Poms will whinge.

The British Council's 'Realise Your Dream' programme awards six creative young Australians with a mentorship in the UK under their chosen British guru. One of these six awards is the Mordant Visual Arts Award, specially dedicated to visual artists. This brief was for a follow up piece once the main campaign had been launched, to remind and encourage young artists to enter this competition. They produced an integrated campaign based around the thought that 'Poms Will Whinge', because their opportunity to work alongside these leading lights was being taken by 'undeserving' Aussies. (In Australia, it is common practice to jokingly portray the English as a nation of whingers.) Part of the campaign was a viral ad featuring a disillusioned British artist George Burkett. This DM piece was sent to leading art professors at leading art colleges to remind them to encourage their students to enter this competition. They increased the number of entries by 85% while reducing the cost per application from $68 to $40. The work also generated press coverage worth an estimated $50k. Feedback from the DM was fantastic: "At first it scared the shit out of me. Then I realised what it was. Brilliant. A+." Vaughn Rees - College of Fine Arts UNSW.

Advertising Agency: M&C Saatchi, Australia.