advocacy campaign Archives

Australia – In collaboration with independent advertising agency The Hallway, men’s mental health charity The Men’s Table has launched its new digital OOH campaign called ‘Go Beyond Banter’ that features a suite of ‘bantery’ executions that play on the tendency men have to talk about anything – sport, cars, fishing, holidays, their kids – other than their feelings.

In each execution, the audience can only see a man’s typical banter at first, then words fade away 10 seconds later revealing the man’s true feelings. The campaign’s call to action encourages the mentally healthier behaviour of going beyond banter, inviting men to attend a local Men’s Table.

“If you can’t see what you’re doing, you can’t change what you’re doing. So we’re holding a mirror up to the common male behaviour of hiding our emotions in banter, and sharing the good news: that there’s a place to go to have much needed more meaningful conversations,” said Simon Lee, CCO and partner of The Hallway.

Ben Hughes, co-founder of The Men’s Table, also commented on the campaign, stating, “It was my own personal experience of having a deep need to talk about more than ‘just footy and shit’ that was the driver to start The Men’s Table. And our continued growth is proof that this is a need that is shared by many men.”

Hughes also said that the ‘Go Beyond Banter’ campaign captures the essence of what The Men’s Table is about, and shared that he has no doubt that it will resonate with the charity’s audience and encourage more men to join them.

Established as a not-for-profit in 2019 with the simple premise of getting men together around a table to open up and talk about what’s really going on for them, The Men’s Table provides a trusted peer support group environment for men to connect and engage in help-seeking and help-giving, for mental, emotional, and social wellbeing and community belonging.

Australia – Kindness Factory, a non-profit organisation based in Australia, has recently announced the launch of its first-ever brand campaign for World Kindness Day on November 13.

The organisation has partnered with global brand experience agency VMLY&R and global media agency Wavemaker to promote random acts of kindness through a series of ‘Public Kindness Announcements’ on print, newspaper, radio, and digital platforms.

The campaign features bold and thought-provoking messages that encourage people to be kind to others. Its goal is to generate one million acts of kindness throughout November and to help to make the country a kinder place.

The radio campaign includes three 30-second announcements done in stereotypical government PSA style that will remind people to be kind. Meanwhile, the print campaign includes hyper-contextual messages printed in full-page spreads in motor, home, gardening, gossip, and food magazines.

The announcements will also be printed in newspapers, disguised as real news headlines. They will also be in digital-out-of-home ads that will target poor driving etiquette.

“At the very heart of Kindness Factory is the drive for the world to be kinder. We do this through our school curriculum and our community acts, which have proven to have a long-term benefit on one’s social, mental and physical state. This World Kindness Day, we set out to spread the word and benefits of being kind, by encouraging small acts of kindness — because from small things, big things grow,” said Kath Koschel, founder and CEO of Kindness Factory.

She further explains, “Testament to the ‘Public Kindness Announcements’ idea and campaign; it’s simple, bold, drives action and creates a smile. From the very first concept to the last piece of despatched artwork, the VMLY&R team nailed it every time, and they had us laughing along the way. It’s designed to stop you, make you think, inspire you to take action and give you a chuckle.”

Jack Delmonte, VMLY&R creative director, also said, “We absolutely jumped at the chance to work with the wonderful humans behind Kindness Factory. Positive change and a healthy mindset towards others is a mantra we care deeply about here at VMLY&R.”

Wavemaker’s Chief Investment Officer Philippa Noilea-Tani added, “Provoking positive change is a guiding principle for Wavemaker. There are things in this world out of our control. How we treat others isn’t one of them. What we say, what we do and how we treat others is always our choice.”

Noilea-Tani also commented, “It’s been great working with the not-for-profit sector and making truly meaningful work that can spark change. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see our industry come together and make this happen.”

Founded in 2015, Kindness Factory has been funding valuable research and insights on kindness, as well as collaborating with individuals and organisations who share their passion for kindness.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – With the aim of putting a spotlight on the importance of mental health, local biscuit brand Julie’s Biscuits recently launched its #Take25 campaign.

The campaign focuses on encouraging the public to ‘take a break’ amid the World Health Organization report on the 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide due to the pandemic.

“There are various ways for people to take care of their mental wellbeing. As the producer of the OAT 25 biscuits, one of the healthier snack options for many consumers, we would like to communicate that on top of encouraging healthy snacking, we are also looking to advocate taking scheduled breaks as part of your wellness practice,” said Tzy Horng Sai, director of Julie’s Biscuits.

#Take25 is inspired by the Pomodoro technique, which refers to a time management method that focuses on working in 25 minute intervals to increase productivity while also experiencing relaxation.

“We would like to call upon people to #Take25 minutes to unwind in any way that allows them to destress or feel better – be it a 25-minute walk or even enjoying the soothing “symphony” of tearing and crunching into packs of the OAT 25 biscuits. As we continue to adjust living in an endemic, we hope that this campaign can inspire people to find ways to prioritise their mental wellbeing,” Sai further explained.

