They say never to work with children or animals, so we did both for our latest ActewAGL Energy Saving Solutions campaign – and had a great time.

The aim of the campaign was to communicate that you can save $4000 when you upgrade to a new ducted reverse cycle air conditioner with ActewAGL’s Energy Saving Solutions.

So Coordinate called in the big dogs – enter llamas.

The insight behind ActewAGL’s campaign was that ducted reverse cycle is the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of air conditioning. And who better to tell it like it is than kids? They’re always comparing, “my dad is better than yours… my pool is bigger than yours…”.

We also know that kids dream big – so this TVC had to look like the ultimate home! Hence, every dream scene was amped up. It’s not just a pool – it’s a pool with floaties and water guns and everything a kid could dream of. It’s not just a tennis court, it’s the Australian Open in your Canberra backyard, WITH a llama. This tennis court scene is any kid’s dream scene. And in dreams, anything is possible. Even a llama watching your game.

But not even THAT beats ducted reverse cycle air conditioning. So we went to the extreme by creating almost a rap-star music video scene with the dream sequences.

Sourcing talent was a dream, literally. Working with kids can be tricky – you have to make sure they’re comfortable in front of the camera and that they have acting abilities. We briefed the job on StarNow and got an unprecedented 400 responses from kids all over the country. Coordinate shortlisted according to age and acting experience and had these young professionals submit audition videos. From these, we selected our four superstars. The extras were all from Canberra, including talent from our friends at Play Dance Agency, and every person and every llama (from Alpaca Magic in Sutton) on the shoot was very professional.

The TVC involved a two-day shoot, and with our Director overseas, Creative Strategist and Client Services Manager Dylan Simpson stepped into the co-director role with Copywriter and Producer Annette Nell, while Creative Strategist Logan Ayers acted as co-producer and a lifeguard in the pool scene (we’re multitaskers here at Coordinate).

The school scene was shot locally at Emmaus Christian School in Dickson, who really went out of their way to help us. We had some challenges – there was construction happening in the morning and because we were shooting dialogue, we had to wait it out. We also shot next to the schools music room, which meant ducking and weaving between piano keys was a necessity. Everything else was shot at a magnificent mansion in nearby Sutton, which was rented through Airbnb.

The end result? A dreamy TVC with some super cute kids, a super cool llama and a refreshing way to showcase the benefits of upgrading to a new ducted reverse cycle air conditioner with ActewAGL’s Energy Saving Solutions.