How the new RACQ brand campaign and its quirky animals were brought to life.
Some of Queensland’s most familiar animals have starring roles in RACQ’s new brand campaign.
The ads feature cockatoos, kookaburras, possums and water dragons ‘commenting’ on Queenslanders experiencing various life events.
RACQ General Manager Marketing Membership and Digital Tim Cochrane said the ads gave the inevitabilities of life a voice through animals that were relatable to Queenslanders.
“In the ads, the animals are watching and offering their observations on some of the challenges and life experiences we go through,” Tim said.
“These range from a car breaking down or being damaged in a storm to moving into a newly purchased home.
“The message is that when these things happen in our lives, the most important question to ask is, ‘You with RACQ?’
“From roadside assistance to home insurance and loans, RACQ has products and services to support Queenslanders through the good and bad times.”
While the messaging is serious, it is delivered with a sense of fun and humour thanks to the cheeky animals, created using computer-generated imagery (CGI).
The message is that when these things happen in our lives, the most important question to ask is, ‘You with RACQ?’
“There is so much doom and gloom in the world we thought we would use a lighter tone to deliver what are still important messages,” Tim said.
The lighter tone evokes memories of one of RACQ’s most popular advertisements (“Charter boat, what charter boat?”) from more than 20 years ago.
“People still reference the charter boat ad after all this time and it shows how powerful humour can be in getting a message across,” Tim said.
“The use of humour is a nice way to balance the seriousness of the topics and helps people connect with the advertisements and their messaging.”
The campaign was developed for RACQ by creative agency VML and created by Brisbane film and television production company Chop Shop Post.
Chop Shop Post’s recent film and TV credits include Troppo, Last King of the Cross, Monkey Man and Bluey.
The RACQ commercials were co-directed by Lav Bodnaruk and Mike Mier, who began the project fresh from working on their latest film Zombie Plane, a comedy starring Chuck Norris, Vanilla Ice and Sophie Monk.
Filming of the RACQ campaign saw them return to Screen Queensland Studios where Zombie Plane was shot.
A furnished room was built inside a water tank that was flooded for the RACQ home insurance ad.
The other ads were filmed at the RACQ Mobility Centre and on a Manly West street.
Once the live-action components were filmed and edited to their 30-second spots, the animals were added using CGI.
Making the animals come to life involved meticulous study of their look and movements.
“In addition to looking at photos, our guys broke down the skeleton and muscle form of every one of these animals, so there is a lot of study that goes into how the animals should look,” Lav said.
“The first one we did was the cockatoo and then the kookaburra and they were the most challenging because of their feathering system.
“Our artists worked very hard to groom these birds. The feathers are different colours and they behave differently.”
To give the animals more character, tweaks were made to their final looks.
“For instance, with our kookaburra and cockatoo, we opted to make the eyes larger than they would be on a real bird to add an element of cuteness, and for happiness, we added a little smile to their beaks,” Lav said.
“It’s very subtle, and if you don’t know to look for it, you won’t notice, but it makes you feel a certain way when you watch the spots.”
After putting so much time and effort into creating the ads, Lav and Mike look forward to seeing how the campaign is received.
“We are super proud of the result,” Mike said.
CGI animals developed for RACQ by creative agency VML and created by Brisbane film and television production company Chop Shop Post.
“It has been a collaborative journey with RACQ and VML. The concept of this campaign rests with them – they came up with the ideas and we executed them.”
Working on the campaign had special significance for the long-term RACQ members.
“We joke that we both started at uni, delivering pizzas and our cars were not that great, so we used to rely on RACQ a fair bit,” Mike said.
“Knowing what RACQ is, having respect for it as an institution and brand for so long and now being able to make a campaign for them is something that is really dear to our hearts.
“I think we have encapsulated something new and fresh, and hopefully, it will connect with many different audiences and demographics.”
They’re the voice
The animals appearing in the new RACQ brand campaign may sound familiar. They include the voices of prominent actors and comedians, brothers Stephen and Bernard Curry (cockatoos), Sam Simmons and Madeleine Levins (kookaburras), Damien Garvey and Leon Cain (water dragons), Adam Zwar and Nelle Lee (possums).