CGU Insurance partners with The Jim Henson Company to create an all-new Aussie puppet and short film ‘Tall Poppy’ via Thinkerbell
CGU Insurance and its creative agency Thinkerbell have collaborated with The Jim Henson Company, leading innovator in the field of puppetry and producer of beloved projects like Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and more, to develop the next phase of the insurance provider’s ‘Insuring Ambition’ brand platform.
The new short film, Tall Poppy, tackles Australia’s negative cultural phenomenon of cutting down successful people, businesses, and entrepreneurs – that we commonly refer to as tall poppy syndrome.
American puppeteer, director and producer Brian Henson (Muppet Treasure Island, Muppet Christmas Carol, Farscape) directed the film, a unique tale of ‘tall’ Poppy and her journey to hold onto and share her ambitious spirit.
The film, produced in California, USA, was released in Australia on 20 February 2022. Last night, as part of the film’s national rollout, an ambitious media approach developed by Initiative saw a five-minute version of the film run in full during the advertising break of primetime current affairs show 60 Minutes on Nine.
Says Brian Henson: “Tall Poppy is about celebrating ambition, and facing the feelings of uncertainty and vulnerability that can get in the way of living to your fullest potential. The ambitious team that came together to create this film, brought together by our incredible partners at CGU Insurance, definitely saw the magic and innovation that can happen when everyone feels free to share their own unique talents. We hope that Poppy’s story will inspire Australians to celebrate their own tall poppies.”
Tall Poppy was created using an impressive range of production techniques and technologies, combining classic tabletop puppetry with rich visual effects, resulting in a hand-crafted yet sophisticated look. Dozens of puppets built by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, and nearly 150 visual effects shots provided by Stargate Studios were needed to complete the nine-minute film.
Says Brent Smart, chief marketing officer, IAG: “Who says B2B work targeting insurance brokers needs to be boring and rational? We created Tall Poppy to get Aussies to think differently about tall poppy syndrome and how it holds us back. CGU’s brand platform “Insuring Ambition” demands ambitious ideas, like wanting to work with The Jim Henson Company, one of the best storytellers in the world. The level of craft and care they brought to this, in addition to that of our brilliant partners at Thinkerbell, really shows in the work.”
The film forms part of a broader CGU Insurance campaign aimed at inspiring brokers, SMEs and ambitious Australians to celebrate and admire creativity and innovation. The campaign will roll out across multiple media from 20 February.
Says Jim Ingram, national chief creative tinker, Thinkerbell: “More than a third of
Australians believe that ambition is often regarded as a dirty word* – we set out to change their mind with this campaign. Poppy is a heroine for the positive power of ambition, which can lead to creativity and innovation.”
Says Chris Colter, chief strategy officer, Initiative: “With such an ambitious film as the lead, the rest of our media plan needed to match. With several market-first executions and bold media activations, kicking off by running the five-minute film uninterrupted in 60 Minutes, we’re ensuring CGU Insurance is not just promoting the power of ambition but living it.”
Various shorter versions will exist in other media.
Client: CGU Insurance
IAG Chief Marketing Officer: Brent Smart
IAG Executive Manager, Intermediated Brands: George Exikanas
Integrated Communications Manager: Cath Bosson
Integrated Communications Specialist: Catherine Verge
Media Specialist: Lisa Jarvis
Media Lead: Tom Dodd
Corporate Communications Manager: Alexandra Peard
Creative and Earned: Thinkerbell
Head Brand Thinker: Gerry Cyron
National Chief Creative Tinker: Jim Ingram
Head Creative Tinker: Sesh Moodley
Lead Tinker: Simon Dall
Design Tinker: Morgan Brown
Head Group Thinker: Ruth Hatch
Lead Thinker: Imagene Callinan
Thinker: Sally Irving
National Head Production Tinker: Grant Anderson
Production Tinker: Ruby Abrahim
National Head Earned and Owned Thinker: Anjana Khallouf
Lead Earned Thinker: Lauren Myers
Chief Thinker: Adam Ferrier
General Manager (North): Katie Dally
Chief Executive Officer: Margie Reid
Production: The Jim Henson Company
Directing: Brian Henson
Producer: Vince Raisa
Producer: Brian Henson
Producer: Rita Peruggi
Co-Producer: Melissa Creighton
Associate Producer: Gigi Bebawi
Media: Initiative
Managing Director: Sam Geer
Chief Strategy Officer: Chris Colter
Group Business Director: Elyse Foley
Communications Design Director: Emma Greenhalgh
Client Director: Alison Bongailas
Partnerships Director: Jessica Scott
Partnerships Manager: Nathan Vega
37 Comments
Ummmm, just wonderful.
I saw this during 60 minutes last night. The whole 5 minute ad. An incredible media buy that must have cost a fortune. The film itself was a little strange. I’m not sure it explained what they wanted it to and felt a bit like a school project. I guess that’s ambition for you.
Media buy and some interesting craft. But it’s really let down by the story.
Couldn’t watch it all.
great insight for SMB’s
Saw this last night. Kudos for doing something different however it’s painfully slow and quite self-indulgent.
I saw this last night. Some of the crafting let it down. The weird, what looked like, greenscreen backgroundS, the styling of the characters, was all a bit off.
