{"id":935779,"date":"2026-10-21T05:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T05:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935779\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T05:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T05:16:12","slug":"oppo-new-zealand-introduces-a-sarcastic-talking-brain-in-first-local-campaign-via-youngshand-campaign-brief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935779\/","title":{"rendered":"OPPO New Zealand introduces a sarcastic talking brain in first local campaign via YoungShand \u2013 Campaign Brief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t    October 21 2026, 2:09 pm | BY Ricki Green | <a href=\"#comments\">No Comments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \tWhat happens when a smartphone starts making a brain feel a little redundant? For OPPO New Zealand, it\u2019s the starting point for its first-ever locally developed brand campaign created by independent agency YoungShand (YS).<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The campaign, \u2018Phone Smarter\u2019 introduces an insecure and sarcastic talking brain.<\/p>\n<p>Voiced by Kiwi comedian Cori Gonzalez-Macuer (What We Do in the Shadows) and directed by LA-based Andrew Laurich, the pulsing pink brain feels threatened by how smart OPPO phones have become \u2013 and makes its feelings known to New Zealanders using them.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t<\/p>\n<p>The campaign establishes OPPO\u2019s first local brand platform, built on the promise that whatever you spend on an OPPO phone, you should feel confident you\u2019ve made the smart call.<\/p>\n<p>OPPO New Zealand\u2019s Senior Marketing Manager Eduardo Sampaio says the brief began with the brand\u2019s place in the local market: \u201cOPPO is a household name in China, but here in New Zealand we\u2019re still earning that familiarity and trust. We know we make great phones, but a spec sheet alone won\u2019t give people a reason to reconsider the brand they\u2019ve always bought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether you\u2019re buying an affordable everyday OPPO phone or one of our flagship models, you should feel you\u2019re getting quality, value and smart technology that makes life easier.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t<\/p>\n<p>Having developed local campaigns for individual smartphone ranges, OPPO wanted to give the masterbrand a distinctive personality.<\/p>\n<p>Says Sampaio: \u201cOur brief to YS was to create a recurring character that audiences could recognise and build a relationship with over time. We asked for a person and YS came back with a brain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julie Spedding, Creative Director at YS, says the character opened the door to something more memorable than a traditional product campaign: \u201cOPPO phones are so smart that once you see what they can do, they\u2019re a no-brainer. What would be threatened by that? A brain, obviously. We wanted a brand vehicle that felt memorable and fun, but also had somewhere to go, something we could build on and continue developing over time. The character of an insecure, slightly jealous and forever-defensive brain really appealed to us. It sounds random, but is actually pretty logical.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat character led us straight to Cori, whose comedy has exactly the right mix of endearing awkwardness, darkness and stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t<\/p>\n<p>Across four films, the brain defends his quiz-night credentials, challenges OPPO\u2019s durability and battery life, and attempts to outpace a fast-charging phone used by Wellington Phoenix player Pia Vlok \u2013 a nod to OPPO\u2019s sponsorship of the club.<\/p>\n<p>The brain itself was created as a physical prop, operated by two puppeteers.<\/p>\n<p>Says Claire Joy, Associate Creative Director, YS: \u201cWhen you can create almost anything with AI and CGI, there was something much more interesting about making the brain physical, imperfect and very human.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s amazing the number of conversations we had about how pink is too pink, and how wet a brain should be before it\u2019s gross. The answer? Any level of wet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The campaign launched on 14 October on YouTube, BVOD and social formats.<\/p>\n<p>Client: OPPO NZ<br \/>Senior Marketing Manager: Eduardo Sampaio<br \/>Social Media &amp; Digital Marketing Specialist: Cameron Barton<\/p>\n<p>Agency: YS<br \/>Chief Creative Officer: Corey Chalmers<br \/>Creative Director: Julie Spedding<br \/>Associate Creative Director: Claire Joy<br \/>Chief Strategy Officer: Sue Kipling<br \/>Client Service Director: Sophie Radford<br \/>Account Director: Chin Taguines<\/p>\n<p>Production Company: Flying Fish<br \/>Director: Andrew Laurich<br \/>Executive Producer: Sam Attenborough<br \/>Sound Engineer: Craig Matuschka, Liquid Studios<\/p>\n<p>PR: Ground Control PR<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792559772_540_CB-MAGAZINE-HEADER-PAST-ISSUES-2.jpg\" alt=\"OPPO New Zealand introduces a sarcastic talking brain in first local campaign via YoungShand\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 21 2026, 2:09 pm | BY Ricki Green | No Comments What happens when a smartphone starts&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,63,203,105],"class_list":["post-935779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}