Wrightson picks good time for first TVC in 15 years

By Deborah Hill Cone

Friday 28th May 2004

Farm services company Wrightson says it has been useful having its big-budget TV commercial on air during its takeover battle.

The normally low-profile company's seven-figure rebranding campaign under the tagline "Agriculture. It's our culture" has raised eyebrows in the normally conservative rural community, especially as it has coincided with a bitterly fought takeover bid by Craig Norgate's RPI.

At the centre of the scrap has been a dispute over the true value of the company's shares.

But Wrightson chief executive Allan Freeth said it had been useful to have the campaign running while the corporate battle was being played out.

" In these processes there's a lot of smoke, and it's very important to say that may be going on but it's business as usual. I'm very pleased we made the investment we made."

The TV spot from Wellington agency The Bridge was shot by music video director Chris Graham to a soundtrack of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Have You Ever Seen the Rain? the first time that work has been authorised for use in a TVC.

The ad was aimed 60% at staff, 20% at clients and 20% at shareholders, Mr Freeth said. It was the first time the company had advertised on television for 15 years.

Challenged as to whether a mass market television campaign was an efficient way of reaching such a small and distinct audience, Mr Freeth conceded it was expensive but said it would have been difficult to capture the ad's passion on a piece of paper.

"This is about an emotive and visceral statement ... you can't underestimate the sense of pride and the hairs on the back of the neck that stand up when you see the ad.'

Mr Freeth said the ad, which had taken two years to prepare, had not been extravagant and had been carefully thought through.

There had been a lot of shareholder comment in response, with some people saying they were delighted farmers were being portrayed as professionals for a change. "While the [Toyota] Bugger ad is funny, we don't like ourselves or our wives being depicted like that."

The campaign was very important for agriculture as an industry.

"Whether you like it or not it's driven this country's growth for the last decade," Mr Freeth said. "We wanted to speak to New Zealand about that leadership."

The staff at Wrightson had been buoyed up by the ad, especially since it came after a tumultuous time. "This company has had a difficult history. It's been a confusing decade for staff. We just wanted to say this is what are about."

The ad showed Wrightson stood for authenticity and integrity. Mr Freeth said that meant it was very important that real people, rather than "talent," were used in the ad and except for a couple of instances that was what happened. (Actors were used to portray Chinese cattle buyers as they did not happen to be visiting at the time.)

The shoot was turned into a "carnival day" for the children, as real farmers played thespian and took a drenching for the camera.

Given the lyric of the song it was unfortunate that the first airing of the ad coincided with the Manawatu floods but farmers understood you could not control the weather.

Comments from our readers

No comments yet