Innocean Australia

Client: White Ribbon Australia
Product: -
Title: The Daily Issue
Media: Innocean Australia
Country: Australia
Date Of Campaign: 8/11/23

Background: In 2023, 1 woman was killed every 5 days by a current or former partner. By September alone, 48,000 news articles had been published on men’s violence against women. WR, a primary prevention organisation, engages men and boys across the nation in women’s safety, recognising their role as critical to changing the face of violence against women. WR aims to raise awareness of the issue and enable men to identify and prevent covert acts of violence affecting women.However, years of PR scandal meant that the media discussion on WR rarely focused on its important work. This led to dwindling support for the organisation, making it difficult for the organisation to continue to have an impact.Through a nationwide survey, we found that while 86% of men recognised that they play a critical role in prevention, only 6% actively helped. Reasons for men’s inaction included 'it doesn't affect people I know', or ‘wouldn’t know what to say’, highlighting a lack of understanding. We needed to educate them on the issue.This meant we had two jobs to do:(1) Reclaim the narrativeBefore we could work on educating Australian men, we had to first reclaim WR’s narrative, turning the annual media battering into a deluge of support.(2) Begin educating.If successful in stabilising the brand, there’d be opportunity to reconnect WR with Australian men, showcasing value and educating them on violence against women.With only $20k for production, we had to create something that would turn WR’s fortunes around.

Idea: Objectives:1. Reclaim the narrative To bring the Australian media on side and connect in a language they understood best, we created ‘The Daily Issue'. A special edition newspaper that included just 1% of the 48,000 harrowing violence against women stories in 2023. Disguised as a typical newspaper, the 500 articles covered every form of violence, from coercion to financial abuse. Juxtaposed against the real reasons men were giving to justify their inaction.The newspaper was a sobering reminder that speaking up could be the difference between saving a woman’s life versus reading her obituary. We distributed 2,000 copies to politicians, journalists, influencers and men’s groups around Australia, hoping to strike an emotional chord and use their platform to amplify White Ribbon’s agenda, rather than bash it for its past mistakes. With media on side, we could more effectively educate on the complexities of violence. 2. Begin educatingTo personalise the issue we developed a digital tool that encouraged men to lean in and learn. The tool generated a unique result based on the user’s social follower count, revealing the proximity of violence amongst their network and serving as an educational resource to cover the lesser-known forms of violence.The tool also served as an educational resource, covering the lesser-known forms of violence. This equipped users with crucial awareness to recognise and address signs of violence.

Results: Objectives:1. Reclaim the narrativeInstead of undermining White Ribbon with its past controversies, the media became our mouthpiece for connecting with Australians. Significantly, out of the $10.6 million in earned media coverage, all articles except one were positive—a novel experience for WR.National coverage, millions in earned media, and 56m impressions, brought White Ribbon’s crusade to the forefront of Australia’s cultural agenda. 80 pieces of PR were secured, with prominent national coverage across Australia’s biggest print, TV, and radio networks (including Fairfax, Newscorp, Man of Many, BNN, Nova Entertainment, KIIS FM, Seven West Media).Beyond just news coverage, we were also gifted free ad space (OOH, TVC, Radio), allowing us to be always-on during our campaign period.This reach ensured we could achieve our second objective.2. Begin educatingMen started to pay attention, with WR recording an increase of 37% more men understanding their mission. But more importantly, we were were educating men in real time, seeing an uplift in understanding for more covert forms of violence including; +379,000 men recognising bribery +661,000 men recognising financial abuse +794,000 men recognising coercion.We not only improved men's understanding of violence against women but also made them more prepared than ever to be part of the solution, recording a 10% increase in men actively considering getting involved.