’s Millennial marketing program through the ‘Unstoppable Squad’ - a group of relatable young Aussies with the ambition to explore, discover and create their own futures. We gave them a Westpac account with $18,000 and captured their unguided and uncensored lives by asking them to answer a brief; show us what it means to live unstoppable.

These were their stories… 

Senior Creative: Taylor Thornton

Social Strategy: Alex Gough

CD: Simon Jarosz

Best. Break Up. Ever

Who even knows the true meaning of Valentines Day? We scrapped the choccies and roses and on a day usually reserved for cliches and decadence we invited Queenslanders to celebrate with a Breakup by asking them which unhealthy relationship will they end?

The activation recorded 383 on the spot pledges and a digital competition over the weekend garnered a further 500 creative and insightful pledges. 

The story was published online over night in under 24 hours and the content received an incredible 82,546 completed views, an incredible result for a 2 minute video.

Creatives: Jesse Osborne, Costa Popolizio

ACD: Taylor Thornton

With blokes around the country ‘forced’ to watch ‘The Bachie’ we discovered that 77% of FTA programming is female skewed. A&E is a pay TV channel full of blokey shows. Men who watch it love it – but a lot of men didn’t know it existed. Our strategy was recognize and legitimize a new affliction – Manesia a.k.a the state in which a man has forgotten how to be a man. 

I wrote and co-directed ‘Manesia’ with my first boss and mentor Shelby Craig and this became the first time in Foxtel’s Australian history a campaign attracted the sponsorship of a third-party advertiser, Solo.

Creatives: Taylor Thornton & Shelby Craig

Director; Shelby Craig

Everyone loves a good challenger story. I had an opportunity to work with Crater productions to craft the script for their teaser video to show the grit and sacrifice behind what goes into a Supercars race win. 

Creative: Taylor Thornton

Director: Simon Morehead

We created a public awareness campaign with a naughty twist for Transport for NSW that calls young Aussies to “Get Your Hand Off It’ and stop using their mobile when driving. 

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CD: Shelby Craig &Gemma Hunter

‘Secret Sessions’ for Cloudy Bay was the first brand to partner with Parlour Gigs, an innovative start up that brings the hottest up and coming live music talent to the backyards of regular Aussies. We had two sessions across Sydney and Melbourne and created a suite of content to be distributed across Cloudy Bay’s platforms. 

Creatives: Taylor Thornton & David Toussaint

CD: Simon Jarosz

Drownings near Queensland Dams were at an all-time high. On behalf of Queensland Government and Sunwater, we created a poignant reminder to teens of the consequences of reckless behaviour, the loss of life and the burden of guilt that can follow us throughout our lives.

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CD: Simon Jarosz

Director: Stefan hunt

With Tim Cahill netting an absolute screamer at the 2014 World Cup he became Australia’s most popular athlete. I had the incredibly rare opportunity and privilege to create a film and contest that stars my footballing idol. A competition encouraged people to upload photos and videos of their celebrations with the winner jetted off to NYC to meet Tim Cahill (and play FIFA 15 against him!). Week 1 sales exceeded its target by 26% and a huge 17% year-on-year growth was seen over the duration of the 10-week campaign.

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CD: Shelby Craig

Director: Richard Vilensky

In an unprecedented approach for a beer brand, we bravely positioned Pure Blonde’s Summer campaign “Future Fit” as a level-headed alternative to a fitness crazed country. The partnership in conjunction with Nova Entertainment, hooked breakfast host and former AFL athlete ‘Fitzy’ from the studio just in time for ‘rig season’ as the rising fitness guru Dan Conn put him through his paces using the latest fitness trends.

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CD: Gemma Hunter

Director: Peanut P3

When it comes to cruise line advertising the market is saturated with a compilation of screamingly urgent messages and offers, spiraling into an intense competition of who has the biggest, boldest vessels with all the bells and whistles from slippery dips, flying foxes, entertainment shows, you name it.

 ‘The Moment’ – an integrated marketing campaign across TV, print and an online changed the pace of advertising to reflect the notion that experiences are not limited by budget or shiniest ships.

We increased bookings by 22% year on year. 

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CDs: Shelby Craig, Simon Jarosz, Gemma Hunter

Awards

Shortlist - Mumbrella Travel Marketing Awards - Ad Campaign of the Year - 2018

Winner - Mumbrella Travel Marketing Awards - Best Media Strategy – 2018 

Well for starters think less, do more.

When MediaCom globally rebranded their behaviours to ‘do it, push it, know it, share it’ I created these posters that now feature in English speaking offices around the globe. The simplicity of the ‘Don’t wait, do it’ mantra has become a personal philosophy of mine that has helped me apply an unprecedented level of productive passion to my work and life.

Creative: Taylor Thornton & Tom Hexton

We let a saucy latina actress loose on the streets of Sydney unleashing her devious secrets and devilish ways and causing quite the mess. This 'hidden camera' style footage is hilariously awkward and launched Devious Maids in Australia; a daring, sultry drama set around the cloak-and-dagger lives of five Latina maids.

Creative: Taylor Thornton

CD: Shelby Craig

Director: Richard Vilensky

Awards

Bronze - Global Festival of Media - Best Entertainment Platform