Why is this work relevant for PR?

In the lead up to this year's Australian federal election, our client, the Australian Futures Project briefed us to shift the topics of conversation taking place in the media and government from short-term problems to the long-term issues identified in research as the things Australians most care about. This brief was aligned to the organisation's greater goal of ending short-termism in Australia. With almost no budget for paid media, a need to connect with some of Australia's most powerful voices and a brief to influence the nation's media and political conversations, PR was critical to the campaign's success.

Background

Our client, the Australian Futures Project (AFP), is dedicated to shifting Australia’s national conversation to create a better future. As part of this, they engaged Roy Morgan to identify the top concerns of Australians. This data revealed Australians broadly shared similar concerns, regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic status. When compared to political and media dialogue there was a clear discrepancy – Australians were most concerned about long-term issues like climate change, while their leaders were focused on short-term concerns like illegal immigrants. Our brief was to use the data gathered to create a public intervention during the Federal Election and shift the national conversation to the things that mattered most. More specifically, there were three key objectives: 1) Increase focus on long-term issues 2) Enhance AFP’s profile and legitimacy 3) Protect the reputation of its Executive Director, Ralph Ashton 4) Activate the public to help ‘Change the Conversation’

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Our solution was to use the data gathered to highlight the disconnect between Australia's loudest voices (media and government) and the people they represent. To do this, we created The Perfect Candidate – Australia’s first politician driven by data, not bias. Powered by insights from over 125,000 Australians, The Perfect Candidate uses this data to compare the top concerns of each electorate, with those of the political parties that represent them. By sharing the data they’ve gathered, The Perfect Candidate creates a transparency that empowers Australians to change the conversation and hold their leaders accountable.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

Three key players sat at the heart of the national conversation: 1. The Public – want to see progress, offering their attention 2. The Media – want attention (and subsequent revenue), offering exposure 3. Parliament – want exposure (and subsequent power), offering progress To drive change within the system and shift the national conversation toward Australia's long-term concerns, our strategy was to create the following chain of reaction: 1. Mobilise the public to create noise about what matters to them 2. Connect with the media to encourage to bolster momentum and drive government attention 3. Utilise the public noise and media momentum to gain government attention, drive debate and ultimately shift the conversation.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We launched on 10 April, the day before the election was called. To kick things off, we secured five face-to-face briefings with influential journalists, providing access to The Perfect Candidate platform two-weeks before launch. As its data was so rich, no two stories were alike. We also worked closely with political journalists Jessica Irvine, Ben Potter, Jackson Gothe-Snape, Annika Smethurst and Primrose Riordan to articulate the problem. A Twitter account was also created for The Perfect Candidate to directly contact politicians, journalists and the public. We also used highly topical media angles like cost of living, environment and health, to contextualise the data and seeded these to the Federal Press gallery, mainstream news media, online political publications, TV programs and radio talkback. This agile approach allowed us to manage reputational risk, track and assess the campaign, adapting our approach to achieve optimal outcomes.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

In just five weeks and with just $5,000 in paid media The Perfect Candidate achieved the following: MEDIA • Total reach +84 million • Over 350 news articles • 12 media engagements • 9 Television features • 19 radio spots • Covered by all of Australia’s leading political journalists The Perfect Candidate was also used by the media as an insights tool to validate countless opinion pieces and features that explored what issues mattered most to Australians and how well our political parties represented them. As a result, the conversations driven by Australia’s media shifted from the short-term topics and sensationalist headlines to discussing the long-term issues Australians really care about. TARGET AUDIENCE • Over 3,000 people rated the issues that mattered most them (double our target) • 94 Australians directly contacted their leaders via social media • Conversion rate of website visitors was 20% (over 10 times our target and far higher than industry benchmark) BUSINESS • No negative coverage or risks materialised • 30% increase in the organisations Facebook and Twitter followers • 20% increase in LinkedIn followers • eDM subscribers increased • AFP was endorsed by 11 key political influencers and their media share of voice dramatically increased. • 772% ROI