The Brief

Australia has 2.6 million unpaid family carers. They care for their disabled children and their partners 24 hours a day. And they do it with almost no recognition. Our task was to find a way to launch the Federal Government’s National Carer Awareness Initiative by honouring the nation’s carers and drawing attention to the significant role they play, without spending $1 on media. Our primary target for this campaign was all Australian's 55+. Our objective was to raise awareness of carer related issues in this segment by 10%.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Reach a broad audience with a positive message about a serious subject: Tell the story of what it’s like to care nonstop through a 24 hour, nonstop orchestral concert. To achieve this impossible challenge, we assembled over 200 of Australia’s finest classical musicians from our leading orchestras and challenged them to play for 24 hours in one of Australia’s finest concert venues – Melbourne’s Hamer Hall. We found a world-class conductor and set about creating the musical score. But the concert was about more than music. Brutally honest and moving short films about individual carers were shown during the event.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

6,500 people attended the concert in person. Over 40 countries watched the event live online. The event trended twice on Twitter. The campaign message reached 217 news outlets nationwide, earned 15 minutes of national TV coverage earned 1 hour of radio coverage and reached 13.7 million Australians. In post campaign research the campaign achieved a 35% increase in awareness of caring as an issue amongst our target audience and a 20% increase in awareness of caring as an issue amongst all Australians (Qant research).

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

When you’re a carer, you never top caring. You might get the odd break but mentally, you’re always with the one you care for. So in order to sensitively draw attention to the significant role that carers play we needed an idea befitting their tireless efforts. During the event, carers and those they cared for rotated through the orchestra as guest musicians and conductors, including the carers from our short films. Many of the musicians themselves were also carers, and told their stories throughout the concert - bringing to life the message - When we work together, nothing is impossible.