ITNTW: STAN UPSETS THE CHAT WITH NEW CAMPAIGN

STAN’s new campaign has been a great lesson in not being able to please everyone. 

Australian punk band Private Wives made their TV debut this week with Australian streaming platform Stan’s new “Enter the Chat’’ campaign via Clemenger BBDO. With a strong pivot from their usual riot grrl thematics, Stan places the locally beloved punk girl group in absurdly mundane locations: the office bathrooms, a footy change room, the local RSL, and even jamming in a lounge room while a woman posts Hunting Wives conspiracies on Reddit. With the lyrics, “Enter the chat. Get it off your chest, mate. Don’t hold back,’’ Stan is showcasing how cultural moments extend beyond the screen and bleed into Australians’ everyday lives.

Made up of Sydney locals Zoe Lewis, Phoebe Price and Lucy Spencer, Private Wives have become a regular to the streets of inner Sydney venues. Their sound is noisy, and unapologetic, sonically and thematically reminiscent of classic punk like Jack Off Jill or L7. This is a surprising pick, but fits well with the key messaging of the campaign, feeding into the attention grabbing premise, and a tagline that pushes Australians to engage with their communities via local Australian TV and sport. The casting choice makes sense: what is more quintessential Aussie than noisy pub rock? 

Stan are building upon that basic human desire to be a part of the conversation, to feel connected and “in the know.’’ Their OOH advertising features tag lines like “watch what everyone is going on and on about’’ and “watch what has everyone talk-maxxing’’ to engage with a need for community and belonging by tackling that terrible feeling of feeling out of the loop; of having nothing to say about the hot topics that everyone is chatting about in the work staffroom. 

The nationwide campaign is live, with a commercial soundtrack by Private Wives, and a rollout across TV and BVOD, OOH, digital, social and audio. “Enter the Chat,” ironically,  is a strong reminder for brands that tapping into culture doesn’t just mean knowing what is trending online, but being keyed into what people are engaging with in-real-life. 

Early reviews of the ad have indicated that Stan may have been drifting too far out of the mainstream, with online comments on their social media repeating the same idea that “Your new advert is the most annoying advertisement on TV at present,’’  “The yelling makes me want to turn my tv off’’ and “The mute button on my TV remote has been getting a workout for the past few days.’’ There is a reason that female punk artists, such as Private Wives, have a following more concentrated off-line than online. This backlash is a lesson that proving that you have your finger on the pulse can be less impactful when it serves to confuse a mainstream audience, who are not ready for more alternative tastes. 

Stan is telling their Aussie audience that they know “what’s up’’ as they tap into niche local favourites, and tie this into Stan’s strong market presence in Australian streaming, with their curated line-up of originals, and live sports, while reinforcing that entertainment is a shared experience which brings Australians together. Stan reminds their audience that they are focused on developing quality content, not just for distraction or relaxation after a long day, but for Aussies who love something worth discussing at work, with their partners and family, or with friends. 

This campaign also reflects a desire to push the envelope on whose tastes brands are paying attention to, and to delve deeper into more grassroot cult favourites to connect with Australia’s cultural pioneers. Highsnobiety’s latest white paper focused on “Gen Z Cultural Pioneers” i.e. the group of Gen Z whose everyday activities were an indication of where the mass market was heading next. The findings found that those who are leading the market are those who skew towards influence via offline encounters, and word-of-mouth recommendations. This means that knowing where the market is heading is just as much about knowing what is going on in cultural circles through boots-on-the-ground research, as it is about knowing the searchable data and trends. Private Wives don’t have a large online following, brushing barely 4k, but in Sydney circles, they are at the forefront, and seeing their fixture at a local venue is often enough to indicate that this is a spot worth checking out. 

However, the polarising reaction online is also an indication that tapping into cultural pioneers comes at the expense of alienating your mainstream audience. Stan’s “Enter the Chat” campaign ultimately demonstrates the risk of brands trying to get ahead of the cultural curve. Private Wives may not be a household name, but that is arguably the point: Stan wants Aussies to know that they are as dedicated to the smaller cultural circles, and pushing them into mainstream conversation.

The backlash shows that cultural relevance isn’t as simple as finding the next big thing. Brands need to know not only what people are “talk-maxxing” about, but whether the rest of their audience is ready to join the conversation. Regardless, Stan is pushing the boundaries of what mainstream Australian advertising looks and sounds like, and making their newest campaign “Enter the Chat” worth talking about.

Ruby Harris | PR Coordinator