OMG Partners With Media Owners In Support Of International Paralympic Committee’s #WeThe15 Campaign

Omnicom Media Group has partnered with media owners to support International Paralympic Committee’s #WeThe15 campaign, the world’s biggest inclusivity movement for people with disabilities, created by UK agency adam&eveDDB.

 #WeThe15 launched prior to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics as a 10-year global movement that fights for true inclusivity for the 15 per cent of the world’s population with disabilities (1.2bn people).

The campaign’s symbol (developed by Pentagram) is a visual representation of the 15 per cent and will become synonymous with the movement in the coming months and years.

In an unmissable global launch moment, 125 landmarks across six continents around the world will light up in purple, the campaign colour, including the Empire State Building, the London Eye, the Colosseum, Niagara Falls and the world’s tallest tower, Skytree in Tokyo.

Brand partners will transform their logos, campaigns and social platforms to become 15 per cent purple; a launch film made in partnership with Pulse Films and director Sam Pilling will play out to 250m people during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies; and Paralympians will sport the campaign’s symbol as temporary tattoos.

OMG and its agency OMD have worked with Australian media owners, Val Morgan, oOh! Media, Network Seven, QMS, ARN, SCA, NOV, GOA, BIG Outdoor, Motio, Vicinity, Shopper, Tonic, Westfield, JC Decaux, Nine Entertainment, Foxtel, Channel 10, Twitter, Verizon, and Facebook. The creative has been adapted to be relevant to Australian audiences and will run for the duration of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Peter Horgan, Omnicom Media Group CEO ANZ, explained; “When our teams saw the #WeThe15 campaign it resonated with all of us, and we knew Australia’s media owners would work with us to bring much needed awareness for this cause. Media owners in our market are always very generous in their support for charities and Diversity & Inclusion campaigns, and we want to say a massive thank you for their backing on this important campaign.”

“Across all OMG businesses we are committed to ensuring inclusivity is ingrained in our culture and not a one- off extra passion project. Having prioritised community and purposed based advertising for a number of years, it is hugely rewarding to see work like this that will make a real difference and we can be very proud of”.

The movement, #WeThe15, takes its name from the 15 per cent of the global population who have a disability: the world’s largest marginalised group forgotten by the inclusivity agenda. For these 1.2 billion people, access to basic human rights such as healthcare, education and employment, are at best limited and at worst non-existent, making it harder for people with disabilities to live, work, thrive, or even survive.

Spearheaded by the IPC and International Disability Alliance, #WeThe15 sees the largest-ever coalition of organisations unite behind this cause – 20 in total, including UN Human Rights, UNESCO, Special Olympics, and The Valuable 500 – with the goal of putting people with disabilities at the heart of the inclusivity agenda.

The campaign by adam&eveDDB is supported by an identity developed by Pentagram, a film by Pulse Films directed by Sam Pilling. It launched on Thursday 19 August, five days before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics commenced. The Paralympics mark just the start of a 10-year drive for human rights-based progress for the 15 per cent.

Harry Pearce and team’s striking identity for #WeThe15 includes a wordmark, a symbol, and sonic branding by fellow Pentagram partner Yuri Suzuki. The wordmark echoes the hashtag (to ensure maximum visibility across social media) and the symbol is a clear visual representation of what the percentage actually looks like. Throughout the Paralympics, athletes will wear temporary tattoos made from the #WeThe15 symbol.

Craig Spence, Chief Brand and Communications Officer at the International Paralympic Committee, said:

“At the IPC we believe that Change Starts with Sport and through #WeThe15 we want to change the lives of the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities.

“By partnering with multiple international organisations to launch #WeThe15 ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games we want to use the platform of the world’s third biggest sport event to spark a decade long transformation for the world’s largest marginalised group.”

Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, said:

“One of the reasons why I was inspired to create the Invictus Games was to help destigmatise physical and invisible injuries and give the men and women who have experienced them a platform to show the world that they and we can accomplish anything, when we put our mind to it. Everybody at the Invictus Games Foundation is honoured to join the WeThe15 campaign and believe in its mission to inspire meaningful change in communities around the world.”

Mat Goff, CEO at adam&eveDDB, said:

“WeThe15 gives a voice to the biggest unheard group in the Inclusion agenda. This Tokyo 2020 launch campaign is just the start of a movement that will drive real change for over a billion people worldwide. The more brands and organisations and people that get involved in this movement, the louder that voice will be and the faster the change will come.”