Afterpay launches new brand campaign ‘Afterpay Where You Wouldn’t Believe’ in first work via BMF
Australian founded global finance and payments innovator Afterpay has launched a new brand campaign ‘Afterpay where you wouldn’t believe’ via BMF, enlisting the help of a unique spokesperson; a troll and his toll business.
The troll, a passionate Afterpay merchant who loves telling his customers about all the places they can use Afterpay where they wouldn’t believe, explains just how easy it is to use Afterpay in-store with the Afterpay Card.
This is the first campaign created by BMF for Afterpay: building awareness of the new places and ways, (in-store with the Afterpay Card), people can Afterpay, including at the optometrist, dentist and hardware stores, to buying tickets to concerts, sports games and experiences such as hot air ballooning, and much more.
Says Andrew Balint, vice president of marketing ANZ, Afterpay: “Afterpay is a global category founder and leader. We were born of the notion that there must be a fairer and better way to pay. This is why millions of Aussies continue to trust and choose Afterpay at checkout. The launch of ‘Afterpay where you wouldn’t believe’, builds on our market-leading position in the buy now pay later category and brings to life all the varied, amazing, and sometimes even surprising places you can Afterpay, in a fresh, bold and uplifting way.”
Says Harry Stanford, associate creative director at BMF: “We know Aussies love the feeling of financial freedom, whether it’s being able to pay for a necessary dental treatment without missing out, or being able to buy tickets to Harry Styles. Afterpay has always been a bold and distinct brand, which is why we created an iconically unique Aussie character to spread the word.”
Afterpay where you wouldn’t believe’ will run across TV, social, digital audio and outdoor.
Client: Afterpay
Vice President Marketing ANZ: Andrew Balint
Director of Brand ANZ: Joel Moran
Senior Brand Manager ANZ: Mikaela Wagner
ANZ Campaign Manager: Fabian Claveria
Creative Agency: BMF
Chief Creative Officer: Alex Derwin
Executive Creative Director: Tara McKenty
Associate Creative Directors: Josie Fox & Harry Stanford
Art Director: Bob Broadfoot
Copywriter: Joe Mallett
Head of Art & Design: Lincoln Grice
Chief Strategy Officer: Christina Aventi
Planning Director: Suzanne Dutton
Chief Executive Officer: Stephen McArdle
General Manager: Aisling Colley
Senior Account Director: Rebekah O’Grady
Account Executive: Kristen Henry
Head of TV: Jenny Lee-Archer
Integrated Producer: Honae MacNeill
Retouching: Electric Art
Production Director: Karen Liddle
Design Director: Iva Madderom
Finished Artist: Cat Durando
Retouching: Rebecca Xu
Creative Services Director: Clare Yardley
Production Company: Good Oil
Executive Producer: Sam Long
Director: Vedran Rupic
Producer: Chana McLallen
Post Production: The Editors
Editor: Mark Burnett
Music & Sound Design: Rumble
DOP: Sam Chiplin
Photographer: Mat Baker / Louis & Co.
Bantam
Head of Content Creative: Nico Engelbrecht
Content Producers: Holly Whiteley & Yolande Francis
Animator: Jeni Rohwer
Online editor: Max Lu
Media Agency: Initiative
49 Comments
I wanted that to be good but it just wasn’t.
The craft was low and the idea too close to Ikea (Which had high craft and made this spot even worse)
The troll was just too wooden and not cool enough.
Also wasn’t funny and should have been. Sad for the creatives and the client on this. Not realised at all.
Ikea
https://vimeo.com/787406452
Using a weird looking troll to deliver a long winded list of product point does not make it more palatable. Shame, it showed promise, but fell flat.
If you wanna get that boys soul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZiEAdpX3_o
Always wanted to work with Vedran Rupic. Wish this was weirder.
nice one!
I laughed when the troll and the passenger have a moment and then that weird feet and hand section bit.
Refreshingly odd for Australia and by association Afterpay get a tick from me.
The fact that the troll was made and not CGI, it has a lot of charm.
Who created the Troll?
Odd studios they are amazing.
Did the client write the script? Feels really forced.
IKEA troll was out in the world while this was in conception. Take the troll out of it and all you have is a horribly functional script which you vould have inserted into any other fable
Gobbledock on meth.
Love the troll also – super charming and indicative of Vedran’s aesthetic.
A massive miss for me.
I understand the strategy – moving a brand that has been closely associated with millennials and fast fashion to a broader market.
But the troll and the associated weirdness has no tangible connection to the existing brand.
That’s OK. But the execution then needs to be stunningly brilliant. Unfortunately, this is not.
Feels like everyone stopped trying after coming up with the idea of using a troll, his dialogue is flat and his voice pedestrian. And what’s with him shuffling his feet throughout the film?
