THRIFTY: THAT'S THRIFTY THINKING

Name	Position	Company
Jay Benjamin/Andy DiLallo	Executive Creative Directors	JWT Sydney
Jason Ross/John Lam	Creative	JWT Sydney
Guy Futcher/Brendan Donelly	Creative	JWT Sydney
Blair Kimber/Adam Fine	Creative	JWT Sydney
Chris Moreira/Mark Scholler	Creative	JWT Sydney
Richard Apps	Creative	JWT Sydney
Jesse Mcelroy	Editor	JWT Sydney
Dave Klaiber	Director	Plaza Films
Jasmin Bedir	Account Supervisor	JWT Sydney

In the competitive car rental market, our client Thrifty challenged us to give them a point of difference and help them rise above the market leaders. They wanted us to talk to the target in a fresh way, bearing in mind their small budget. This strategy was an ideal fit with Thrifty's philosophy which we summarised as 'Thrifty Thinking' - a different way of thinking, offering customers ways to be clever with their money. Every aspect of the campaign was designed to not only spread the idea of 'Thrifty Thinking' but to apply 'Thrifty Thinking' to the way in which we advertised. The media solution created new ways to connect with the target and represented genuine media innovation.

The target was ready to receive Thrifty's humorous tone and brave media solutions. The campaign included non-traditional and revolutionary media channels. Starbursts with the message 'Free placement on live TV, That's Thrifty Thinking' were held up behind the hosts of a live TV broadcast. Another stunt involved parking a Thrifty van in front of the highest traffic billboard site in Australia with a message, 'Borrowing someone's ad space. That's Thrifty Thinking'. We projected billboards around the city with the message 'Free ad space. That's Thrifty Thinking'. During the Australian Federal Election we parked a Thrifty moving truck in front of Prime Minister John Howard's official residence. A snapshot was released, suggesting he was as frugal with his own money as he had been with the Australian taxpayers'. We even looked at traditional media in an untraditional way - airing 5 second TV ads and 3 second radio ads.

Given Thrifty's wide offering of cars, trucks and buses, the target is broad, covering the driving public in Australia and travellers to the country. The innovative media strategy enabled Thrifty to connect with all of them, wherever they went. 'Thrifty Thinking' was appearing and being talked about on the street, on TV, on the net and in the press. The innovative media strategy created a frenzy of free PR that not even we believed possible.

We estimate the free media space and airtime equates to over $5 million, reaching literally millions of people. The innovative media campaign has been a phenomenal success. Research indicates that people are starting to connect with the brand, which can only be helped by the continuation of unexpected media channels.