Matt Chandler

How an old jingle ignited a country wide, inter-generational jingle battle.

Invented in 1967 the Big Mac still has the same delicious ingredients and taste. However, in Australia it wasn’t as culturally big as it once was. Whilst four generations could still list out every ingredient thanks to a 1987 jingle, Gen Z didn’t know it at all.

So, we brought it back. The jingle that trended before trending was a thing. Sparking a country wide, inter-generational jingle battle. Giving it a modern spin with a first-of-its-kind AI powered Snapchat filter and machine learning.

Rewarding people in real time with a unique code for free McDonalds if they could say-Two-All-Beef-Patties-Special-Sauce-Lettuce-Cheese-Pickles-Onions-on-a-Sesame-Seed-Bun in 4 seconds.

Every touchpoint driving people to this unique experience and rewarding them with free food and by featuring their funniest mistakes in social and DOOH. Joining generations with the shared experience of a timeless cultural jingle and renewing its relevance and utility for a chronically online Gen Z.

Developed over three years by Volkswagen Australia and the DDB Group in consultation with the University of Melbourne and WIRES, the Volkswagen’s ‘RooBadge’ is one of a kind innovation that helps reduce vehicular collisions with kangaroos, which in Australia, make up 90% of all animal accidents.

Experiencing the joy of driving is the inspiration behind DDB Sydney's new brand campaign for Volkswagen Group Australia, that goes to the core truth of the experience of driving a Volkswagen. The creative concept is centred around the simple life of a lighthouse keeper working and living on an island. With little reason to drive his car around the small island, it is the mail delivery that gives him the opportunity to get behind the wheel of his Volkswagen and experience the joy of driving.

Volkswagen hacked the commercial break with the first ever TV ad you can play. A massive media undertaking, we bought the commercial spot in high profile ad breaks and displayed a QR code that viewers could scan to enter the race. Each championship race ran only the length of each ad break, with players vying to beat a qualifying time for the chance to win a GTI.

Things can get out of hand when McDonald’s brings out limited release products. Scalpers swoop in, re-sales skyrocket and real fans tend to miss out.

When it came time to do a drop of four limited edition McNugget sauces in Australia, we wanted to keep the peace and find a way to make sure only our real fans got their hands on them. While most brands run campaigns that aim to retain their audience we did the opposite and created a truly terrible user experience. We made the process of claiming our sauce so arduous, annoying and downright painful that only our real fans would have the willpower to make it to the end. Meaning, as planned, we scared off the fair-weather fans and shady scalpers, and got our sauce to people who wanted it most.

The gig economy is a huge part of how young people make a living these days. So to launch Westpac’s 3% savings rate that was exclusively available to 18-29 year olds, we celebrated the deeply weird and somewhat wonderful ways young people are earning a crust in 2020.

The third instalment of our 'help' campaign focuses on the powerful story of a migrant who builds a small business in Australia. Set to the soundtrack of Master's Apprentices classic “It's Because I Love You” remade by Amy Shark, the campaign shows the epic journey of a family who flee their war torn country to come to Australia.

Recently, Westpac improved the customer experience for people going through a divorce or separation, as part of their ongoing promise to help in life’s difficult financial moments. The launch TVC, directed by Garth Davis, is a powerful story about one child’s determination to step up for his parents when they need him most.

Meet Frank. Best bloke ever. He and his iconic mo were at the heart of our campaign introducing Westpac’s helpful resources for customers who have lost a loved one. The first of three highly-awarded spots launching helpful new services from Westpac.

All the highs and lows of one day in Australia are brought to life in a spot directed by four of Australia’s most exciting young directors, under the guidance of Garth Davis. Our first brand campaign for Westpac in three years.

In December, the bushfires across Australia cast a shadow on what should be the most festive time of year. To help, we created The Burnt Christmas tree, an installation made with materials from fire-stricken areas, driving donations to help people rebuild their lives.

