Guide Dogs Australia is an organisation built on the values of integrity and trust, awarded Most Trusted Charity Brand as part of Australian Reader’s Digest “Most Trusted Brands” for seven years. A new campaign developed with Thinkerbell aims to illustrate this emotion in a powerful and memorable way.
The work ‘An experiment in trust’, uses a challenge maze filled with baby ducklings as a metaphor to show how a person with low vision or blindness places immense trust in their Guide Dog to help navigate through the unpredictability of life in a safe and independent way. This metaphor extends to the trust placed in the charity by their Clients, volunteers, donors and broader community.
At the end of the maze, the Guide Dog Handler and Guide Dog reach a door that opens to the outside world filled with large, moving obstacles – serving to illustrate that this is where the real challenge, which Guide Dogs take on every day, begins.
Charlie Spendlove, head of marketing and communications Centre of Excellence at Guide Dogs said, “We are delighted with this piece of work that illustrates the trust Guide Dogs has built up over more than 60 years. It marks the beginning of a strong working relationship with the people at Thinkerbell. They have provided some ‘measured magic’ with this campaign, showcasing the essence of what our brand stands for in a very emotive way.”
Thinkerbell’s chief creative tinker, Jim Ingram, said, “In getting to know the Guide Dogs Australia team, their experts and their trainers, we were genuinely impressed by the level of support and care they give to every single Client they work with. But, the most incredible observations were the abilities of the Guide Dogs and Guide Dogs-in-training as they assist a person with low vision or blindness lead a life with freedom and independence. This prompted us to find a demonstration that truly showcased the level of trust that people with low vision or blindness place in Guide Dogs, both the animals and the organisation, every day.”
The person featured in the campaign Liz, is a Client of Guide Dogs. Liz was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at 18 years old and was matched with her first guide dog five years ago.
The Guide Dog featured is Jazi – a 20 month old black Labrador trained by Guide Dogs Australia.
The ducklings used in the campaign were supplied by Michelle’s Happy Hens & Ducklings and are raised and sold as pets.
The welfare of everyone involved, including dogs, ducks and humans was priority during the creation of the work, with no harm coming to any.
