Creative Execution

From the confirmation in the Australian High Court that the postal vote would take place, to the on-air date, we had 12 days. In this time we crowd-sourced the footage, edited the commercial, found a sponsor to donate the air time and secured the rights to the music and talent (the dozens of brides, grooms and guests that appeared in the footage). With zero budget, we connected with corporations, musicians and production companies that were supportive of the cause and willing to donate their services. At the same time, we synchronised the publishing of the film across social media channels. We engaged high-profile influencers and advocates on social media such as Ellen Degeneres, Margot Robbie, George Takei, Sarah Blasko and Crowded House to share and amplify our message. The Australian Marriage Equality team were engaging, retweeting, and responding throughout the evening to continue the momentum.

Social media momentum after the film aired had a huge impact: high profile celebrities, advocates, and activists at home and abroad joined the conversation, increasing our reach monumentally. The film created a huge conversation in the media in the days following, receiving more commentary on #TheBachelorAU hashtag than the finale itself. Over 80% of all comments on our film were positive, with 15% of comments explicitly stating they had or would be voting Yes, and 30% directly celebrating the content of the film. An estimated 58% of the voting public was reached, and the campaign generated a global reach of 21M+, with the total TV reaching 2M people. We reached a total of 15.3M people across all social media with 4.8M social video views. The public also initiated a fundraising campaign that saw the film re-aired on national TV. $106,002 was raised by a chuffed.org campaign.

We identified the perfect moment in time to target disconnected, undecided voters, the arrival of the postal ballots in the mail on September 14 and the airing of the finale of the popular reality TV show, The Bachelor, on that same night. With zero budget, donated media, and a strategically placed ad, we juxtaposed the concept of The Bachelor making his decision of who he was going to marry, with same-sex couples who were denied that right. Leveraging this high impact moment ignited a national and global conversation. We used this exposure to cultivate empathy and advocacy, and appealed to influential advocates to share and amplify our message. As the film aired we published it across social media channels using the established hashtags (#VoteYes and #TheBachelorAU) to hijack the social conversation in real-time and create optimal opportunity for people to watch, share, and tag for maximum earned reach and virality.