Australian music icon Julia Stone recites moving poem for NRMA Insurance’s new ‘Invisible Fires’ campaign via Thinkerbell
NRMA Insurance has partnered with Australian music icon Julia Stone and Lifeline Australia, in a new initiative by Thinkerbell, to highlight the continued need for mental health support for people affected by the Black Summer bushfires.
As part of the idea, Stone has created a moving bush poem, “Next To Me”. The poem sheds light on the ongoing mental health trauma experienced by people impacted by bushfires and aims to reassure those who are struggling a year on, that help is still available. The poem is in response to Lifeline Australia continuing to receive more than 400 calls a day to its dedicated Bushfire Recovery Helpline.
To illustrate Julia’s evocative poem, Thinkerbell, produced in partnership with Vandal and Eardrum, have created a mesmerising video titled “Invisible Fires”. Beginning as an MRI scan, a brain morphs in response to Julia’s lyrics, to metaphorically highlight the overwhelming negative mental impact the catastrophic natural disaster had on so many Australians.
Says Paul Swann, executive creative tinker, Thinkerbell: “We wanted to capture the link between natural disasters and mental distress in a powerful and captivating way that would make people stop and take notice of such an important message. Julia’s poignant words accompanied by the visual metaphor in the video effectively draws attention to the fact that while the bushfires ended a year ago, for many, the invisible fires still burn.”
The poem is personal for Stone, who trained as a mental health counsellor and volunteers as a crisis support worker, assisting people and families living with anxiety disorders.
The campaign follows a two-million-dollar donation to Lifeline Australia from NRMA Insurance and RACV. The donation is helping Lifeline provide video counselling support and community resilience training in bushfire affected areas.
Says Zara Curtis, director of content and customer engagement, IAG: “While most Australians saw the devastation of the bushfires on their screens, as an insurer we also see that the emotional toll on our customers and their communities goes beyond the physical damage to homes, businesses and wildlife. This initiative is a reminder that help is still available – no one needs to suffer in silence.”
The video will be supported via PR and social media channels.
Client: IAG
Chief Marketing Officer: Brent Smart
Director of Content & Customer Engagement: Zara Curtis
Lead Content & Editorial: Rae Metlitzky
Content & Social Media Lead: Sinead Hoffman
Principal, Corporate Communications: Claire Morgan
Client Partner: Lifeline
Executive Director, Marketing and Fundraising: Lisa Cheng
National Manager Communications and Public Affairs: Ina Mullin
Creative & PR: Thinkerbell
Executive Creative Tinker: Paul Swann
Head PR Thinker: Natalie Duncan
Head Production Tinker: Grant Anderson
Lead PR Thinker: Taylor York
CEO: Margie Reid
Chief Thinker: Adam Ferrier
National Chief Creative Tinker: Jim Ingram
Lead Tinker: Chris McMullen
Head Tinker: Sesh Moodley
General Manager: Katie Dally
Thinker: Josh Green
Head Thinker: Ruth Hatch
Visuals: Vandal
Managing Director: Brenden Johnson
Creative Director: Emile Rademeyer
Lead Artist: Mick Watson
Producer: Laura Tenison
Sound Design: Nigel Crowley
Audio: Eardrum
Sound Design and Voice Direction: Ralph van Dijk
Audio Producer & Casting: Jessie Williams
Written and Performed: Julia Stone
46 Comments
…. that is beautiful
How many agencies do NRMA work with?
The Monkeys, CHE Proximity, Colenso and now Thinkerbell.
Impressive roster.
Congrats Thinkerbell. This is excellent.
… really well executed, moving and meaningful.
Well done to all involved
Id be bloody proud to put my name to this. What an excellent piece of work.
I found that genuinely moving – Bloody advertising
Kudos to The Monkeys and NRMA for developing a great brand strategy, and to NRMA for then rallying three other agencies around it to produce great work across the board. Not sure there’s another client in the world, let alone Australia, that has a village of creative agencies all executing so consistently on-brand.
