DEADLY QUESTIONS

Silver Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleDEADLY QUESTIONS
BrandABORIGINAL VICTORIA, DEPARTMENT OF PREMIER & CABINET
Product / ServiceABORIGINAL VICTORIA, DEPARTMENT OF PREMIER & CABINET
CategoryA10. Not-for-profit / Charity / Government
EntrantCLEMENGER BBDO MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation CLEMENGER BBDO MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement MEDIACOM Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
Production FINISH PRODUCTIONS Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Additional Company ABORIGINAL VICTORIA, DEPARTMENT OF PREMIER & CABINET Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Josh Smith Aboriginal Victoria, Department of Premier & Cabinet Executive Director
Andrew Gargett Aboriginal Victoria, Department of Premier & Cabinet Director, Office of the Executive Director
Amy Hattam Aboriginal Victoria, Department of Premier & Cabinet Senior Communications & Events Manager
Drew Higgins Aboriginal Victoria, Department of Premier & Cabinet Strategic Communications Advisor
Jack Register Aboriginal Victoria, Department of Premier & Cabinet Manger, Office of the Executive Director
James McGrath Clemenger BBDO Executive Chairman
Evan Roberts Clemenger BBDO Executive Creative Director
Stephen de Wolf Clemenger BBDO Chief Creative Officer
Carmela Soares Clemenger BBDO Executive Creative Director
Nicole Sykes Clemenger BBDO Creative Director
Lee Sunter Clemenger BBDO Senior Creative
Hilary Badger Clemenger BBDO Creative Director
Rowan Mansfield Clemenger BBDO Creative
Elsa Caruso Clemenger BBDO Creative
Damien Asling Clemenger BBDO Creative
Adam Hengstberger Clemenger BBDO Digital Designer
Brendan Sharman Clemenger BBDO Digital Designer
Richard Franklin Freelance Director/Cultural Champion
Sonia von Bibra Clemenger BBDO Agency Executive Producer
Cynthia Bons Clemenger BBDO Agency Producer
Sylvain Simao Clemenger BBDO Technical Director
Todd Armstrong Clemenger BBDO Senior Full-Stack Developer
Caterine Dattoma Clemenger BBDO Front End Developer
Danny Li Clemenger BBDO Junior Full-Stack Developer
Sonali Bhattacharya Clemenger BBDO Tester
Simon Lamplough Clemenger BBDO Deputy CEO
Naomi Gorringe Clemenger BBDO Group Business Director
Candice Koffke Clemenger BBDO Group Business Director
Kelly Brigham Clemenger BBDO Project Director
Ryan Smith Clemenger BBDO Strategic Planner
Brie Stewart Clemenger BBDO Head of Social
Rebecca de Beer Clemenger BBDO Communications Planner
Casey Henderson Clemenger BBDO Creative
Daniel Klug Clemenger BBDO Communications Planner
David Lo Monaco Clemenger BBDO Social Media Manager

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Australia is unique for being the only Commonwealth nation that does not hold a treaty with its first peoples. In 2016, a new Government entered office in the state of Victoria and asked the Aboriginal community what they wanted – the answer was Treaty. Despite being a process worked out between the state government and Aboriginal peoples (not a public vote) a Treaty requires public support to be accepted. Our brief was to build support for the treaty process among the non-Aboriginal community.

Background

Australia is a unique country with a unique cultural history dating back 70,000 years. But despite 230 years of colonial settlement, Australia is also sadly unique for being the only member of the Commonwealth that does not hold a treaty with its first peoples. In 2016, when a new Government entered office in the state of Victoria and asked and asked the Aboriginal community what they wanted – the answer was resoundingly Treaty. For context, Treaty is an agreement between the state government and Aboriginal peoples. The contents of the Treaty are worked out between the two parties. It’s not a public vote. But a Treaty still requires public support to ensure it’s accepted. And to gain that, we needed to confront non-Aboriginal people’s prejudices about Aboriginal culture. Our brief was to build support for the treaty process primarily among the non-Aboriginal community, but also within the diverse Aboriginal community.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Deadly Questions. You ask. Aboriginal Victorians answer. Deadly Questions is a platform that connects everyday Australians with everyday Aboriginal Victorians, building open dialogue around the topics Australians have avoided for countless years. To the average person, ‘Deadly’ this might sound dangerous or even ominous. But in Aboriginal circles, ‘deadly’ translates to cool or awesome. This asymmetry was a poignant reflection of the asymmetry of perspective not uncommon in everyday Australia. Critically – the campaign did not control the message. The non-Aboriginal community controlled the questions and could ask them anonymously. Aboriginal Victorians controlled the answers. And the answers were as diverse and conflicting as people are in real life. Through these answers we were able to broach the topics that needed to be discussed for Treaty to be successful: race, racism, power, history, politics, and reconciliation. But there was also room for the everyday too: food, family, technology and tradition.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

‘Build support of Treaty’ seemed simple enough. But the notion of Treaty for an Australian can be a threatening one. Despite Australia priding itself as a nation of ‘the fair go’, Treaty raised guards. So to build to the Treaty conversation, we had to find another way to start. Research showed that 84% of non-Aboriginal Victorians believed it was importance to learn more about Aboriginal culture and identity. However, the problem is they didn’t know where to begin. Non-Aboriginal Victorians ‘walk on eggshells’. They don’t want to say the wrong thing. We wanted to tap into that desire to learn, but also the fear of asking. Because if they learn about Aboriginal identity without judgement, it can open them to learning about Treaty too. It would soften attitudes and cast a conversation about ‘Treaty’ not as a political one, but something that is about learning more about Aboriginal culture.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Sparking conversation with provocative questions We launched with distinctive OOH showing questions most Australians wouldn’t dare ask out loud, helping demonstrate the importance of asking questions. We used a diverse group of Aboriginal Victorians to pre-record their answers to provocative questions, such as ‘is being Aboriginal just the colour of your skin?’ or ‘why can’t Aboriginal people get over the past’ through film, helping spark conversation and curiosity among the wider community. Driving site visitation and answering questions Deadly Questions is at its core a participation platform. Our media elements pushed people towards deadlyquestions.vic.gov.au where users could read existing questions and answers, along with ask their own. Introducing ‘Treaty’ messaging Using the Q&A format, we introduced questions about a treaty. Given its ambiguous outcomes, we needed to focus not on what a treaty was, but why it was needed and what it really meant to the people it affected.

List the results (30% of vote)

We got Australia talking At launch we generated 371 news clippings, resulting in a cumulative audience reach of 110 million in the first 4 weeks. This placed us on mainstream television stations, weekend newspapers, and the country’s biggest news websites. We had thousands of questions asked, answered and read Victorians spent 3,950 hours on the site. 3,474 unique questions were asked, 2,703 (legitimate) questions were answered and 260,000 answers viewed. This content now forms one of the most diverse and accessible forms of Aboriginal education online that can continue to educate for years to come. Attitudes shifted to the positive There were significant shifts to Victorian’s wanting to learn more about Aboriginal people (61% to 77%) and formalizing the process (43% to 60%). And in late June 2018, the Victorian government passed a historic law to create a Treaty framework, in which this result was supported by our campaign’s efforts.

Links

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