Optus, an Australian telecommunications company, was fighting hard for its share of the Australian market, and they needed their brand to stand for something people could connect to. They concluded they needed to compete on a more organic level than just price. Someone in their advertising department came across some groundbreaking research being done at the University of Queensland. The research found that the sounds and songs with which whales communicate are actually complex love songs. (I think that’s maybe the best thing I’ve ever heard about whales, as if I didn’t love them enough already!)

So Optus got the idea to create the Whale Song project. They transported an orchestra out to a barge in the deep ocean and proceeded to play orchestral whale song to the delight of a passing pod of humpback whales who do a very solid job of communicating their approval. The resulting spot was a huge hit.

Not only did this spot do the trick and improve their sales, it further opened up the lines of communication between humans and whales, and it helped the University to raise some additional funds for their research. A win all around!