The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
Telstra's 26 stop-motion films for tiny regional towns win Cannes Film Craft Grand Prix
Telstra made 26 tiny stop-motion films, one per little-known Australian town with its own quirky locals — proving coverage by charming the places rivals ignore.
Telstra · Bear Meets Eagle On Fire · +61
What it had to solve
Telstra, Australia's largest network, faces rivals attacking its coverage claims, especially in regional Australia where the difference is felt hardest. Marketing needed to make 'better coverage' tangible and likable nationwide — without a big, chest-beating network spot.
How it works
In June 2024, Telstra launched 'Better on a Better Network', a campaign made of 26 stop-motion films — each one set in a different, lesser-known Australian town and featuring the idiosyncratic characters who live there, from father-and-son krills and blokey wattle flowers to larping Tasmanian devils and teenage goth cockatoos.
The idea inverted the telco playbook: rather than one big spot claiming the largest, most reliable network, the team made many small films that let the hardest-to-reach places tell the story. Real, authentic Australians from across the country were cast, and the films were brought to life by Revolver director Jeff Low with animation director Tobias Fouracre, whose credits include Isle of Dogs and Fantastic Mr Fox. In total the series used 56 puppets, 42 voices and 26 films.
The work was a signature move for +61, the bespoke agency Telstra built with Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, TBWA and OMD, led by creative chief Micah Walker. It ran as a rolling stream of 15-second spots, keeping the platform fresh and surprising, and at Cannes Lions 2025 it won the Film Craft Grand Prix plus Gold Lions — celebrated for cinematic storytelling, rich stop-motion craft and production design.
Why it lands
- It made the proof the product: coverage was demonstrated place by place, with 26 towns nobody else would advertise to, so the claim felt earned rather than asserted.
- Scale itself became the message — a 26-film, 56-puppet production mirrored the breadth of the network, turning budget into a visible argument.
- Local truth and deadpan humour gave a category known for boring claims a personality Australians wanted to watch, with real locals rather than actors reciting sales lines.
- The 15-second rolling format kept the campaign surprising over months, letting craft do the talking while each spot stayed simple.
What it did
At Cannes Lions 2025 the campaign won the Film Craft Grand Prix plus Gold Lions, with juries citing its precision in creativity, cinematography and production design. CMO Brent Smart called it work with the scale of the network that still delivers the message with humility and humour.
What you can take
To prove a claim like 'biggest network', make the places competitors ignore the stars: 26 small, locally true films out-charm one big boast, and let craft carry the proof.
Since then
The format became Telstra's signature storytelling platform, continuing with chapters like 'The Cobbler' and later work that also won Lions, including a Gold for 'Together is for Christmas'. The campaign also earned industry honours in Australia and beyond, and was widely debated for its resemblance to classic Creature Comforts — a debate that did not stop juries from giving it the Grand Prix.
Sources
- Telstra's +61 debuts stop-motion 'Better on a Better Network' campaign
- Telstra launches major campaign 'Better on a Better Network' featuring 26 stop-motion films via Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, +61 and OMD
- Telstra's Cinematic Spot Wins Cannes Lions Film Craft Grand Prix
- Regional Independent Agency of the Year: Australia and New Zealand — Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, Sydney
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