Made in collaboration with Singapore-based creative agency GOVT, the campaign features a series of curated content that emphasizes the unique ways people choose to unwind. This is shown through three videos titled, “Roll the Day Away”, “ASMR”, and “Have a Cuddle”, plus advertisements placed in strategic areas in Malaysia and Singapore.

Aaron Koh, GOVT’s co-founder and Julie’s creative partner, said, “For the launch of the Julie’s #Take25 campaign, we wanted to play with the notion of unwinding in between moments. #Take25 reminds us to take that step away from the negative aspects of the day and focus on what is important – me time. And everyone has their own version of me time.”

He added, “The campaign encourages everyone to unwind in their own unique ways – no matter how unconventional. In this short and, we hope, wonderfully offbeat video series, we show a working woman coming home from a hectic day and creating her own #Take25 moments in weirdly interesting ways.”

#Take25 follows Julie’s Biscuits’ Hari Raya and Chinese New Year campaigns, which featured short films about gender stereotypes, hope, and optimism.

Sydney, Australia – As part of its commitment to fighting climate change, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), top organization in helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic and human development, has launched what it say its largest climate advocacy campaign.

Titled ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’, the campaign is designed to engage the world in a drive towards a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.

The campaign was created together with creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson Australia, with global creative company Activista, creative studio Framestore, and IT service management firm Mindpool. It launches with a hero film led by Activista, which features a dinosaur addressing the UN General Assembly, urging the leaders of the world to not go extinct by their own doing. Given there is no silver bullet argument against climate inaction that appeals to everyone, the 7 billion strong audiences each cling to different excuses to justify it, and to curb inaction, the film will drive to a digital ecosystem called ‘The World of Excuses’.

‘The World of Excuses’, which was created by Wunderman Thompson Australia, allows users to click into the said ‘excuses’ on the website. Each is pictured as an asteroid rocketing towards Earth, where viewers can find information and tools to provide direct action.

The tools will be rolled out in phases in the coming months. It includes the ‘Chrome Plugin Thesaurus Rex’, which is designed to help people navigate the terms around fossil fuels online, ‘The Voice of Reason’, an Alexa skill that disarmingly rebuts every climate change myth, and a spin on ‘The Birds’ and ‘The Bees’, with an e-book that gives children the arguments they need to convince their parents and peers.

Boaz Paldi, the global partnership and engagement manager for UNDP, said that they wanted to spotlight the climate crisis and at the same time energize the debate about some of the economic solutions that are out there to get people on a path to de-carbonization, as addressing fossil fuel subsidies are a critical issue in the fight against climate change.

“The campaign gives hope that despite the trajectory we seem to be on there is still time to act and solutions to fight for. Creativity and technology are two of the necessary tools we need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and move towards a green transition. It’s why we needed the best minds in the industry to partner with us in our journey to make these goals a reality,” said Paldi.

Meanwhile, João Braga, Wunderman Thompson Australia’s chief creative officer, shared that this behavior change campaign gave them the largest possible target audience anyone could have, and with 7 billion people to speak to and a challenge of this caliber, they needed deep creative thinking from every discipline.

“This digital experience is only just the start of our work with the UNDP to help end the excuses around climate change for good and provide people from all walks of life the understanding and the facts they need to make a difference. We’re even working to take this idea as far as outer-space, by naming real asteroids after these excuses,” said Braga.

Moreover, the digital ecosystem includes ‘Global Mindpool’ – a collective intelligence platform that empowers people to make their voices heard, playing an active part in building a more sustainable, equitable future through contributing their thoughts to large and diverse groups of global collaborators, with the aim of mobilizing data to help tackle the climate and inequality crisis and influence policy change.

UNDP said that its offices across 170 countries will be activating the campaign.

Sydney, Australia – United Nations Development Program (UNDP), top organization in helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic and human development, has appointed creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson Australia, to be its lead digital experience agency in its upcoming advocacy campaign.

The campaign, which is also in partnership with global creative company Activista and IT service management firm Mindpool, is deemed to be the largest climate advocacy campaign of this era and looks to launch the first phase in late October. It aims to engage millions of people in the drive towards an equitable and green recovery from the global pandemic.

Through the campaign, UNDP will be ensuring they collectively meet the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the world, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Boaz Paldi, United Nations Development Program’s global partnership and engagement manager, noted that creativity and technology are two of the necessary tools they need to achieve, which are the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and the move towards green transition.

“It’s why Wunderman Thompson has been the perfect partner for us – an agency with passionate people with the right expertise to help us in our journey to make these goals reality,” said Paldi.

Lee Leggett, the chief executive officer at Wunderman Thompson Australia, commented, “This project is close to our hearts here at Wunderman Thompson. It’s why we’re all so incredibly proud to be part of it and work alongside the United Nations Development Program to create work that inspires change for a better world.”