An unusual approval process involving Melbourne’s Lord Mayor has led to a new campaign for charity Open Family using innovative placement of ads around Melbourne’s CBD—including in the gutters.
Open Family is a charity that gives help to homeless children and young people, be it a bed for the night, rehab programs, hot meals or an education.
This year it is running its first Longest Night of the Year appeal, for a week leading up to the winter solstice, June 21.
Open Family marketing manager, Mark Knower, hopes the appeal will become a brand-builder for the organisation, which is competing for dollars against other better-known charities such as the Salvation Army and the City Mission.
“We’re hoping to build the Longest Night appeal into an annual event so that people can learn about the work Open Family does and the services our outreach workers provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said.
Grey Melbourne has created a campaign which includes ambient stickers placed on footpaths and gutter openings, as well as outdoor and radio ads.
Grey’s chairman, Paul Gardiner, took the unusual step of approaching Melbourne’s Lord Mayor John So for approval of the campaign.
Street advertising, such as spray painting logos on the pavement, has been outlawed in Melbourne.
Anything that is temporary, such as the stickers, requires a permit or council approval, something the Lord Mayor was happy to give personally in this case.
He admitted approving an advertising campaign is not something normally within the realms of his job but said he was excited by the innovative thinking and execution of this particular campaign.
“The council has always worked closely with Open Family in the past and this is one of the roles of local government—to raise awareness of community organisations helping our less fortunate. I hope something like [the inaugural Longest Night appeal] sets a precedent for years to come in bringing the various communities within our city together,”the Lord Mayor said.
The ads are designed primarily to raise money for the charity but also to challenge a growing attitude that homeless people are a nuisance.
