Tackling coercive control.
A WA Government campaign reframes the way Western Australians look at family and domestic violence and educates on the subtle but insidious nature of coercive control.
Developed by 303 MullenLowe Perth and implemented by Carat WA, the work highlights different types of abuse using the tagline ‘It doesn’t have to be physical. Coercive control is family and domestic violence’.
It focuses on educating the public, including perpetrators, victim-survivors and those around them, to understand what coercive control is, and the impact it can have on individuals, families and communities.
It is the first phase of a two-year awareness campaign which will be seen across BVOD, OOH, social, digital, radio, ambient, press, and search. 303 MullenLowe’s campaign remit extended across strategy, creative, media strategy, all through-the-line communications, web content, and social executions.
303 MullenLowe Perth ECD Sara Oteri said the campaign uses symbolism to convey the message.
“To make the connection that coercive control isn’t just unacceptable, it IS domestic violence, we borrowed symbolism associated with physical violence to mark our footage every time coercive control took place,” she said.
“The technique not only draws your attention to the otherwise subtle abuse taking place, it cements that coercive control is a form of violence, even when it’s not physical.”
Insights from people with lived experience, sector and Aboriginal stakeholders and community members were used to develop the strategy and creative.
303 MullenLowe Perth Chief Strategy Officer Matt Oakley said the discussions had a profound impact on how the team approached the campaign.
“The research groups we attended were hugely enlightening. Not only did we get a far better understanding of the prevailing attitudes and beliefs held on the subject, but you could see a series of light bulb moments,” he said.
“Whether it was men who previously dismissed controlling behaviours, or people with lived experience of family and domestic violence who said that at the time they were unaware of what was happening to them, everyone appreciated just how difficult coercive control is to recognise. We hope the resulting campaign completely reframes the way West Australians look at this issue.”
Carat WA worked collaboratively with 303 MullenLowe and Mediahub to evolve the strategy, connecting critical audience insights with media planning principles to ensure the campaign could evoke the necessary impact it required.
Carat WA client partner Michelle Testa said the research findings were enlightening and highlighted the scale of the job to be done.
“We mobilised the WA media industry to ideate and support the strategy, building bespoke solutions to support the campaign framework. This work challenged the team at every step of the way as they persisted to develop a solution that would get to the heart of the issue,” Testa said.
It is the second campaign launched for the Department of the Premier and Cabinet by 303 MullenLowe, Mediahub and Carat WA in recent months. In July it launched ‘Don’t Assume You’re Immune’ as part of a broader effort to tackle vaccine misinformation.
Credits:
Client:
Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Department of Communities
Creative Agency: 303 MullenLowe Perth
Executive Creative Director- Sara Oteri
Copywriter- Ellysia Burton
Art Director – Stephen Hansen
Chief Strategy Officer - Matt Oakley
Junior Planner - Harvey Clarke-Smith
Head of Production/Agency Producer - Johnathan Julius
Managing Director – René Migliore
Senior Business Director - Holly Creasey
Senior Business Manager - Devon Jackson
Head of Design - Alby Furfaro
Graphic Designer - Lucas Faim
Artworker- Suzanne Whoston & Angela Homann
Mediahub (Media Strategy)
General Manager: Kylie Macey
Carat WA Team
Client Partner: Michelle Testa
Planning Director: Ash Idle
Group Investment Director: Sam Giuffre
Snr Client Manager: Emily Whyte
Client Manager: Morgan Hopkins
Digital Executive: Nicole MacNeil
Client Associate: Oliver O’Meehan
Head of Performance: Sean Birkholtz
Performance Director: Lucy Thompson
Digital Executive: Mae Dolan
Data & Analytics Lead: Griffin Becker
Data & Analytics Director: Meenakshi Mondal
Production Co: Clockwork Films WA
Post Production: Clockwork Films
Executive Producer: Katie Trew
Director: Matt Sav
Stills Photographer: Finlay Mackay
Producer: Anouk Ratnawibhushana
Production Manager: Alex Nell
DOP: Lewis Potts
Casting & Locations: Megan Carpenter
Post Audio: Envelope Audio
Sound Design & Engineering: Ned Beckley
