Reflecting on the ‘Nan’s Song’ campaign
In 2023 we collaborated with creative agency Stanley St and cultural consultancy agency Tātou on this campaign for Safer Gambling Aotearoa (Te Whatu Ora). The target audience was recreational gamblers aged 18 to 44 years, with a specific emphasis on Māori and Pasifika communities. These communities face a disproportionate risk of gambling harm, with Māori over 3 times and Pasifika being over 2 times more likely to experience problems compared to other audiences. The campaign objective was to highlight the risks associated with "Pokies" to this recreational audience, even if they did not perceive themselves as having any gambling issues.
We joined the project one year into its development. The scripts and ideas had already undergone extensive research and cultural consultancy, but there was a challenge in translating them into ads that aligned with the campaign strategy and represented Māori culture in a recognisable and empowering way. Our role was to bridge the gap between the creative agency and cultural expertise, rewriting the script within the parameters of the existing research to avoid extra cost and time. We simplified the themes and layers, focusing on developing a story deeply rooted in Māori and Pacific cultures, highlighting concepts like mana and manaakitanga, as well as universal truths such as the bonds between siblings and the role of Nan. Our aim was to create a story that delivered a direct yet empowering message, effectively conveying the campaign's strategy of highlighting warning signs.
Post campaign survey results:
89.8% of the target audience felt the campaign resonated with them
88.9% recognised it’s important to address the issue within recreational gamblers.
75.9% (when prompted) acknowledged the existence of warning signs to watch out for.