How we helped Ampfibian achieve a 64% surge in awareness
Ampfibian, an innovator in portable power solutions, revolutionised the industry over a decade ago with the launch of the first portable caravan adaptor.
Despite this, the company faced a growing challenge: entrenched habits among long-time caravanners who continued to use unsafe, DIY power leads. The goal was clear, increase brand awareness and challenge outdated perceptions to establish Ampfibian as the smart, safe solution.
Ampfibian came to us with a tough brief: convince the staunch, resistant "Dirty Devils" to abandon their unsafe, homemade caravan power leads.
These individuals, often generational caravanners, dismissed the need for change as "marketing fluff." We set out to tackle this resistance with a campaign designed to spark curiosity, laughter, and action.
- The primary audience, long-time caravanners, had normalised unsafe practices, making change seem like an uphill battle.
- Electricity and electrical safety aren't inherently engaging topics.
- With a small production budget, we needed to create impactful assets that worked hard across multiple channels.
To break through the inertia, we embraced humour and storytelling to craft a campaign that entertained while educating. At the heart of the campaign is “the Camper”, a bold new character whose comedic charm disarms the audience and draws them into the message. The Camper’s interactions with the electrical safety enthusiast, who’s a recurring Ampfibian personality, adds continuity and reinforces the brand’s identity.
The campaign’s core idea was to shine a comedic spotlight on the people who risk everything; their homes, and even their lives, by using unsafe DIY caravan power adaptors. In an ironic twist, we positioned these individuals as "heroes," not for their practicality or intelligence, but for their audacity to take on the dangers of DIY solutions.
An Aussie comedian led the campaign, presenting satirical awards for bravery in a series of roast-style videos. The humour was sharp but relatable, playfully poking fun at unsafe practices while positioning Ampfibian as the smart, practical alternative. By highlighting the unpredictability and potential disasters of using "death leads," the campaign reinforced Ampfibian’s status as the original, trusted player in the market.
The tone was ironic yet approachable, allowing us to entertain while educating. This fresh angle made electricity and safety, a traditionally low-interest topic, engaging and memorable, effectively breaking through the audience’s resistance.
We developed a suite of assets tailored to each stage of the customer journey:
Hero video: The 60-second "Death Leads" video combines humour with a dramatic safety message, resonating strongly with top-of-funnel audiences. This long-form content has become the cornerstone of the campaign. We also create a 30 second cut down version of the hero video, to maximise its impact across multiple channels.
Short-form content: 6-second and 15-second cutdown product ads, delivering concise, memorable messaging. These videos are being used in a retargeting campaign, hitting those middle and bottom of the funnel users, who would have seen the hero campaign video.
Static imagery: For print ads and social media retargeting.
Channel strategy: Media was carefully planned across Meta, Reddit and print, ensuring maximum reach and impact for the budget available.
The new campaign has been released into the wild: huzzah! It’s creative - hilarious! - and sharply executed.
– Oliver Kratzer, Director, Ampfibian Pty Ltd
Results
- By leaning into comedic storytelling, Ampfibian successfully captured the attention of a previously disengaged audience.
- From awareness to retargeting, the campaign’s strategic asset mix ensured efficiency and performance at every stage.
- This campaign effectively applied proven strategies from entertainment and consumer goods to the electrical safety industry. By leveraging humor, storytelling, and character-driven narratives, Ampfibian transformed a typically dry topic into something engaging and memorable, highlighting the power of taking inspiration from outside of the (often dry!) category.
