In response to a growing concern that New Zealanders aren’t taking preventative measures to look after their eye health, Specsavers has launched a new “clever, yet confronting”, eye heath awareness campaign, The Priceless Eyes Project, via Melbourne-based independent media & creative advertising agency Cummins&Partners.
Masquerading as Vesper-Sacs, an advanced medical research company searching for live test subjects, Specsavers posed an eye-popping question to members of the public: how much would you sell your eyes for?
People were unanimous – they wouldn’t give up their sight for any amount, proving the point that our eyes are priceless.
The experience, which participants described as “like an episode of Netflix”, saw everyday people reach their own conclusions about the importance of looking after their eyes and their eyesight.
Specsavers marketing director Sarah McInnes (who’s also Melbourne-based) said: “We created this campaign because we’re concerned about New Zealanders not understanding the crucial importance of preventative eye care.
“No one should suffer from avoidable vision loss and blindness in New Zealand but they are, unnecessarily. We knew that if we were going to be successful in getting people to stop and really think about their eyes we needed to create something really powerful and meaningful.”
Specsavers went to great lengths to pull off the stunt, constructing a high-tech facility in a CBD office tower from scratch – complete with staff, a company backstory, brochures, a corporate video and even stationery.
“The Priceless Eyes Project launched yesterday Sunday in New Zealand across TV, online, social media and print.”
Cummins&Partners CD Chris Ellis said: “The team started with a human truth – you wouldn’t trade your eyes for anything. We then put it to the test in a real scenario. The result is genuine emotion from everyday people when confronted with the prospect of a world without vision – it’s undeniable.
Cummins&Partners CCO Sean Cummins said: “The best advertising doesn’t just get people to think, but act. We believe this compelling piece of work will do both.”
McInnes said that unlike many other chronic health conditions like cancer and heart disease, eye health does not get a lot of media attention and is not on people’s radar.
“In the past year, only around 1 in 6 New Zealanders visited an optometrist to get their eyes tested, meaning millions of Kiwis are putting their sight needlessly at risk.
“Specsavers is committed to shaking Kiwis out of their ‘she’ll be right’ attitude by driving behavioural change when it comes to eye health,” she says. “With many treatable eye conditions having no obvious symptoms, we recommend everyone over 65 has an Eye Health Check yearly and under-65s every two years.” Sarah concluded.
The Priceless Eyes Project launched yesterday (Sunday) in New Zealand across TV, online, social media and print.
The campaign film was directed by Aaron Wilson from Airbag Melbourne, who is best known for his Cannes Lions awarded works including Impossible Orchestra, Phubbing, Care Aware and 100 Days of Problem Gambling.
CREDITS
Client: Specsavers
Marketing Director ANZ: Sarah McInnes
Optometry Director ANZ: Peter Larsen
Head of Optometry ANZ: Ben Ashby
Marketing Manager: Nick Oswald
Senior Campaign Manager: Lisa Otterburn
Head of Public Relations ANZ: Cathy Rennie Matos
Agency: Cummins& Partners
Creative Director: Chris Ellis
Creative Director/Art Director: Heath Collins
Senior Copywriter: Liam Jenkins
Executive Producer: Karley Cameron
Group Account Director: Marnie McKenzie
Strategy Director: Melissa Warren
Account Manager: Dominique Grainger
Project Manager: Karina Baird
Chief Creative Officer: Sean Cummins
CEO: Chris Jeffares
Production: Airbag
Director: Aaron Wilson
Producer: Selin Yaman
DOP: Ed Goldner
Production Designer: Jackson Dickie
Editors: Cindy Clarkson, Meng Han
Managing Partner: Adrian Bosich
Executive Producer: Martin Box
Sound: Nylon
Engineer: Paul Le Couteur
Producer: Ceri Davies
Share this Post
