| 1M+ Video views (all variations) | realestate.com.au National editorial feature | 1M+ Organic reach | 2,633 Shares and counting |
A family in Ipswich had been planning a pool for years. The backyard was inaccessible to every pool builder who looked at it. No side gate wide enough. No crane available due to the slope. The only way in was overhead. Brendon Etheve of Narellan Pools Ipswich made it happen and we were there to film it.
The numbers
| Metric | Result |
|---|
| Video views (all variations) | 1,000,000+ |
| Organic reach | 1,000,000+ |
| Shares | 2,633 |
| Non-follower views | 95%+ on each variation |
| Coverage | realestate.com.au editorial feature |
| Shoot duration | Half day |
| Helicopter lift duration | 10 minutes |
The brief
Brendon has been a client of Unreal Media for nearly two years. We produce his ongoing social video content for Narellan Pools Ipswich and South Brisbane. Read that case study here. Over that time we have watched his franchise grow to the top 1% of the Narellan network nationally.
When this job came through, Brendon flagged it early. A family who had been quoted and turned away by other builders because the access simply was not there. He had a solution. The brief was: document everything. The preparation, the lift, the install, the family’s reaction.
We delivered a few main montage videos and are now cutting variations from the same footage, posting them while the reach is still strong. Over 95% of views on each variation are from non-followers. For brand awareness, that number is hard to argue with.
What we filmed
The shoot was half a day. Not a huge production, but the stakes were different. The streets around the property were blocked off and we had one shot at it. One missed angle meant no video.
That kind of pressure is not new for our team. We started the business doing live events and gym launches in the fitness industry, where most moments happen once and cannot be replicated. You plan for it rather than panic about it. The client was understandably stressed, so we kept communication tight and made sure everyone knew what was happening at each stage.
Drone clearance was coordinated directly with the team at Helicopter Lifting Services before the day. Where we could position, where we could stand, what angles were available. All mapped out in advance.
We ran two camera positions simultaneously: one at ground level with the family, one elevated to show the pool clearing the roofline. The lift lasted around 10 minutes. Most of the emotion in the edit does not come from the lift itself. It comes from watching the family watch it happen. That is the story.
How realestate.com.au found it
Aleisha Dawson, a journalist at realestate.com.au, reached out to Kim from Narellan Pools via Instagram DM and asked for a call. That is how it started.
The article ran under the headline “Incredible helicopter lift delivers family’s dream pool to impossible backyard.”
What you cannot buy on realestate.com.au is editorial coverage. Their team assigns stories because they think readers will genuinely care, not because a media budget cleared.
A sponsored post in the same environment costs thousands and carries a label. This did not and that changes how people engage with it.
For Brendon and Narellan Pools Ipswich, the placement put the business in front of a national audience of homeowners actively thinking about property and lifestyle investment, at zero media spend.
Why some jobs need proper production
Most home services businesses film the finished product. A pool reveal. A before-and-after. That content definitely works because it shows what you do… But it almost never earns editorial attention.
The helicopter pool delivery was a different kind of job. An unusual logistical challenge, a family’s long-held plan finally coming together, and a visual moment most people will never see in person. We knew there was a story here from the get go.
What we did was make sure the production matched it. Two camera operators, pre-coordinated with the helicopter crew, positioned to capture both the scale of the lift with drone shots and the reaction on the ground. The footage gave us something to build a story from.
For home services businesses across Brisbane and Southeast Queensland, the takeaway is not that every job needs a helicopter haha. It is that some jobs are worth filming properly, and if the content is genuinely good, it has the potential to find editorial coverage.
Our Brisbane video production team works with trade and home services businesses across SEQ. If you have a job coming up that deserves proper coverage, get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
How did Narellan Pools Ipswich earn editorial coverage on realestate.com.au?
A journalist from realestate.com.au found the content on Instagram and reached out to Kim from Narellan Pools Ipswich directly. The video was filmed and edited by Unreal Media. The story of a pool delivered by helicopter to an otherwise inaccessible backyard was exactly the kind of thing their editorial team wanted to publish. We did not pitch it.
What does it cost to earn media coverage like this?
The realestate.com.au feature was editorial coverage, not a paid placement. The investment was the video production, a half-day shoot with our team. The coverage came from producing content good enough to get shared.
Can other pool builders or home services businesses earn this kind of coverage?
Some can. It comes down to whether you have a story worth telling and the production quality to tell it. Not every job qualifies. But jobs with unusual challenges, strong human moments, or something people have genuinely never seen before are the ones that travel. You have to recognise when you have one of those jobs and treat it accordingly.
What type of video content works best for pool builders in Brisbane?
A consistent mix. Installation and reveal footage shows what you do. Educational content about the buying process, things like permits, site access and product selection, earns reach from people still making up their minds. And when an unusual job comes through, a properly produced film of it can reach well beyond your own audience. The Narellan Pools Ipswich social content case study covers what the regular content side of that looks like in numbers.
Does Unreal Media work with other Narellan Pools franchises?
We have an ongoing relationship with Narellan Pools Ipswich and South Brisbane. If you are part of the Narellan network and want to talk video production, get in touch here.
How does Unreal Media approach filming trade and construction projects in Brisbane?
Every production is a storytelling project. On the helicopter delivery, that meant pre-coordinating camera positions with the lift crew, running two operators to cover the moment from different angles, and building the edit around the family’s reaction rather than the logistics. Footage of something dramatic is just footage. Content that gives it context is what gets shared. Our construction video production page covers how we approach this kind of work in more detail.
