When Aeschines spoke, they said, "How well he speaks, what glorious words, what magnificent tones!" But, when Demosthenes spoke, they shouted, "Let us march against Philip now!"
A political election campaign is one of the great challenges in modern communications.
2007 was regarded as the first digital election campaign, with
Labor establishing its dominance of the use of internet media such
as the Kevin07 website, YouTube, Facebook and MySpace.
Combined with the '24 hour news cycle,' the volume of work was
larger and turn-around times shorter than any election campaign
before it.
Ultimately, there were four factors unpinning our success:
• A rigorously-considered communication
strategy.
• The ability to work at a high level with
the ALP Leadership Team to consistently deliver a highly focused
message.
• The courage to be pre-emptive at
important moments.
• The discipline to stay on that strategy
while still being responsive to events as they unfolded.
Anna Bligh faced several obstacles in her bid to be Australia’s first directly-elected female Premier.
Against a background of the Global Financial Crisis, Queensland
Labor had been in power for 11 years and was facing its first
serious opposition in the face of a newly-united and on-message
Liberal National Party.
Rather than focusing on the past and Labor's track record, our
strategy was to hammer home Anna Bligh's positive plan to protect
jobs and keep Queensland strong in uncertain economic times.
Advertising was used effectively to contrast Anna Bligh's strength
with Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg's inability to recognise
that Queenslanders were affected by the global recession.
With a web and social networking strategy reinforcing these
messages, the advertising campaign finished strongly by
highlighting the risk Lawrence Springborg and his inexperienced
team posed the people of Queensland.
Anna Bligh created history and defied opinion polls to win the
Queensland election and earn the Labor Party a fifth consecutive
term.
How do we get the energy we need, while reducing global greenhouse emissions?
Coal is Australia's principal
energy source, providing 40% of our energy and 81% of all our
electricity. In 2008-2009, export revenue from coal was a record
$54.7 billion, vital income to support services we need like
hospitals, roads and schools, and to help cushion Australian
against the global financial crisis.
The Australian coal industry plays a vital role in our energy
security, economy and community, and will for decades to come. The
flipside is its negative environmental impact. Coal is a major
source of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, up to 37% of total
emissions at last count.
Lawrence Creative Strategy advised the Australian Coal Association
from 2008 - 2010, conceiving the NewGenCoal communications
initiative. Launched with a national press campaign, the NewGenCoal
website showcases the ACA's acknowledgement of the science of
climate change, and its well-funded commitment to accelerating
carbon capture and storage as one part of a climate change solution
alongside renewables like wind and solar.
To interact with the public and help spread understanding about
the problems of climate change and energy security, the website
features a fully-resourced social media strategy including a
daily-updatedblog,Twitter feedandYouTube
channel.
Australia's biggest company, BHP Billiton had not engaged in communications to the general public for many years when they approached Lawrence Creative Strategy for communications advice.
At the time, Marius Kloppers had been appointed CEO, the rapid
growth of China had led to growing demand for resources, and BHP
Billiton was the 'Official Diversified Minerals and Medals Sponsor'
of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It was time to refine BHP
Billtion's branding to communicate who they are and - globally -
what they do.
LCS developed the company's new positioning statement, "Resourcing
the Future," launching it with a creative campaign to communicate
the BHP Billiton story. Devising the strategy required a thorough
understanding of specialised groups from Europe, China, Australia
and America which ranged from investment bankers, Government
Committees, unions, environmental groups and 'Mum and Dad'
investors. The campaign included an internal launch, website
enhancements, and an extensive print and online advertising
campaign in Australia and China to communicate BHP Billiton's
sponsorship role in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
To launch the Football Federation of Australia's bid for the FIFA World Cup, the world's first sporting social network-driven grassroots movement was created to showcase our national enthusiasm for hosting the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
Lawrence Creative Strategy created a two and a half minute film
inviting the world to "ComePlay" and showcasing Australia as the
'world's best playground.'
The film directed people to the official bid website - the
centerpiece of the bid campaign - australia2018-2022.com.au.
The site encourages the public to join in the movement, take action
and help win the bid.
Within 24 hours there were 25,000 visits, 170,000 page views, and
people spent on average nearly 7 minutes exploring the site.
The growth of the movement is constantly updated on the site, a visual
expression of the Australian public's passion for football and the
bid. With FIFA deciding on the host for both the 2018 and 2022
World Cups in 2010, the site will act as a dynamic and compelling
argument in favour of our bid.
Partners STW: Rose Herceg and Jonathan Swan
Film: Director: Mark Toia, Art Director: Adam Whitehead/STW,
Production company: Zoom FilmTV,
Music: Song Zu, Editor: Drew Thompson/Guillotine
Digital Agency: David Trewern, Michael Trounce, Adam Morris and
team/DTDigital
