Hearing Australia encourages Aussies to celebrate sound in new campaign via Landor
Hearing Australia has unveiled a new identity and supporting campaign that ‘Celebrates Sound’ – representing its remarkable work and research – all developed by leading brand and design consultancy Landor.
Focusing on the beauty of the soundscape around us, the new Hearing Australia brand aims to position the organisation as one that ensures all Australians experience the power and wonder of sound.
Landor worked closely with Hearing Australia, the provider of world leading research and hearing services, to develop a new identity for the organisation, which has been caring for Australians for over 70 years. This includes a name change, from Australian Hearing to Hearing Australia, highlighting the organisation’s commitment to deliver even better services to its over 250,000 clients and its focus on improving the hearing health of all Australians.
Says Kim Terrell, managing director, Hearing Australia: “This is an important step forward in promoting the importance of hearing and helping Australians.
“The new branding is based on research involving over 1,500 people and will promote what Hearing Australia can do to help people discover, or rediscover, the sounds they love. Our clients are at the heart of everything we do and the changes we’ve made are a direct result of client feedback.
“We’re excited by our new identity and campaign developed by Landor which clearly represents our unique services and research capabilities, while positively celebrating one of life’s most important experiences – sound.”
While Landor has been working with Hearing Australia for more than two years, it is the first significant brand transformation and campaign it has executed for the organisation. In addition to the name change and brand identity, Landor also developed a range of supporting elements including a brand campaign comprising a TVC, online video (60”, 30” and 15” executions), print advertising, a brand toolkit, illustrations, tone of voice and retail design guidelines. Working alongside fellow WPP AUNZ agency, innovation and design specialists AKQA, transformed the experience design of the website, supporting the new brand identity and customer insights of Hearing Australia.
Says Tom Carey, creative director, Landor: “The market is full of negativity when it comes to losing your hearing, usually focusing on the idea of ‘loss’ and ageing, and not being able to communicate with others. We saw this as an opportunity to do something completely different, by building a positive brand that focuses on the beauty and wonder of sound. An opportunity to talk about hearing sound instead of loss, to highlight the benefits of hearing when you work on managing the issue.
“The result is a contemporary brand that celebrates sound in every possible way. A brand where you can hear, see and feel the sound. Even the supporting campaign is about the sounds of Australia – celebrating all the different sounds that we call home.”
The concept of ‘sound’ has also been incorporated into a range of design elements inspired by the ‘science of sound’.
Says Carey: “We researched how sound waves work, move and look (if we could see them), and based everything from the logo to the textures of the furnishing, and a suite of three dimensional motion forms, on this design concept. It also extends to the materials in its centres, the texture of its corporate wardrobe and throughout the culture of the organisation, as both a celebration and centrepiece of the new brand.”
Says Terrell: “This change will help more people connect with us sooner so we can help them take their first steps to improving their hearing health and enhancing their life.”
Landor and AKQA are part of WPP AUNZ, Australasia’s leading creative transformation company.
Landor:
Daye Moffitt – Executive Strategy Director
Alana McMillan – Senior Client Director
Tom Carey – Creative Director
Ethan Hsu – Senior Designer
Nicola Ferry – Senior Designer
Elodie Trumpheme-Hennessey – Designer
Other:
AKQA: Digital
Mediacom: Media Planning and Buying
Borja: Video and Photography
Never Sit Still: Motion Design
RMK: Sound
Smith and Western: Sound
Colmar Brunton: Research
Client:
Bianca Walton – Customer Experience and Brand Project Manager, Hearing Australia
Bernadette Clarke – Campaign Manager, Hearing Australia
Linda Ballam-Davies – Communications Manager, Hearing Australia
7 Comments
Blandor
Wowzers. How very uninspiring. Landor should stick to design and leave the campaign work to the big boys.
Shouldn’t it at least have subtitles?
So the planners are writing the ads at Landor? Why are they calling what’s clearly a strat hype reel an ad? Has WPP forgotten the difference?
Sound is awesome, We are Hearing Australia.
Puh-lease.
Did anyone stop to think why consumers would bother paying attention to this at any point? Why it’s worth their attention? How it will gain their attention?
No. And this is where design agencies go wrong every. single. time.
So in love with their own ‘brand strat’ (which is really just a polished silver ball of consensus management), so giddy at the thought of making a film, that they rarely bother to realise they need to put a thought that communicates into their piece of communication.
So delightful to see a 60s where 59s has no brand cues, no distinctive assets, no call to action and no explanation of wtf the brand offers in an age were most consumers will give you 0.5s of attention.
‘Hearing test in disguise’ this ain’t. They should’ve gone to CHEP and got sold something about pasta sauce.
As a person whose grown up around young hearing impaired people, and whose desperately tried to convince my parents to get their hearing checked (but refuse to because they’re in denial of ‘getting old’) it’s about damn time someone stopped portraying hearing loss as old people struggling to hear or trying to poke fun at everything. And not an ad pumped full of ‘brand cues, distinctive assets or calls to action’ but filled with memory and emotion and what’s so great about having the ability to hear. In my opinion the best thing about John Lewis Christmas adverts is that they don’t try and fill you with “come buy our stuff” but try to evoke something much more meaningful and craft it beautifully as a film, and that’s what holds my attention. I think we as ad agencies worry that if we don’t flash a logo every 5 seconds people will forget what they’re watching. Don’t worry about these keyboard warriors and advertising dinosaurs, this worked on me (whose probably closer to the demo because I’ll be be the one watching this and suggesting it to friends and fam).
Have to agree with Nailed it… compared with the rubbish that was launched recently for another hearing company re brand this hits the mark, job done.
Looks like the Landor planners jumped into the comments.
Did they really just compare this contrived manifesto nonsense to a John Lewis ad?
Oh my. That’s a bad look!