With the Cairns Hatchlings, presented by Yahoo, wrapped for another year, we’ve been taking a look back at the work produced by the Round 2 runners-up, live in Cairns.
Round 2 tasked entrants with responding to a real challenge from the UN Foundation and OCHA, to raise US$23 billion (AU$32.8 billion) and save 87 million lives in 2026. The task had to be built around the single unifying platform idea of ‘Reunite for Humanity.’
Entrants had 24 hours to respond to the brief and submit their final work.
Grab an ultra early bird ticket to Cairns Crocodiles, presented by Pinterest 2027 now.
Last time, we looked at the strategy category. Up next is the OOH category.
Abby Roberts and Hannah Bryce, Rumble Strategic Creative
Bryce and Roberts identified a trust deficit as the central obstacle. They noted that while institutions have lost credibility, the systems people grew up with (brands, rivals, platforms) haven’t.
Their insight: some of the most powerful unions in history were unexpected ones.
Their response was ‘Reunite for Humanity’. A strategy that spliced the world’s most recognisable rivals into the same frame, to transform competing brands, sporting rivals and cultural opposites into a shared symbol of unity that contributes to the United Nations Foundation’s humanitarian fund.
The two-phase rollout launched with spliced, contextually relevant OOH pairings across retail, events, sport and nightlife precincts. It would then evolve into a live donation tracker that swaps brand rivals for everyday contributors, crediting individual donors in real time across the network.
Its goal: to prove that if the most divided pairs can share a moment, the rest of us have no excuse not to.
Ruby Meers and Cara Edwards, POLY, oOh!media
Meers and Edwards identifed decision fatigue around generosity as the central obstacle. They noted that while Australians are increasingly self-focused under cost-of-living pressure, the habit of quietly carrying others already exists with most family plans already running with one person footing the bill for everyone else.
Their insight: sharing is already the norm, so people to extend the guest list.
Their response was ‘Reunite for Humanity’. A campaign that turned the familiar streaming profile-picker into the moment of action, adding the UN as an extra profile alongside the usual family and friends. It reframed a donation as simply making room for one more.
The two-phase rollout launched with awareness-stage OOH that updated in real time across digital panels and billboards. It would then scale into a centrepiece interactive unit: a giant digital profile interface in public space where people can physically switch their plan from family to humanity, inputting a name and avatar that updates the board instantly for social proof and shared visibility.
The goal: prove that generosity only counts if it’s real and to make carrying one more person as frictionless as any other subscription decision.
Winners: Sophie Whitehead and Sophie Harper, Saatchi & Saatchi
Harper and Whitehead identified wasted spending as the central obstacle. They noted that while young Australians feel too stretched to give, they’re already spending the money elsewhere. They stated that the average Aussie under 30 puts $178 a month into subscriptions they barely use.
Their insight: that’s money already leaving the wallet, just not changing any lives yet.
Their response was ‘Unlock Humanity+’. A strategy that borrowed the exact UX, language and psychology of subscription culture: upgrade prompts, free trial pop-ups, in-app currencies. It repurposed them to convert subscribers into humanitarian donors for $1 a month.
The rollout spanned three placements: motion-enabled digital billboards that splice familiar subscription prompts (“Unlimited Streams,” “Upgrade Storage”) against real UN imagery to make global emergencies feel locally relevant; programmatic contextual DOOH with interactive NFC screens that use live OCHA data to show donors the real-time, real-world impact of their dollar; and transit OOH that turns Sydney’s daily Opal tap-on ritual into a “double tap” subscription moment on buses, trains and light rail.
Its goal: to make humanitarian action feel exactly as frictionless as everyday digital spending.
Click here to view all the 2026 Cairns Hatchlings, presented by Yahoo winners across every category!