Yeah, getting such an interesting character to deliver such a dry list of proof points. Not much to love.
Can confirm meth dealers accept afterpay.
Well, I’ll give it a thumbs up for sneaking in Troll Toll
Can I afterpay a life?
Ive never seen still so bad in my life. Its not 2001.
this is as flat as a pancake
this is fun and different for afterpay – i wanted to watch it till the end – the troll make ya smile and it gets the afterpay messages in there but it feels nicely integrated – wonder if they’ll do more with the troll or thats it for him
Im afraid the troll build is a fail in my view. All I could see was a bloke in a foam latex troll suite with no lip sync.
it had an always sunny and a step brothers reference and then it lost me
Funny
Unnecessarily long, not funny, trying to be weird for the sake of it.
An Afterpay, after thought.
Worse still it fails to capture the aspiration excitement and ‘coolness’ of Afterpay Beginning of the end with new owners not knowing what they’ve bought
I always wished I could use sumones afterpy …..
Me think too many people worked on this. So overcooked and stupid.
Honestly impressed this got made, creative concept is fun, its quirky/kind of brave for Afterpay. It is a shame the craft of the Troll isn’t great, the bad lipsync wrecks it for me…
Normally I get the hate on CB but this one confused me. Troll was pretty charming, gag with the wife making eyes was nice and subtle. Was wondering where the jumper cables thing was going, genuinely thought he was torturing people under the bridge. 6.5/10.
Not horrible but not amazing, how is the troll an ‘iconically unique Aussie character’? Confusing…
Just like Afterpay…..not necessary.
Interesting that AfterPay went with the troll under the bridge, who threatens to “gobble up” those who dare to cross to access what should be free grass/sustenance on the other side… unless they pay.
The corporate shadow projected onto film?
Fun Director.
Unnecessary to fly him in for this one.
Everyone’s freaking out about AI taking their jobs. The immediate problem is every Australian production company filling out the majority of their roster with overseas directors with overseas reels so they can remain relevant to internet attuned creatives wanting to replicate what’s done overseas with bigger budgets and better more progressive creative.
It’s counter productive to the industry and actually short sighted in a business sense. Is the end result that production companies just become service companies? Work gets worse? Because without the same budget or creative the overseas directors often fall flat. Do you really think they care about the ads they direct in one of the smallest and often most conservative markets in the world?
Think about it.
Agree. At a time when agencies are slashing staff and 90% of directors are struggling to work or work in a sustainable way, everyone’s answer is to hire overseas directors for jobs that don’t require them? This only aids the creatives lip to quiver as they get starf&$**%# momentarily and uncaringly.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s an interesting director, but this is the 4th or 5th time I’ve seen overseas directors on aus jobs posted here very recently. Jobs that are nowhere near the particular directors usual standards of work and for scripts that literally 20 or so world class aus directors could do.
I’m surprised clients let this happen.
20 or so world class Aus directors? I can think of maybe around 5.
Name them?
The troll rules.
Steve Rogers. Hamish Rothwell. Chris Riggert. Steve Ayson (Kiwi) Tom Noakes.
Now I’m struggling. Your turn.
I’m not going to go through the list of other Director names for you that aren’t closing on 60 years old and been buying you drinks the last 25 years (except Noakes) that also either work overseas and are respected overseas or are also more than capable of directing this ad. That’s your job really isn’t it? Use your brain, look at reels, consider what the director is actually doing, not how many awards they’ve won, not what brands they’ve worked for overseas, not what the hype says and no not what lucky opportunities they’ve got overseas and haven’t had here because people like you are lazy, old and shortsighted.
I only work with white wealthy men in their 50’s, white trust fund kids (male and female), the person who last bought me the most beers and bags, occasionally the random ‘diverse’ director to tick a client box, and the latest overseas reel of big brands and budgets that does my job for me to sell my random uninsightful idea to client.
Am I close?
Came here after seeing an ooh and tv execution over the last day. Both times made me double take. Cut through is not an easy job and this did it in spades. Nice.
Who came up with this idea?
I love the commercial and the troll. Very memorable and the actor’s facial expressions made it fun too.
I believe this commercial will raise awareness of where Afterpay can be used. However, changing habits often requires repetition. I wonder whether we will see the Troll & the family again? A series of commercials perhaps of the family paying for goods and services & remembering (via flashback) of their experience with the troll? Maybe the family bumping into the Troll again at the checkout or lining up to get into a theme park?
I believe this commercial is great & Afterpay could consider taking it further, to get lasting change in consumer behaviour.
Ridiculous! Afterpay you need to sack your media team! Worst ad ever! Makes me NOT want to use Afterpay
If the intent was to make an ad so memorably bad that it creates brand recognition, this is a masterpiece. If not…
I love the troll and it’s made me aware of afterpay.
Didn’t they steal this from “always sunny in philadelphia”?