harmony day

The Brief

Zotts & Co. was engaged to lead the communication, media, partnership and social media activity for one of the nation's biggest awareness days - Harmony Day.

Harmony Day, held on 21 March, is a day to celebrate Australia’s diversity. Zotts & Co led the communication implementation of the campaign which saw 30 million Australians engage with its key messages.

Highlights

In the media:

• Throughout the campaign, almost 2,000 Harmony Day media articles were generated, reaching a cumulative 30 million people.

• 26 ABC Regional Radio stations across Australia held simultaneous live broadcasts, produced Harmony Day packages and posted on their social media accounts

• An SBS partnership saw art workshops, a film competition and educational resources developed to involve youth - a key target market

On social media:

• #harmonyday and @harmonyday-au were trending on Twitter by 8.50am

• Harmony Day was trending across Facebook for four days straight

• Harmony Day was tagged in more than 17,000 photos on Instagram

• Facebook followers increased by 20 percent to more than 17,000 people

• More than a quarter of a million people (288,000) used the Harmony Day Snapchat filter - the first of its kind in Australia.

In the community:

• Thousands of people celebrated at events and celebrations across the country with 3,800 Harmony Day events registered including schools, councils, community organisations, businesses and sporting events

• There was a Harmony Day specific AFLW match in Canberra with GWS producing videos to broadcast on the big screen at the game

• Westfield rolled out a digital campaign and in-store promotions across 35 shopping centres nationally across the week

• More than 25 buildings and landmarks across the country glowed orange as part of the Harmony Day Lights Up campaign

Amongst the stars:

• A number of high profile Australian celebrities got behind Harmony Day including Guy Sebastian, Timomatic, Usman Khuwaja, Alice Zavlavsky, Giam Swiegers, Magnolia Maymuru and Luke Nguyen.

Launching Canberra’s light rail

The Brief

It had been decades in the making and an issue that divided Canberrans - light rail was coming to Canberra. To mark this moment in history, a community celebration was in order. The ACT Government required project and event management, a communication and media campaign and to work with a number of stakeholders that brought the project to life.

What We Did

We led a team of stakeholders to deliver two main elements - an exclusive community preview loop and a major community launch day.

To create buzz and excitement in the community that light rail was coming, a special community preview loop was designed as an exclusive  ‘sneak peek’ of light rail before it officially opened.

We worked with Canberra Metro to organise a fleet of light rail vehicles to simultaneously complete a loop of the alignment, giving hundreds of school children, community members, media outlets and invited guests the opportunity to be part of the first ride.

The Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, media and community representatives boarded at Gungahlin and arrived in the city for a press conference on the platform.

A community ballot was held to determine the guest list, supported by a social media and media campaign. There was significant interest in the ballot and almost 6,000 people entered the competition, causing the Transport Canberra website to achieve its highest ever visitation. 

Highlights

• Around 1.5 million people reached through media and social media channels throughout the month of the launch

• Around 30,000 passenger trips on the day of the launch with 25,000 of these concentrated throughout the event

• Event operations were well executed, all safety issues or incidents were addressed, and the event ran to schedule. The collaborative efforts of high-quality service providers and staff resulted in the delivery of an enjoyable and seamless launch event.

• No major safety issues or concerns with the safe movement of people and crowds the number one priority.

• Positive feedback received from all stakeholders involved on the day including ACT Fire and Rescue, ACT Policing and ACT Fire and Rescue and ACT Ambulance Service.

• Positive feedback received from Ministerial offices including the Chief Minister’s Office and Minister for Transport and City Services.

• All media outlets covered both events with an overwhelmingly positive sentiment

• Trending on social media On social media, #CBRlightrail generated hundreds of pieces of positive content. More than 8,000 people visited the website from social media in the month.

• Record-breaking website stats: The Transport Canberra website topped the highest user numbers with over 221k in April
  

kites for karralika

opportunity

Zotts & Co was engaged to provide public relations services to promote Kites for Karralika - a flagship event to let the community know about help available to support people with drug and addictions.

The primary aim of our services was to get Canberra families to the event, and raise awareness of the services that Karralika provides to those in need.

the pitch

This event was individually pitched to the Canberra media with number of different angles. The first was the family-friendly aspect of the event which was picked up by all local media outlets. The second was a human-interest story featuring a young man and his experience with drug and alcohol addiction, and the impact Karralika had on turning his life around.

results

As a result of the campaign, almost $55,000 worth of media coverage was achieved, with Karralika being featured across radio, TV, print, digital and social channels. The survivor’s story sent the message that Karralika ultimately saved his life and sent a message of hope to other Canberra individuals and families who may be in a similar situation.

