The campaign will help to affect behaviour change among young people when it comes to drinking alcohol around water.
Royal Lifesaving WA has launched a new digital campaign via 303 MullenLowe aimed at reducing the number of young Western Australians who are drowning while drinking alcohol around water.
The campaign harnesses an unlikely voice to encourage young people to speak up and look out for each other – ‘Mermates’.
“In the moments of truth when young people are getting into danger, we know it’s their mates who have the best chance of getting through to them," 303 MullenLowe head of planning John Linton says.
"But we also know how hard it is for them to say something in these situations. We wanted to destigmatise doing the right thing by creating a persona our heroes could use to call out their mates’ stupid behaviour.”
Richard Berney, 303 MullenLowe executive creative director, says while lifesaving isn't generally funny, it should be in this case.
“‘Be a Mermate’ arms young people with comedy to get their drunk mates away from water," Berney says.
"It’s a ridiculous idea, and about right if you’re 18 to 24 with a drink in your hand.”
Lauren Nimmo, Royal Life Saving WA Senior Manager, alcohol-related drowning among young people is a huge concern for the organisation.
"The ‘Mermates’ campaign will help to affect behaviour change by giving young people practical tips for how to talk their mates out of danger," Nimmo says.
"We are hoping that it will create a powerful way to turn peer to peer messaging into action to prevent drowning.”
With the help of planning from Mediahub, our dishy fish are releasing their siren song far and wide across digital video, social media, YouTube and a Punkee content partnership.
303 MullenLowe also facilitated a corporate partnership between Royal Lifesaving WA and Rusty Australia that will see the brand’s ambassadors add their voice to the campaign and a line of co-branded merchandise released in 2020.
Credits:
Client: Royal Life Saving WA
Lauren Nimmo – Senior Manager – Health and Promotion
Georgia Eaton – Coordinator – Health and Promotion & Research
Agency: 303 MullenLowe Perth
Head of Planning – John Linton
Executive Creative Director – Richard Berney
Senior Copywriter – Melita Masters
Art Director – Bianca Galan-Dwyer, Stephen Hansen
Media Planning – Kylie Macey / René Migliore
Business Lead – Todd Baker
Business Manager – Eloise Cribb
Producer – Rozanne Fretz
Design / Animation – Alby Furfaro, Jake Ransom, Andrew Allingham
Production:
Production Company: Imaginary Creatures / Boogie Monster
Sound: Cue Sound – Mike Fragomeni
Director: Drew Kendell
Producer: Steve Vojkovic
