UNTIL WE ALL BELONG

Short List
TitleUNTIL WE ALL BELONG
BrandAIRBNB
Product / ServiceAIRBNB
EntrantCLEMENGER BBDO MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation CLEMENGER BBDO MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement STARCOM Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
PR N2N COMMUNICATIONS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production REVOLVER/WILL O'ROURKE Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 2 THE GLUE SOCIETY Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 3 FLARE PRODUCTIONS BBDO Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Production 4 FINISH PRODUCTIONS Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
James McGrath Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Creative Chairman
Ant Keogh Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Chief Creative Officer
Evan Roberts Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Creative Director
Stephen de Wolf Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Creative Director
Tom McQueen Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Creative
George McQueen Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Creative
Paul Rees-Jones Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Executive Planning Director
Sonia von Bibra Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Agency Executive Producer
The Glue Society Revolver/Will O'Rourke Director
Russell Boyd Revolver/Will O'Rourke DOP/Cinematographer
Philip Horn The Glue Society Editor
Andrew Packer Flare Productions Editor
Phoebe Marks & Jasmin Hellier Revolver/Will O'Rourke Producers
Brie Stewart Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Head of Social
Josh Mullens Revolver/Will O'Rourke Executive Producer/Head of Projects
Michael Ritchie Revolver/Will O'Rourke Managing Director/Executive Producer
Craig Bulman Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Head of Studio and Print Production
Cynthia Bons Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Agency Digital Producer
Adam Hengstberger Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Senior Digital Designer
Priya Stewart Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Digital Designer
Sylvain Simao Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Technical Lead Developer
Sonali Bhattacharya Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Tester
Steve Pratt Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Head of Digital Imaging
Nick Campion Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Group Account Director
Lucy Grigg Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Head of Project Management
Johannes Samson Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Account Director
Ben Hallam Airbnb Brand Marketing Lead, Australia & New Zealand
Daniel Gervais Airbnb Brand Marketing, Australia & New Zealand

The Campaign

We wanted to go beyond just a short term spike in conversation that a traditional campaign of this sort may achieve – we wanted to create a movement that would not rest until same-sex marriage becomes law. To do this, we needed a symbol, something that could be immediately recognisable, allow people to show their support and spark the volume of conversation and societal pressure that would be required to help create legislative change. Our idea was to take one of the oldest symbols of marriage – the wedding ring – and turn it into a symbol for marriage inequality, the Acceptance Ring. The unique, matte black metal ring is an incomplete circle with the gap serving as a physical representation of the gap in same-sex marriage in Australia. Designed with support from world-renowned designer Marc Newson, it is intricately engraved with the words ‘Until We All Belong’ on its interior.

Creative Execution

To create a movement that felt both significant in scale but also personal, we chose to launch with TVC’s & online video content that focused on two things – real peoples reaction to seeing the ring for the first time and real peoples stories of how marriage inequality has impacted them or the ones they love. Supporting this was a huge influencer outreach effort – sportsmen & women, actors, politicians and key Australian online influencers were targeted with the first Acceptance Rings, all with the CTA to share #untilweallbelong. As more corporations rallied to our cause, we were able to bring our message to life in increasingly unique ways – for example, across the back of all Qantas boarding cards for the month of May. On top of this, the PR and editorial coverage has been enormous, ensuring that the same-sex marriage conversation is once again thrust to the forefront of

Within 3 days of our campaign launching, Airbnb became the most mentioned brand in both Australian and global conversations around same-sex marriage. We rallied other major corporates to our cause, including ANZ, Qantas, eBay, PWC, Foxtel, Fairfax Media, Marie Claire, ARN (Australian Radio Network). Our initial allocation was sold out within the first 24 hours. So far, 200,000 rings have been sold and are continuing to be ordered at a rate of 1,700/day. From sports stars, to supermodels, to digital influencers, to politicians, to every day Australians – the Acceptance Ring is permeating all tiers of Australian culture. We propelled the same-sex marriage conversation back into the forefront of public consciousness with over 2,000,000 shares of same-sex marriage articles in the 2 months since launch alone. Despite the inherently divisive nature of this subject conversation around Airbnb’s initiative has been almost universally positive, with a sentiment score of 98% positive.

This campaign set to bring the Airbnb values to life by reigniting the same-sex marriage debate in Australia at a time when it had dropped off the political radar. Our focal point was the subversion of the most universal symbols of marriage – the wedding ring. We looked to engage with all Australians and at the same time promote the core foundations of the Airbnb brand; the desire that everyone should be met with tolerance and acceptance where ever they go. The ring was supported with a truly integrated campaign that included TV, online content, outdoor, press, influencers and PR.

We knew if we could ‘normalise’ acceptance across all walks of life we could have significant impact on the same-sex marriage debate. Our strategic approach was to go beyond the core LGBTQ community and harness the support of the majority of Australians who want to see same-sex marriage become law. We knew most Australians would know someone who was personally affected by this lack of equality and that we had to make this personal for each and every person. The acceptance ring would therefore be more than jewelry – it’d be a pledge. A CTA to not stop pushing for same-sex marriage for your friend, sibling, parent, colleague, aunt, uncle or cousin. Whoever it is you are wearing the ring for, by making it personal we knew we could maximize the conversation, ensuring we keep this issue top of mind for all Australia every time you look down at your

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