What channel does a 1.42-second video piece stream on? Maybe someone from Thinkerbell could please answer? Cheers.
Long time reader, fort time commenter. This so simple and so powerful. The craft is amazing. Well done to all, it’s beautiful.
The brand strategy and brand platform
HELP
was developed by Saatchi & Saatchi and ran for 10 years
And revisited by the current crew
Seriously good.
Another over claim from NRMA about a service that doesn’t actually work – try giving them a call. Nice work though.
WOW – this is an incredible film.
what a powerful statement. congrats everyone involved
Yes! Great work Thinkerbell!!!!
but this made me feel things
Another exceptional idea from Thinkerbell. May I come and work for you?
Congratulations Zara
Stunning work from all
What a sad and petty thing to say. This isn’t a Choice website to rate and review a product. Celebrate the creativity on show.
Have done it again.
This isn’t Advertising.
This is Art.
Beautiful work.
Love the creative, but what do I do next?
I’m not being facetious here, I’m left screaming, SO WHAT.
Donations require action. No action here, just a nice poem, and I’ll move on with my day.
My entire family and many friends were heavily impacted by the fires and honestly, this is the first piece of fire-related advertising that actually spoke to me. Brought back quite a few tears. Now if NRMA could pay out the people still having their claims assessed and bickered over that would be great. If they could lobby councils to push things through so people don’t have to spend a second winter living in tents, that would be even better.
wow. so good.
This one caught me off guard. Incredibly moving.
Awesome to see the new kids on the block kicking dust in the dinosaurs’ eyes.
Ah ha.
Poem is moving. The visual is interesting.
But what do you actually want me to do?
I was left feeling sad and empty.
Is it just an ad telling us that NRMA donate and support Lifeline? If so, why do that? This needs a stronger call to action to the public instead of NRMA making it about themselves.
Once again, craft over substance from NRMA.
I love this with – that’s all
So nice to read such a beautifully crafted poem compared to the year 5 drivel that was supposedly poetry that was shared on IWD. That was excruciatingly bad. Not a fan of the map of Aus brain. But lovely in the main.
Hat tip – this is very well done and supports a good cause.
Since the fires – my father has done nothing except drink and sit on his (still partially burned) verandah, my grandfather decided the world was too much for him, countless friends have a look on their face that tells me nothing will ever be the same again, my mother has lost half her sanity, my best mate’s parents still haven’t gone back to their house because they can’t face it. We’ve lost good people that were identified only through DNA testing on a piece of bone the size of a pebble. These fires were the worst in living memory and worse than anything the elders talk about. For this, thank you. I truly wish there was more we could do.
Beautiful poem, absolutely stunning (not sure about the visuals).
But for me, the most important detail is buried at the back – over 400 people A DAY call Lifeline, a year on. We need to help these people, not just writing incredible works of art about it.
And if it’s true NRMA are dropping the ball on payouts, well…
Nice nice nice. Thumbs up.
gets my vote for campaign of the year
Congratulations Paul and Chris, and everyone else involved, in crafting this very emotional film. An exceptional piece of work to be extremely proud off. Well done lads.
@Shame it doesn’t work: I don’t think you even watched the movie? The ad is for calls to LIFELINE and has nothing to do with the calls to an NRMA telephone number. Thank you.
I came back today to watch it again for a second time. So good.
eh
Great concept, beautiful piece of work on a tough to talk about subject.
Looks like I’m late to the party here. Stunning work. Wish I did this one!
I have the sneaking suspicion that negative comments may be being filtered. As lovely as Julia’s poem is, the work is still middle of the road at best. Visually mediocre and driving zero action.
Hi James thank god you arrived and restored my faith in the typical anonymous campaign brief commentator I was starting to think things were changing
Well done all involved.
Stopped me in my tracks and pass it on.
That is a very smart and active client. Good on them.
Insightful.Powerful. Genuine.
This demonstrates the power of understanding.
What an exceptional piece of writing. Congratulations everyone involved.