Airborne heroes of Essendon Fields championed in latest campaign via Town Creative

Home to the State’s emergency service airwings, Essendon Fields recently appointed Town Creative to develop an outdoor media and digital campaign inviting Victorians to acknowledge the lifesaving work of the airborne heroes working tirelessly for organisations like Air Ambulance and Victoria Police.

The campaign ‘Airborne Heroes of Essendon Fields’ is running across digital and print platforms including social media, website, billboard and media.

With nearly a third of all flights from Essendon Fields Airport undertaken by the state’s emergency services, the campaign aims to highlight the imperative work undertaken by our emergency service airwings during and prior to the recent pandemic.

Beyond the tarmac and the hangars, there is a network of extraordinary people who work tirelessly 24 hours, 7 days a week to ensure Victorians are kept safe and connected. Town Creative’s campaign not only highlights these heroes but asks Victorians to thank them in their own way across social media.

An integral part of Essendon Fields, the Airport is situated on 305 hectares and surrounded by a wide range of businesses, services and jobs. Essendon Fields has been identified as a transport gateway in the Victorian Government’s Plan Melbourne 2017-2050 strategy and recognised in particular for the Airport’s expanding role. It is perfectly situated with direct arterial access via the Tullamarine Freeway to the CBD and Melbourne Airport, with 24-hour access and unsurpassed proximity to Melbourne’s major hospitals.

General manager marketing of Essendon Fields Nadia Salajic cited that now was an opportune time to showcase the life-saving work taking place from Essendon Fields through the work of these exceptional organisations: “We wanted a campaign that ensures every car passing the perimeter of our business park realises the incredible work that operators like Air Ambulance, Victoria Police Airwing, Royal Flying Doctors and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority undertake from our site.”

The campaign capitalises on the precinct’s bank of unique outdoor freeway assets that were recently appointed to Nettlefold (NM) Media in a Multi-Million-dollar agreement. This included the development of two new digital super sites, which are being utilised to showcase the Airborne Heroes campaign.

NM Media commercial manager Simon Peeke said the campaign was a great use of the highly regarded location: “With such extensive frontage to the Tullamarine Freeway, which carries c150,000 cars per day, Essendon Fields’ signage assets offer the scale and impact to carry such an important community message.”

The Airborne Heroes campaign is centered on iconic imagery depicting actual workers from each corresponding organisation standing beside the aircraft that assists them with their undertakings. Award-winning photographer Craig Moodie was appointed to capture the campaign imagery, iconic in its depiction of the human faces behind the crucial service. The Victoria Police Air Wing alongside Air Ambulance Victoria are likely familiar sights to all in the Victorian skies, together attending up to 8,000 annual incidents.

Says Salajic: “Our creative brief was to humanise an often technical aviation angle. We have more than one million residents living within 15 minutes’ drive of Essendon Fields, and up to 2.6 million living within 30 minutes’ drive, a tight community exists to cheer on our heroes of the sky at every take-off. The success of this campaign would see that the community gets behind our #homebaseforheroes social campaign and sends their messages of support and thanks to these extraordinary individuals.”

Key operators based at Essendon Fields Airport includes Victorian Police Air Wing, Air Ambulance, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Medevac / medical emergency evacuation, Emergency Management Victoria and Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). Each summer the airport also plays a critical role in bushfire suppression, with Kestrel Aviation deploying a fleet of water bombing aircraft from the site, including the iconic Erickson S-64 Air Crane helicopters.

Over the next 90 days, Essendon Fields invites everyone to join in on celebrating this magnificent collection of Airborne Heroes by posting a thank you comment on social media and tagging #homebaseforheroes.

For further information on the Airborne Heroes of Essendon Fields Airport please visit https://ef.com.au/airport/emergency-services/.