Who says ads aren’t made to last?
The Natural Masterpieces campaign promoting the beauty of Auckland’s Regional Parks has reached a unique 25-year milestone. Created by AT Creative’s Andrew Tinning during his Saatchi NZ days, the campaign comprised of 16 giant ornate picture frames that were placed within these living works of art, capturing their most spectacular views. Made from marine grade aluminium and given a gilt effect using a specially formulated paint, the frames featured native flora and fauna unique to the region. With the original mould being carved by the master craftsman responsible for the swords used in the Lord Of the Rings trilogy.
Tinning said: “I was surprised when an old colleague from NZ sent me this newspaper article out of the blue the other day. It’s hard to believe that 25yrs have passed since the frames first launched, and that a quarter of a century later, 10 of the original 16 (not 9 as quoted by the jurno) are still in place. Surely that’s some kind of record for an outdoor campaign!
“Conceived well before the birth of social media, I can’t begin to imagine how many pics of people posing in them have been snapped and shared since.”
The campaign went on to score major metal at Cannes, Clio, One Show, London International and Award. And along with 3 silvers and 2 gold in the outdoor single and campaign category, was awarded best of show at the NZ Axis Awards.
6 Comments
This is timeless and so simple. A lesson to all creatives. Well Done Tinno.
Legacy and longevity are such rewarding parts of the job (ironically, considering we’re literally being paid to provide long-term brand value). Well done, Tinno. I’ve been lucky enough to have had a couple of initiatives and campaign ideas pass the 5-10 year mark and it’s always so amazing when it happens – I can’t imagine hitting a quarter century mark on a single idea like this one.
Andrew. Wonderful timeless work. Great idea. Howard
Just one exceptional idea and execution against so many of yours. Can’t believe I never saw this one! Beautiful stuff. Simple. Powerful. And look at that fresh young face – bless.
When I was fresh to the industry, this was one of the pieces that I kept in the back of my mind as an example of what great work looks like. All these years on it’s still great, still a measuring stick for powerful creative thinking and is now in the front of my mind thanks to this article.
Good stuff, Andrew. Well done.
While there have been many great local campaigns – ‘Are You with HBF?’ ‘This is a Brownes Town’ ‘Would you go an Export, Mate?’ ‘Fee-eeel the difference AutoMasters makes’ – there are none that I can think of that have lasted the distance. Fickle appears a long standing client attribute.
The best I can do is a Channel Seven campaign ‘Nobody knows news like Seven’ which ran for 30 years in various iterations from 1991 to 2021.