The Breakdown
Telstra · Villains (sequel)
Telstra's villains are back, and that's the strategy
Network security is invisible and a bit dull. Telstra's answer: alien villains led by Steve Buscemi, now in a sequel to last year's recognised campaign.
The TL;DR (too long; didn't read)
- Sequel to ‘Villains’ by Bear Meets Eagle On Fire and +61, directed by Randy Krallman (Creative Review).
- 90-second hero film plus two 30s, across TV, cinema, digital, social and stores.
- The first chapter was recognised in Creative Review's Annual Awards 2026 (Craft). No results yet for the sequel.
01
Give an invisible benefit a face
You can't see security. You can see villains who are thwarted by it. Characters turn an abstract benefit into a story people can follow.
Humour helps too: security ads usually lean on fear, and this goes the other way.
02
Why sequels work
Characters people recognise become brand assets. Each new chapter builds on memories from the last one instead of starting from zero.
It's the logic of a franchise: consistency over novelty.
03
Awards ≠ results
Recognition for craft tells us the work is well made. It doesn't tell us whether customers noticed, remembered or switched. We'd want brand tracking data before calling it effective.
Read the original reporting
- Telstra’s space villains strike back in new network security campaign ↗
Creative Review · 29 Sept 2026
The theory bit
The academic ideas that explain what's going on, with the full reference for your assignments.
Distinctive brand assets
Colours, characters, shapes and sounds that people link to only your brand. They help ads get correctly attributed, so the brand (not the category) gets the credit.
Here: Recurring villains can become distinctive assets that are instantly linked to Telstra.
Romaniuk, J. (2018). Building Distinctive Brand Assets. Oxford University Press.
Narrative transportation
When people are absorbed in a story, they're less likely to counter-argue and more likely to be persuaded.
Here: A story with characters draws viewers in and reduces resistance to the message.
Green, M. C. & Brock, T. C. (2000). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5).
The long and the short of it
Short-term activation (offers, direct response) drives quick sales spikes; long-term brand building (broad-reach, emotional work) drives lasting growth. Their IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) analysis suggests roughly a 60:40 brand-to-activation budget split as a starting point.
Here: Consistent long-running campaigns tend to build more effectiveness over time.
Binet, L. & Field, P. (2013). The Long and the Short of It. IPA.
Over to you
No right answers here. These are to get you thinking. Jot your ideas down or chat them through.
- 1
Name a brand character you remember. Why did it stick?
Need a nudge?
Consistency, humour, how long it's been around.
- 2
Why might an award-winning ad still not work commercially?
Need a nudge?
Who judges awards vs who buys the product?
- 3
When should a brand stop a campaign platform?
Need a nudge?
Wear-out, changing strategy, data.
Optional · about 10 minutes
Your mini task
In 60–120 words: pick a product with a boring or invisible benefit (insurance, Wi-Fi, a bank). Create a character or story that makes the benefit visible, and explain how it could run as a series.