Swinburne University of Technology advertising students have considered the role brands can play in communicating First Nations issues in an industry-aligned project, mentored by dentsu's specialist Indigenous communications agency Cox Inall Ridgeway.
The semester-long project in the Advertising Issues: Regulation, Ethics and Cultural Considerations subject focused on the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum, asking students to create a communications strategy and integrated media campaign around it for a major Australian brand of their choosing.
Tiernan Campbell-O’Brien, a senior consultant at Cox Inall Ridgeway, said many advertisers and media have had no prior learning in ensuring their content is relatable, inclusive and sensitive to First Nations peoples.
“Challenging students to learn how to create a communications concept and strategy that is related to a First Nations topic puts them in a better position when they go on to their chosen profession and communicate to Australian audiences,” he said.
Swinburne advertising lecturer and course coordinator David Reid said the project aims to build students’ Indigenous cultural awareness and instil the knowledge and skills necessary for today’s complex and constantly evolving business environment.
“Industry feedback has highlighted gaps in specialist knowledge applied to the field and an increasing push to ramp up digital literacy and technology literacy with an expectation graduates will already have a high standard of information literacy. Cultural literacy is also developing as an important area,” he said.
Student Georgia Back says the project gave her more of an insight into how to create a communications strategy for an organisation and deepened her understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander matters.
“For many of us the opportunity to engage in such a referendum is rare. It has been a uniquely enlightening experience to explore the most effective means of communication for a referendum and to grasp its immense significance,” she said.
Back's group chose to create a strategy and campaign for a major road operation company focusing on how the brand could educate employees about the upcoming referendum and educate them more broadly to help them make an informed decision at the ballot box.
Their approach included ‘soft sell’ internal communications including emails and informational videos from leadership and a cultural dinner to provide opportunity to learn and discuss the role they can play in the referendum.
Tiernan said brands will increasingly be looked upon to stand up on issues of inclusion and representation.
“People have used their power as consumers to drive brands further, demanding they consider the environment, their staff (equal pay and diversity) and social issues. As such, brands can use their influence (along with people) to lead by example, to educate when the issue is not well understood and use their platform to amplify First Nations voices,” he said.
“We hope the students were able to learn a lot more about First Nations affairs, the upcoming referendum and how better we can communicate to all, if we are inclusive of First Nations people.”
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