Three campaigns. One integrated approach. Six weeks!
Following the successful local government election campaign we worked on for the Electoral Commission of Queensland, New Word Order was appointed to handle the state government election campaign in 2024. This involved a variety of creative requirements, including an awareness campaign of the election, information campaigns on voting protocols and a separate campaign designed to warn the public about misinformation regarding elections. The size and scope of creating and managing essentially 3 different but connected campaigns was eagerly welcomed by our creative and project teams. Through a process of strong creative collaboration and strategic thinking, our agency worked closely with the client to deliver integrated campaigns and thousands of individual assets. To date, this is the largest campaign our agency has produced and we are immensely proud of what was achieved.
Challenge
In our local government election campaign, we established a theme centred on voters and representing the government services that matter to them. Our challenge for the state government election was to continue with this theme but elevate it to new heights. The Queensland Government is responsible for some of the most influential parts of our lives, such as health and education. Election campaigns have the opportunity to connect the general public with the importance of these government services, with one of the challenges being to overcome apathy about governance and voting. With such as wide range of people among Queensland’s millions of enrolled voters, speaking to everyone in the right tone—whether they are engaged or reluctant voters—was a critical challenge.
The spark
Engagement starts with relatability. Our campaign premise relied on representing voters in real-life Queensland scenarios. This strategy allowed us to weave in voting messaging that matched what their daily lives involved. Strategically, we were very conscious of representing the width and breadth of Queensland across different urban and regional areas. We also believed strongly that a central icon that anchored the various campaigns would be beneficial for cross-reference memorability and engagement. The strategic icon we chose was the voting ballot box, which then became a central force through all the various campaign assets.
Creative
Awareness campaign
A simple and clear creative theme was adopted and formed the backbone of all the campaigns: ‘Vote on what counts to you’
We connected this key message with voters and Queensland life, showing the likes of a mum at school and a granddad fishing among other scenarios in our creative executions for our hero awareness campaign.
Informational and misinformation alert campaigns
For our informational and misinformation alert campaigns, we used studio set-ups to create strong connections and faster narratives. Our production partners worked closely with us to develop a powerful brand style for the campaigns so that audiences could more easily join the dots on all the various messaging.
Creative materials for the campaign included broadcast television, online video, outdoor, press, digital and social media. Across all the various platforms and format sizes, more than 1000 material assets were outputfor the campaign.
Outcome
The campaign had significant media investment and built strong awareness within the Queensland voting public prior to the election. The major measure of success was voting participation and the campaign was deemed to have contributed to a higher voting participation rate at the 2024 State Government Election than previous state elections.