The One House To Save Many campaign is a rare example of how marketing can have a broader impact.
Leo Burnett Sydney's campaign, working with The Glue Society for Suncorp, was the winner of a 2022 Cannes Lions Grand Prix in the Innovation section.
Jury President, Cleve Gibbon, CTO, Wunderman Thompson, US: "Every year in Australia, homes are destroyed and billions are spent on rebuilding communities due to extreme weather events.
"The One House set out to achieve something never done before — it democratises access to resilient housing materials to protect homes against tropical cyclones, floods, and fires.
"This housing solution was brought to life through a creative brand/agency partnership backed by the Australian government to deliver a commercially viable transformative product.
"As a jury, we were blown away by the boldness of the idea, the creative bravery of the execution, and the massive societal, environmental and economic impact. One House innovation has started a movement."
Georgia Phillips, COO at specialist brand and communications insights agency Luma Research: "What started out as a marketing initiative could help to save lives, livelihoods and lifestyles of Australians."
Independent creative director Adrian Elton credits the ultimate success to the urgency the campaign created in implemeting a proactive and responsible climate change policy.
He said: "Whilst the perfectly penned positioning line or campaign thought is still a thing of abstract wonder, given the state of the world and the urgency to implement responsible and proactive climate policy, it's a refreshing change to see advertising thinking that addresses this far more existential stuff."
The campaign portrays housing that is resilient to fire, flood, storm and cyclone.
How did the campaign leverage such success and reach a wider audience?
Phillips says: "The success of the campaign lies in its ability to tap into the emotion and our motivation to avoid negative outcomes. The Suncorp initiative provides a well-researched and legitimate, practical solution to a fundamental issue for so many Australians. It successfully taps into the basic human instinct of fear.
"Consumers watching the creative and mini-documentary would naturally relate to the feelings of losing our habitat one of our key physiological needs. It is something that we all want to avoid, to protect our loved ones, our belongings and our home.
"The timing of the campaign launch in April of 2021 would also have played a role with memories of recent floods, fires and cyclones all top of mind for people on top of fear linked to pandemic. We were looking for a sense of hope, and this work from Suncorp and team, provided a glimmer of just that."
Elton credits the success of the campaign to the selflessness and truth behind the creative process, marketing and media production, stating that the creatives have taken away the essence of, "me, me, me" and created "we".
He says: "One of the ongoing challenges of our times is being able to see beyond our frosted bubbles, and to listen beyond our calcified echo chambers. As advertising practitioners we can often get caught up in the self referential pursuit of writing the perfect zinger of a headline, or else losing sleep over whether the talent is going to 'bring it' once the cameras are rolling.
"In stark contrast to that frame of reference, Leo Burnett Sydney has just won the coveted Cannes Lion Grand Prix in Innovation, demonstrating what's possible when the end game isn't necessarily just about making ads.
"Noting the seismic task that their client, Suncorp, faced with the insurance cleanup in Queensland following the catastrophic floods, the Leo Burnett team pondered whether a house could be designed and built which could withstand the ravages of flood, fire and cyclones by consolidating the best cross-disciplinary research and technology.
"Bringing together bedfellows as diverse as Room 11 Architects and the CSIRO, a prototype house was developed over a 2 year period that provides a compelling answer."
Leo Burnett and The Glue Society worked with leading experts at James Cook University, the CSIRO and Room 11 Architects, to design, test and build a prototype a home.
Andy Fergusson, Leo Burnett executive creative director, said at the campaign release: "This is an idea that has the potential to affect thousands of peoples’ lives. It’s remarkable to see how, time and time again, Australians demonstrate their resilience in the face of natural disasters.
"Working with Suncorp, we wanted to do something that makes a tangible difference – that prompts changes in the way homes are built and encourages people to see that more needs to and can be done to withstand the inevitable impacts of climate change. ‘One House to Save Many’ aims to make more homes as robust as Australians themselves.”
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