The Campaign

In Australia branded content is a growing area and is welcomed by brands and most channels. There are no restrictions imposed by TV stations other than quality control.

Results

Hepatitis C is often misunderstood as only a concern for “junkies”, and those who associate with dirty needles. How can you hope to make a message stick with a famously hard-to-reach group when the message is about something they feel is someone else’s problem? Our research showed that an important setting for risk was parties, where people who were not regular drug users got caught up in the heat of the moment and ended up sharing a needle when recreational drug use escalated, as the party evolved. It was clear that as a party developed they started making decisions based on different parameters. This lead us to our clear insight: Decisions that increase the risk of hepatitis C are made in the heat-of-the-moment, not when in a cold, considered state. We needed to put them in harm’s way without being in harm’s way. Delivering the Hepatitis C message in the most impactful way meant doing it when they were in a heat-of-the-moment mindset. You can’t buy media at parties so the question was, how do we get to people in a party-immersed mindset? An Immersive Virtual Party We created a realistic (facebook integration so you were there with friends), interactive (user-defined journey) and appealing (styling, music and locations matched to real life parties), to ensure it was a party our audience wanted to attend. The party-goer had to make choices that e.g.- “hang with your friends in the kitchen or backyard”- and then escalated right up to a scene in a bedroom with the question “would you share a needle?”. In this heat-of-the-moment, late-stage party mindset we delivered the key message about the situations in which the viewer would personally be at risk of contracting Hepatitis C. From here the party-goer had the option to re-enter the party, explore different routes, or share the party on Facebook.

Earned When people entered the party a notification was placed on their Facebook wall inviting friends to join them at the ‘ultimate house party’. Party goers were also given the opportunity to invite friends to the party via linked emails. Mi9 partnership To access relevant environments such as Zoo, Celebrity Fix, Music Fix, Cleo, Cosmo, and behavioral targeting to seek out our young party-goers. This consisted of banner ads that were first person, real video shots of the party, as if you were looking right through the window of the house. They invited you to “enter the party”.

Client quote “We look forward to the agency continuing to challenge our thinking, as work such as this really does change the way we think about communications.” We made it relevant to our audience; 27% of NSW 18-24 year olds agreed with the statement “Hepatitis C is relevant to me” after the activity compared to 5% who viewed themselves as being at risk before the activity. (Source: TNS for NSW Government & TNS Campaign Evaluation; January 2013) We reached a wide audience despite a tiny spend; 20% of NSW 18-24 year olds participating in the evaluation research recalled seeing the communication. (Source: TNS Campaign Evaluation; January 2013) We made specific messages stick; 69% of young people exposed to the party reported being more informed of the specific factors to contracting Hep C. (Source: Millward Brown; October 2012) We created a relevant and memorable environment; 65% said they would refer to this campaign if a friend ever suggested the idea of injecting drugs. (Source: TNS Campaign Evaluation; January 2013) 1,314,804 party exposures culminating with a total of 18 days of partying in our NSW Government house. 53% of those people went back to the party for at least a second time.