Telstra Switches Up ‘Wherever We Go’ Spot For State Of Origin

Those who tuned into the State of Origin decider were treated to a twist on Telstra’s ‘Wherever We Go’ spot, featuring a series of TikTok clips showing people imitating the central character as he whistles his way through the world.

Telstra CMO Brent Smart said the switch up spotlights how the brand is embracing people’s engagement with the campaign in real time.

“If you were watching the State of Origin decider last night (Australia's biggest rugby game), you may have noticed that the Telstra brand ad turned up differently,” he posted on Thursday. 

“We've had a bunch of people make TikTok videos doing the walk and whistle from our ad, some positive, some negative, but all of them taking the time to engage with our brand and play with our brand. 

“And we love that, so we decided to celebrate it on the biggest stage we could.”

It was a full circle moment for the campaign created in partnership with Bear Meets Eagle On Fire and +61, originally launching last year during the AFL and NRL Grand Finals. The animated film, ‘Duet’, has brought the whistled version of ‘Islands in the Stream’ to football broadcasts since. 

When the platform was unveiled, Bear Meets Eagle on Fire co-founder Micah Walker told LBB the ‘Wherever We Go’ platform was designed to make the heritage telco feel warm and distinctive.

“Love wasn’t the word people were using, even if they were customers,” Micah said. 

“We both [Brent Smart, Telstra CMO] agreed that if you want to change how people feel about a brand, you have to change how a brand feels.”

The platform followed up the stop motion animals starring in ‘Better on a Better Network’, which just picked up a handful of Cannes Lions – including a Grand Prix for Film Craft. 

“I hope it shows that even the biggest brands can be the most creative,” Brent told LBB after the success of Cannes week.