Matthew Miller
Sep 8, 2017

Ads ask Australia to 'get it done' on marriage equality

Simple, positive campaign appeals to fairness in urging Australians to vote 'yes' in the upcoming postal survey.

WPP AUNZ agencies 1 Kent Street, Hogarth and MediaCom, along with creative consultant Simon Collins, today launched a remarkably simple and thereby powerful campaign to motivate people to vote in favour of marriage equality in Australia's upcoming postal survey.

Clearly planned well in advance of the survey becoming official yesterday, the campaign, for an organisation called YES Equality Campaign, is smartly constructed to model the exact action people have to take if the vote is to succeed: A wide variety of people make simple statements about giving everyone the same "fair go" as they march purposefully toward a postal box to mail their ballots. The campaign also aims to boost volunteerism for a massive door-to-door campaign. 

1 Kent Street handled creative concept and direction, plus project management and delivery; Hogarth was in charge of production (film, photography, OOH, print and digital); and MediaCom provided media strategy, planning and buying. Sydney’s production community also chipped in to deliver the campaign in a very short space of time, according to WPP AUNZ. The campaign will run across TV (FTA and paid), radio, cinema, outdoor and digital.

“We have 5,500 employees who all care passionately about this issue, and so when we were approached, a group of agencies jumped at the opportunity to work for the YES Equality Campaign and turbo-charge the volunteer effort across the country,” Mike Connaghan, CEO of WPP AUNZ said in a release.

Campaign's view: If the law is going to change, the postal survey will have to overcome a determined anti-equality effort and send a strong signal to politicians, leaving them with no choice but to heed the will of the people. For that to happen, the people will have to get up and send their ballots. So showing everyday Australians literally clutching their ballots as they walk with determination to the postal box is a great choice. The campaign makes equality look like an undeniable movement that everyone should want to be part of. Which, of course, it is. While we normally try to remain dispassionate about whether campaigns succeed, we firmly hope this one does.   

Recent related:

CREDITS

Simon Collins, Creative Consultant: Writer, creative director and film director
Jen Clarke, 1 Kent Street: Campaign project management 
Hogarth Team: Production (film, photography, OOH, print, digital)
MediaCom: Media strategy, planning and buying 

Client
Helen Ross-Browne, Brand and Advertising Director, AME
Kirk Marcolina, Brand and Advertising Directors , AME
Leah Newman, Creative Producer, AME

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

12 hours ago

Agency Report Card 2024: Ogilvy

Ogilvy APAC celebrated a strong creative year in 2024, clinching top regional honours at Cannes Lions. Yet operational headwinds, particularly in China, tested its resilience and reshaped its growth strategy.

12 hours ago

Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards 2024: ...

Ogilvy and UM win global network of the year awards for creative and media respectively, while Special agency in New Zealand earns Asia-Pacific network of the year.

14 hours ago

Apple Watch’s heart story strikes a chord in Japan

Apple’s new Japan campaign tells the real-life story of a heavy metal fan whose Apple Watch alerts help detect a life-threatening heart condition just in time.

14 hours ago

2025 Cannes Contenders: RGA creatives weigh in

A ubiquitous surname, a sexually transmitted infection, the printing of memories and an animal god that helps gamers might all bring fame glory to campaigns in Cannes next week.