Ancestry is excited to announce the launch of It’s a Small World, the brand’s locally-produced content series, which will be available via digital and social platforms from today.
It’s a Small World is a four-part online series created by branded content agency hellofuture.tv, that takes 17 residents of a non-descript apartment block in Bondi Beach, Sydney, on a DNA journey of discovery, revealing both what connects us and makes each of us unique.
In a serendipitous turn of events, the randomly-chosen residents – tested via AncestryDNA analysis – collectively represent all 26 ethnic regions available from the AncestryDNA test, turning the small, unremarkable block of flats in Bondi into a microcosm of human diversity.
The notion of Australia’s increasing diversity and our nation’s progress towards becoming a truly multicultural society, is supported by the fact that one participant’s DNA results alone reveals an incredible 18 ethnic regions.
In a nod to our historic heritage, the average number of ethnicities each resident had was nine, while the most common ethnicities present in the group were Great Britain, Ireland, Iberian Peninsula, Italy & Greece, and Western European.
Bondi resident Simon Edds discovered that his DNA is comprised of an array of backgrounds, including Scandinavia and Finland / Northwest Russia, a surprise for someone who previously identified themselves as simply ‘Australian’.
He explained, “I’m really blown away by this. I’m connected to Europe… I feel closer to everyone now. If this is just localised in one apartment building, imagine if more people around the world took this test and shared that connection.”
Nigel Seeto, senior marketing manager at Ancestry, added, “Storytelling is at the heart of the Ancestry experience, and with It’s a Small World we recognised the unique position we were in to create immersive content that really brought these stories to life for our audience.
“It’s been amazing to go on a journey with these Bondi residents and share the personal discoveries from their DNA in this way. The series gives us a snapshot of just some of the individual histories stretching back thousands of years that make up modern, diverse Australia.”
Pablo Jeffress, director & founder at hellofuture.tv, said, “Ancestry presents such an amazing opportunity for branded content and their DNA product was a perfect vehicle for storytelling.
“We established the proposition ‘Ancestry DNA changes the way you see the world,’ and then, using broadcast researchers, searched far and wide across Sydney to find our apartment block, unveiling these amazing personalities and stories.
“Now this group of previous strangers have a shared experience and discovered their shared ethnicities. It really does prove that we have more in common than we realise, and that there’s only one race – the human race. Though now I’ve discovered I’ve got Irish in me it’s also a good excuse to drink more Guinness.”
Click here to view the series.
CREATIVE CREDITS:
CREATIVE AGENCY:
Creative Director: Pablo Jeffress
Exec Producer: Emily Bull
PR AGENCY: HOWORTH COMMUNICATIONS
PRODUCTION COMPANY:
Producer: Emily Bull / Charlie Billeh / Jo Yates
Director: Pablo Jeffress
DOP: Max Lebigre
