Why is this work relevant for Direct?

The sole objective of this campaign was to encourage direct action from the public to compel state leaders and local politicians to support greater investment in social housing to assist the almost 50,000 people without a safe or permanent place to live – a statewide crises that required statewide action to overcome.

Background

At the point of briefing, there were 47,036 Queenslanders on the social housing register without a safe or permanent place to live – a number that was forecasted to grow if immediate action wasn't taken. Our brief was to secure $2 billion (AUD) from State Government for greater social housing to help alleviate this housing crisis. Being a not-for-profit client, budget was limited. On top of this, we only had six weeks from brief to inspire statewide action before the 2021 State Budget was allocated.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

The creative idea stemmed from a simple but sobering statistic that was unearthed during initial research – a finding too big to ignore. The reality is that the collective number of Queenslanders that are homeless is a population bigger than 98% of Queensland's towns. In fact, this group would be the state's fifth largest town. Thus, the Town of Nowhere was born.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

From the data gathered (Roy Morgan, Census, and Australian Bureau of Statistic), it was revealed people who lived in lower-socioeconomic areas would show greater empathy towards the issue due to having a higher propensity of knowing someone in unsecured housing or having experienced homelessness themselves. As such, these groups became our target audience and efforts where primarily focused where they lived. Our approach had four key challenges to overcome: 1.Low awareness of the size and scale of the issue from both government and the wider public. 2. Community misconceptions about, and general apathy towards, the issues of homelessness. 3. In order to have any impact, the idea could not fall into the traps of clichéd visuals and moral platitudes surrounding homelessness campaigns of the past. 4. The call to action had to be so simple to engender uptake – 'tell government to act on the housing crisis'

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

With minimal budget and six weeks to encourage statewide action, communication placement was key. The statewide campaign launched with 'anti-tourism' press in the travel supplement of the state's most popular newspaper. The placements aimed to not only disrupt those dreaming of escape during intermittent COVID lockdowns, but to also give the Town a sense of 'realness' – complete with a QR code that pushed readers to the campaign microsite. Pre-filled POS postcards featured in the store fronts of partner organisations across the state, giving the public a direct way to send a powerful message to Queensland's Premier. Online, people discovered the 'truth' of the Town. Here, they met the 'locals' and learned more stats about the crisis, while also being provided a direct way to contact their local politician to demand action in a click. Geo-targeted OOH and social rounded off the campaign, continuing momentum with further sobering facts.

List the results (30% of vote)

$2.8 million (AUD) in earned media with three major news outlets televising the campaign. National news coverage across 7 mastheads, including international exposure in the United Kingdom via the Daily Mail. 1300+ messages sent to local MPs – a figure that doesn't include the tangible postcards sent to the Queensland's Premier's office. A history making result: $2.9 billion (AUD) committed from State Government – The largest concentrated social housing investment in Queensland's history. This result ensures more than 6,400 new houses will be built for Queenslanders who don't have permanent housing.