FOCUS ON OUR WATERWAYS

TitleFOCUS ON OUR WATERWAYS
BrandOZFISH
Product / ServiceFISHING MAGAZINE
CategoryB03. Use of Print / Outdoor
EntrantVMLY&R MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation VMLY&R MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Paul Nagy VMLY&R Melbourne Chief Creative Officer
Jake Barrow VMLY&R Melbourne Executive Creative Director
Kieran Moroney VMLY&R Melbourne Associate Creative Director
Shane Geffen VMLY&R Melbourne Associate Creative Director
Simon Gray VMLY&R Melbourne Lead Designer
Aaron Rocca VMLY&R Melbourne Senior Integrated Producer
Tash Wolvers VMLY&R Melbourne Account Manager
Cory White VMLY&R Melbourne Photographer
Ryan Stamatiades VMLY&R Melbourne Photography Assistant
Sarah Bailey VMLY&R Melbourne Managing Partner
Jon Kenyon VMLY&R Melbourne Managing Partner
Renee Ferenc Ozfish Director - Engagement and Culture
Craig Copeland Ozfish Chief Executive Officer

Why is this work relevant for Media?

To get Australian anglers to focus on fishing habitats, we decided to partner with, and disrupt, the one piece of media that speaks directly to them, Australia’s Largest Fishing Magazine, Fishing World. For over 50 years, Fishing World has featured anglers striking a pose with their prized catches on the cover. For their June 2020 issue, we broke the rules and for the first time ever, the prized catch on the cover was blurred. And the focus was now on the waterways. With a small budget it was the perfect solution to reach a large audience of recreational fishers.

Background

Fishing is one of Australia’s most popular recreational pastimes. But over the last few decades, fish stocks have dwindled due to human and environmental impact on their habitats. OzFish, an organisation that delivers fish habitat rehabilitation projects across Australia, needed to raise awareness and get a nation of anglers to join their cause. All OzFish members connect with a local chapter and become part of protecting native fish and habitat in a very roll-up-the-sleeves, hands-on way. And healthier waterways mean more fish and better fishing.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

We knew that anglers love to show off what they’ve caught before releasing them. Right now on Instagram there’s 32 million pictures where anglers are proudly posing with their catches, there’s even a name for it, the Grip ‘n Grin. And the most impressive recent catches are normally immortalised on the cover of Australia’s fishing mags. So, we decided to partner with, and disrupt, the one piece of media that speaks directly to Aussie anglers, Australia’s Largest Fishing Magazine, Fishing World. For over 50 years, Fishing World has featured anglers striking a pose with their prized catches on the cover. But we needed recreational fishers to focus less on the fish and more on the waterways. And that led us to our solution.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

With a small budget, we needed to reach a large audience of recreational fishers. partner with, and disrupt, the one piece of media that speaks directly to Aussie anglers, Australia’s Largest Fishing Magazine, Fishing World. They donated their cover, 7 pages for a feature article and ad space for the ad campaign which ran in subsequent issues. Fishing World also posted the cover image on their social channels, spurring debate and encouraging followed to recreate and post their own blurred photos.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

The disruptive June 2020 cover was backed up by a 7-page feature article about environmental issues and how Ozfish is tackling them. The message was further reinforced with print, social, and an outdoor campaign that focussed on the three main fishing habitats where anglers frequent: mountain, estuary and sea, in adventure mags and fishing stores.

List the results (30% of vote)

At the time of submission, the campaign had been running for one month, but the results so far have been phenomenal. • 590% increase in new members in one month. • 8 communities applied to establish a local chapter. • 208% increase in online users to our site. • 25k in organic reach on social media with a single post. • Fishing influencers are replicating the cover. On a small budget, ‘Focus on our Waterways’ has made people rethink how they see their local environment and has put the focus back onto sustainable fishing.