STRENGTH TO CARE WITH DAVID POCOCK

Bronze Spike
TitleSTRENGTH TO CARE WITH DAVID POCOCK
BrandUNILEVER
Product / ServiceDOVE MENS + CARE
CategoryA02. TV & Broadcast: Fiction & Non-Fiction
EntrantOCTAGON Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation OCTAGON Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production OCTAGON Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Lizi Hamer Octagon Regional Creative Director
Ethan McLean Milkmoney Senior Director
Ben Hartman Octagon Managing Director
Matt Taylor Milkmoney Executive Producer
Ian Davidson Octagon Account Director
David Gregory Octagon Account Manager
Andrew Clarke Octagon Head of Agency
John McKeon Unilever Brand Manager
Charlotte O'Rourke Milkmoney Producer
Aaron McLisky Milkmoney Director Of Photography
Jay Hall Milkmoney Editor
Lisa Hart Big Sync Music Music Supervisor

The Campaign

David Pocock was the key to the successful delivery of our Strength to Care story. He spoke to an audience not traditionally open to conversations about masculinity and care. But he was not just a 'face'. Notoriously reclusive and private, our creative team and production partners created an environment in which David was comfortable to share, at length, many of his closest and personal thoughts on masculinity and care. We worked with David through a series of workshops, to better understood the motivations behind his beliefs, and pieced together through the film, how these elements of care away from the field makes him so prolific on the field. David's stories - in his own words - also gave our campaign, credibility, recognition, substance and engagement in the rugby community. A community historically resistant to conversations on the subject.

Creative Execution

From our first shoot day to campaign launch we had just 7 weeks. The output was a 3-part content series, 15 second pre-rolls, in stadium broadcast & a TVC. We also captured behind the scenes activity and social content that was delivered throughout the Dove Men+Care channels and David Pococoks personal media. • 3 x 2" Branded Content Films • 1 x long form Behind the Scenes Film • 6 x 60" - 90" Masters (broadcast integration / online) • 1 x 30" Broadcast TVC • 1 x 30" In Stadium 'Big Screen' Edit • 2 x 15" Pre-roll edits (online) The content was shown across both Fox Sports and FTA TV and included integrated broadcast introductions, viz-pull through, pre-match promotion and integration with commentary team.

The creative and media placement strategy meant our message resonated immediately with rugby fans. Hearing these stories from a hero in such a relevant environment (live sport) ensured they were open to the challenging message. Dove and Pocock’s stories have sparked instant debate and have reached almost half of the Australian Male Population since launch. Positive articles about Homophobia, Mental Health and Masculinity across all media formats including mainstream news and mens press, The Project (TV) and online. We felt the force of a national standing beside David with thousands of posts tagged #IStandWithPocock and #StrenghtToCare In the first few weeks, the campaign has generated over 3 Million earned impressions. The conversation about traditional Aussie masculinity has begun and already taken its first very big hit.

Dove wanted to challenge traditional stereotypes of Masculinity. So we needed to grab our audience – Aussie Blokes - by the collar. We wanted to hit them where we knew we had their attention. Via the sport they care most about. Rugby. So we convinced the most interesting, entertaining (and introverted) Wallaby to tell his stories of strength. Because introverts often speak the loudest.

'Only 23% of male rugby fans would say "I Love you" to their wife in public.' '11% of male Rugby fans tell their Dad they love him.' 'Just 5% of male rugby fans tell a mate when they are feeling sad.' Australian society has been telling men its all about LOOKING strong rather than BEING strong. And as a Men's Grooming range interested in both, Dove Men+Care was in a ideal position to start a conversation to challenge traditional stereotypes of masculinity. Strength to Care would focus on one of the most traditionally masculine audiences - Rugby Fans - if we could convince this group to rethink their position on the topic, we could convince anybody. A credible and relevant ambassador from within this world would be key to our success.

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