The feelings of two much-maligned professional figures come to life for a TV spot celebrating Australian bank Westpac's sponsorship of the National Rugby League. Through their shared anguish, the banker and referee find both solace and strength, proving the partnership between Westpac and the NRL is a beautiful one.

To coincide with the 2021 State Of Origin (Australia's version of the Superbowl) McDonald's celebrated a part of the big game that's seldom shown the period several hours after the match. We follow a street sweeper driving around the city late at night as fans, revellers, commentators and players make their way home with one thing in common: a hunger for Macca's.

This epic tour through Australian history was created to celebrate both Westpac’s 200th birthday and the resilient Australian spirit of mateship.

Aussies are some of the toughest critics. ​Brutally honest and unapologetic. ​Especially when it comes to utes. ​As the most fiery and proud ute lovers in the world, ​no audience is more vocal.

Volkswagen responded to the critics head on in a fully-integrated campaign that proved the all-new Amarok was the answer to the brutally honest criticism of the ute category.

To live their brand ethos, 'help in the moments that matter', Westpac created an innovative print series, subverting the picture-perfect postcard with bushfire affected landscapes. Each was affixed with a pop-out debit card pre-loaded with money, which using innovative geo-fencing technology, could only be activated within the region depicted. A little act of help to encourage tourism dollars into vulnerable towns.

Whether it be parallel parking, merging on a four-lane highway, a giant roundabout, or distracted pedestrians, research showed that 79 percent of all road users had some kind of driving anxiety. So, to launch the Volkswagen Tiguan and its range of new safety features DDB created a suite of tongue-in-cheek horror film posters, dramatising the fears and how the Tiguan’s tech can solve for them. Helping us say 'goodbye' road fears and 'hello confidence'

Every day in Australia, 18,000 tip trucks worth of waste is dumped into landfill. That’s over 20 million tonnes, year in, year out. What’s worse is that a huge percentage of that is 100% recyclable.

Heading into the Christmas period where the waste we create increases by 40%, 1800 Tequila wanted to find a way to show off the creative potential of the waste we are wasting. Working with 21 sustainable Australian innovators, artists and designers, every single element of this bar was handcrafted from reusable waste that would have otherwise ended up in the ground. So instead of pouring out trash, this repurposed tip truck poured out what that trash can become.

It makes you wonder, if this is what we can do with our waste, what are we doing putting in the ground?

You’ve probably never noticed that McChicken forgotten about by Macca’s. No special days, no big campaigns, not even a Happy Meal mention. But why would you? Middle children are always forgotten about. It’s a national epidemic. And we’re all assholes for contributing to it.

So obviously it was our job, nay, duty, to fight for this important social cause and make a campaign that put mid kids everywhere in the spotlight, including Macca’s very own McChicken.

Imagine a place where wild utes roam, where expert handlers capture them and harness their raw power, turning beasts into thoroughbreds. Well, that place is Walkinshaw Station, where Volkswagen Amaroks are engineered to become the famed W-Series, the only ute reared for the road.

When you’re looking for a new place, there’s only one app you need to come out the victor on Saturday - the most important day of the real estate week.

This last year's endless barrage of disasters and catastrophes has left a lot of people feeling helpless. When so much needs fixing, where do you even start? Well, that's something Australian Red Cross has over 100 years of experience in. Their latest brand film highlights this overwhelmed feeling we can all relate to, with a cathartic animation and original track by Aussie superstar duo Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall.

This work for Heartkids brought awareness to the children, teens and adults affected by Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) in Australia. The campaign illustrates just how quickly life changes when a child is impacted by CHD inspiring empathy and support for the important cause.

The Volkswagen Golf is full of advanced features perfect for city driving. Which is great if you need them, but what if you don’t? To see just how impressive the Golf is, we tried to sell one in a spot with no use for it. Blinman is a remote town with no corners, no traffic and no need for reverse parking. We asked real locals to test drive the Golf and filmed the content.

The results were terrible – in Blinman, that is. Back in the city the content has been watched by millions, with positive sentiment and consideration for purchase up in just 6 weeks since launch. Proving the Volkswagen Golf is truly impressive almost anywhere.