The Campaign

There is no other place in the world like the Sydney Opera House (SOH). While Australians shared a deep sense of pride in the Sydney Opera House, most Sydneysiders didn’t consider it more than an iconic Australian venue that caters mainly for people who love operas, plays and special one-off concerts. An idea was required that would break down this perception and put Sydney Opera House on the radar as a destination that is an open and welcoming creative space, accessible to everyone. So we created a music video titled The Ship Song Project and invited the world inside the iconic building, while showcasing a totally different side to ‘The House’. The video was set to a re-working of Nick Cave’s immortal ballad, ‘The Ship Song’, and featured performances by some of Australia’s and the world’s preeminent artists. It was launched online via a seeding program on social networking platforms in conjunction with a live media event, which was held at the venue. The Ship Song Project was featured on every national news program and major publication. It also received coverage in international press. Over $2 million in free PR, editorial and social media was earned at launch.

The Brief

Research demonstrated that, other than loyal attendees that frequent The House often, the general public considered The House as a place for special occasions, a place they admired from the outside but not necessarily somewhere they would go inside to enjoy. Our challenge was to broaden the audience to include a more diverse range of people visiting The House across the board, in particular local Sydneysiders.

Results

In the 24 hours after its launch, the film clip was shared online 1.7 million times and was picked up by every major television news program and featured in every major Australian newspaper. There was also extensive coverage across international press. The single reached 34 on the iTunes singles chart and trended on Twitter and YouTube for four days. Over $2 million in free PR, editorial and social media was earned at launch. The Ship Song Project helped SOH achieve a 40% increase in ticket (August 2010 vs. August 2011). Best of all, $0 was spent on traditional media.

Execution

The Ship Song Project was launched online via a seeding program on social networking platforms in conjunction with a live media event at the venue. 3 x 30 second TVC's were created and aired on national television. The song was released as a single and played on radio; it was also available for download on iTunes. In addition to this posters were created and distributed around Sydney city and a documentary about the project ran regularly on TV and QANTAS in-flight. It was covered by every major television news program and featured in all major Australian newspapers. There was also extensive coverage across international press. The Ship Song Project is still featured on the Sydney Opera House website. The film was also played on QANTAS in-flight along with a documentary about the project.

The Situation

Research discovered that while Australians all over shared a deep sense of pride in the SOH, most Sydneysiders didn’t consider it more than an iconic Australian venue that’s home to the classical arts and other ‘elitist’ events. It just wasn’t the destination they’d ever think of visiting as a regular part of their lives in Sydney. Segmentation research also found that the kinds of audiences that we were appealing to (young upwardly mobile etc) were highly cynical of advertising - so we needed to take a different approach.

The Strategy

The crux of the strategy was to get people to think about the Sydney Opera House as a cultural hub that ‘democratised creativity’ – not just an exclusive, all conquering bastion for global creativity, but an open and welcoming creative space that is accessible to everyone.