Creative agency BMF and research agency Fiftyfive5, part of Accenture Song have been appointed by Dementia Australia, the national peak body for people living with dementia, to create a national campaign.
The agencies will create a national campaign to raise awareness about head trauma.
The organisation ran a competitive pitch process to find partners to deliver the awareness campaign — backed with a two-year funding commitment from the Australian government — to drive behaviour change around brain health and head knocks in children.
“With BMF’s proven track record and experience in driving long-term behaviour change and Fiftyfive5’s deep research and evidence-based approach, we’re confident this campaign will make a meaningful and measurable impact,” Dementia Australia CEO professor Tanya Buchanan said.
“Dementia is now the leading cause of death in Australia, yet awareness of the risk factors remains low. By educating young people, parents, coaches and educators about the connection between repeated head trauma and life-long brain health, we have a real opportunity to shift behaviours early and reduce dementia risk later in life,” she added.
Last year, BMF won the creative accounts for HCF and Westpac.
“The agency is proud to be driving meaningful behaviour change with its latest win,” BMF managing director Richard Woods said.
“At BMF, we’ve long believed in the power of ideas to change not just perceptions, but behaviours. This campaign is an opportunity to apply that thinking to an issue that has real impact for individuals, families and communities across the country,” Woods added.
“It’s a “privilege” to work on a project “so crucial to the future health and wellbeing of young Australians and the nation,” Fiftyfive5 managing director Jenny Witham said.
“At Fiftyfive5, we believe that meaningful change begins with meaningful understanding. By deeply listening to parents, young people, teachers and coaches and surfacing the truths that matter most, we’re not just informing a campaign, we’re laying the foundation for a cultural shift in how we think and act to support brain health, head trauma, and long-term wellbeing,” Witham added.
The integrated public health awareness and education campaign will focus on the long-term risks of head trauma and benefits of early intervention. Despite the growing impact of dementia, awareness of its risk factors, including head trauma, remains limited. Repeated head trauma is linked to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which can lead to dementia.
