33 Creative was successful in pitching to deliver the 2021 Census campaign for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences, for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The Census is Australia’s national population and housing count, occurring every 5 years. Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been undercounted in the Census.
33 Creative worked closely with the ABS team to develop a communication campaign to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the benefits of the Census, to encourage participation and enhance understanding and awareness.
We developed a range of information materials and resources to support the ABS community field officers in their community outreach and stakeholder engagement activities. This included a conversation guide, stakeholder toolkit, and a suite of case studies developed in partnership with community organisations that tell the story of how Census data has benefited local programs and services.
We also developed print, radio, digital, social and out of home advertising placement, prioritising Indigenous media outlets. Media partnerships were developed to enable new and innovative ways to distribute the resources to as many communities as possible.
The materials were visually engaging, applying the new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander branding for the ABS, which centred around artwork developed by Aboriginal artist Luke Penrith and Torres Strait Islander artist Naseli Tamwoy. The resulting combined artwork tells the story of cultural connection to land and sea, sharing knowledge and data to improve the wellbeing of communities.
The brand was used across all materials, bringing a highly visual approach to delivering the Census information that supports community connection and storytelling.
Feedback from stakeholders was that the materials were very appealing and effective in engaging communities. Results from the campaign evaluation sample indicated high recognition and cut through of the assets to encourage Census participation.