Income tax professionals

Zotts & Co has worked with ITP to provide PR services, social media strategy, influencer marketing, blog content and media training for the past five years. 

Over that time, ITP’s online audience has almost doubled from 5,000 to more than 10,000 fans. On average, posts reach more than 1,000 people, with some posts reaching up to 3,600 without any paid sponsorship. Social media engagement (post clicks, likes, comments and shares) can reach up to 500 per post. Engagement continues to grow each and every week.

Zotts & Co worked with the team on the media launch of ITP’s $1 million sponsorship of the Canberra Raiders and a Buzzfeed-style article that was viewed by more than 1 million readers on news.com.au

prime minister’s veterans’
employment awards 2017

Opportunity

Zotts & Co was engaged to provide communication services to promote the Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Awards - the inaugural program to recognise and appreciate the unique contributions of the Australian Defence Force. 

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) invests heavily in its servicemen and women, and they have a broad range of skills and experience. Their skill-sets, including leadership and problem-solving skills, are in strong demand and transfer readily to civilian employment.

Australian businesses of all sizes, and across all industries, have an opportunity to employ these skilled and capable individuals when they separate from the ADF. By making businesses more aware of the value that veterans can bring to their organisations, employment opportunities for veterans will increase.

As part of the program, the Prime Minister launched The Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Annual Awards to recognise the achievements of companies, organisations and individuals in creating employment opportunities for veterans and supporting their transition into the civilian workforce.

Jack Biilmann

The Brief…

When acoustic blues and roots singer-songwriter Jack Biilmann approached Zotts & Co to promote his latest album and tour across NSW, there were so many angles to look into, it was hard to know where to start. He's toured internationally, he's shared the stage with bands such as The Superjesus and Frenzal Rhomb, and even played a private gig for champion surfer and shark puncher Mick Fanning. But when Jack mentioned in passing how much he'd love to sell out the 1700 seats at his upcoming gig that he'd do it naked, we know that was an angle we couldn't ignore.

The Pitch…

We crafted a pitch that got Jack on the front page of the Canberra Times Forum section, plus secured a range of other local print and broadcast spots, including the chance to perform live on commercial radio. We built a detailed media strategy around his album release and tour dates that got people talking about his show Streams from Wagga Wagga to the south coast. Sales of his show sky-rocketed, stopping just shy of selling out. The result? Jack got the crowd of his dreams, and to keep his dignity. Win, win!

"Kristen was amazing at securing local press for each stop of my tour which made a massive impact and saw me sell shows out I wouldn’t have otherwise!" - Jack Biilmann.

Raize the Roof

Opportunity

Zotts & Co partnered with marketing whiz Bonnie Johnson at Pop Media with an ambitious goal: to raise $ 1 million to support kids a little less lucky through the incredible raize the roof charity house. To reach this goal, we needed a PR concept that would spark the interest of Canberra families, and get media attention for a number of months - all on a shoestring budget.

The Pitch

Diving into research, we found that our target market, young Canberra families, had a keen interest in home renovation style media. We also knew that we had to get the support of the wider community in order to reach our donation goal. Using these insights, an idea was born. We decided to launch Canberra’s very own version of House Rules, called Decorate for a Difference. The challenge was set-up as a mini reality TV show, and was supported by a strategic partnership with IKEA Canberra. The community were invited to follow their favourite contestants’ journey, and were able to purchase the furnished items in the house at the auction. Local media personalities including Bree Element from the Canberra Times, Belinda Neame from HerCanberra and Style Curator’s Gina Cianco were invited to judge each zone. Former Big Brother contestant Jason Roses hosted each episode of the series, providing a hook for media and engaging a huge following on social media. The three-part reality series was filmed and broadcast on social media with Zotts & Co and Pop Media sourcing local videographers, as well as scripting and producing the series. To increase the reach of the campaign we negotiated a sponsorship with AllHomes which resulted in key print and online editorial, digital advertising and event activation at the auction. 

The Result

The result was more than a million impressions across media and social channels, a front page magazine feature on the Canberra Weekly, a partnership with AllHomes, more than a hundred people at the auction and rolling coverage in all local outlets. RiotAct, AllHomes and the Canberra Times live-streamed the event to a combined total of 170,000 people. From the sale of the house, and additional donations, a whopping $900,000 was raised and given to two charities - an orphanage in Botswana, and the Starlight Foundation.