I wouldn’t say I get the story of tall poppy being a successful business entrepreneur. I’m not even sure I get that tall poppy represents tall poppy syndrome. I love that it’s a short film and you bought 5 minute air time. The technique looks rough all the colour mix and lighting looks very amateurish for Jim Henson. Assume budget takes a hit when you’re making a 5 minute film.
Wow. This is huge. Isn’t the length/commitment exactly the point? Ambitious, bold, creative. Just like small businesses owners? I thought it was stunning. Cudos to cgu and thinkerbell.
Saw this last night on 60mins! Well done getting Henson involved. Congrats guys.
It was trying to be cool and interesting but it was just really, really boring.
Great work mate! Just beautiful.
Well, someone’s gonna find a reason to hate it, and I’m sure I could find a couple of holes. But I really liked it. Getting Henson on this is no small ask and it’s just a great little story worth watching until the end. Well done.
There is a lot to be impressed by with this, but for me, it’s mostly how brave it is. Brent Smart seems to be behind a lot of the most interesting and courageous work at the moment. Well done.
If you told me you had Jim Henson lined up to do a 5 minute short film about ambition I wouldn’t believe you. That’s a huge achievement in itself within our industry. For me the story and craft really let it down but I’m still pretty impressed by the sheer bravery to buy a 5 minute spot. Just wish the film was better.
What a load of self-indulgence. It also looks more like Tinkerbell just bought an existing Henson short. The link is tenuous at best.
The biggest marvel Tinkerbell pulled here is convincing CGU to do this.
Let’s just be clear here. Jim Henson is dead.
I saw it on 60 minutes last night. The first minute I thought I had changed channel by mistake. Then I thought Channel Nine had been successfully hacked. Then I took it on board it was actually an ad by Henson. Sorry to say it but some on the compositing was very average indeed. It was too long and slow. Hats off for giving it a bash though i guess.
I have to say hats off to a client who wants to spend. Would be great if more did the same.
I loved it and thought it was a nice story
Kudos to the client and agency on the ambitious idea. Even though the output is lacking the polish and writing it needed to be great on its own I think you’ll get a great case study about aiming big. CGU proving to Australian businesses that even with great financial backing you can still fail. So give it a go anyway. a lovely message we can all relate.
The client was brave. The media buy was bold. The production company was extremely well-credentialed.
But unfortunately, none of that matters because the idea and its subsequent execution are so dull (in both senses of the word). No one got excited because Special Group ran a 60-second ad during the Superbowl that had lots of big-name celebrities. It was the thought behind it and the way it was realised that made it such a success.
Unfortunately, this piece for CGU just isn’t likeable. I mean, for comparison, look at Larry, that big yellow rolling ball of fluff for Rollin’: so, so much nicer to watch, so much more appealing.
If only Tall Poppy looked less like one of her cousins from Fragglerock.
…because I would LOVE more clients to be brave enough to commission something like this. But I can’t help but feel the budget would have been radically better spent on a beautiful 2 min film with better writing, directing and compositing, because it’s let down pretty badly by all of those. The puppets are gorgeous of course, but they weren’t enough to stop me from tuning out not even a quarter way through the 10 min film.
Jeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzz..that is just plain boring.
Make a film for 15s, 30s, 1min, 5mins 10mins or 90. whatever. Rules are the same – it’s still got to hold or grab your attention in some tiny way.
Then the link to ‘tall poppies’ is so amateurish and base it’s embarrassing – nothing more than she’s called Poppy, and tall. And likes food colouring and drugs.
There is no ‘kudos’ for managing to get Henson workshop…You just paid over the odds for a famous production company to post it to you. A year one animation student could have jerked this out for a bag.
Was way too long, hard to follow and lacking in any clear branding. Nobody would have remembered this was for CGU.
Well most of these comments are what the ads about. Tall poppy syndrome. Until you agencies encourage your clients to be brave and invest in amazing idea, you have no right to be negative over it.
Watched it with my kids! We absolutely loved it. What an inspiring story.
Respect!!
I’ve attempted to watch this 3 times today. I just can’t be bothered. Way too long and bland. And that isn’t a tall poppy comment. I really wanted to like it.
It seems too much time was spent wanting to create an ‘ambitious’ 10 min film with Henson and all the headlines that come with it.
It seems everyone forgot about the entertainment part.
Maybe I’ll try again another time.
Late to the party here. I watched and enjoyed the whole thing on Sunday night at the end I saw it was an ad for CGU and I doubt I’ll ever forget that CGU made that ad. The ad was charming and told a clear story.
We are obsessed with impressions and reach but how do you value a lasting impression? That one thing you see that stays with you.
Well done CGU.
I so badly want to love this. And respect to the client for being so bold. But at the end of the day its just self-indulgent, bland, unbranded and a complete waste of money.
A 5 minute film from Jim Henson is impressive. Just not when the storyline is such a dull version of every other overcome a challenge to succeed story that gets played out in ads from all brands. The production looks cheap and unfinished. Perhaps more time and a decent script would have yielded something to take notice of. This is just hard to watch.
Fucking love it guys. well done. Great story!
It’s a lovely idea but it is easy to see what has happened in production. They haven’t stumped up the cash or time these creators need to get to the amazing craft they’re renowned for. And they may (or equally may not) have interfered in that creative process. It’s a wonderful idea though, people are talking about it and fuck me it is ambitious. Maybe a little too ambitious, but maybe that’s the case study.
Brave client. Big production. Beautiful story. Go Poppy!
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