9 February saw Paralympics Australia launch a new campaign aimed at encouraging Australians to throw their support behind the Paralympic team ahead of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
Titled ‘Imagine What We Can Do’, the campaign was developed by Publicis Worldwide Australia and inspired by Paralympics Australia’s new brand positioning ‘Imagine What We Can Do’.
Launched to leverage the ‘200 days to go’ mark, the integrated ‘See What We Can Do’ work provokes Australians to imagine what our Paralympians could achieve with the full weight of the nation behind them.
The countdown is ON 🙌 @AUSParalympics#StanSportAU #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/BSBuSpZrMZ
— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) February 9, 2024
Paralympian Rowan Crothers (@magnetbrain) is rallying all Australians to get behind the Australian Paralympic Team and #ImagineWhatWeCanDo in #Paris2024.
Read the full story as we celebrate 200 days to go to the @Paralympics: https://t.co/PiYyK1FAuz@wwos #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/NnNdHuF1ka
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) February 9, 2024
It was informed by the fact that 18% of Australians live with a disability: one in four of whom currently participate in a sports-related activity once a week or more. Yet, three in four say that they would like to play, with factors such as a lack of available coaching and facilities common barriers. So, the marketing push encourages Australia’s sporting community and the broader society to remove these obstacles people with disability face when looking to participate in sport by sharing the personal and professional journeys of prominent Paralympians.
The work is showcased via a partnership with Paralympics broadcaster NINE across TV, radio, digital and print, along with media partners, News Corp Australia in digital and print, and QMS in out of home, in the lead up to and during the Games. Plus additional campaign activity will run across social, content and fan engagement.
The spearhead launch spot was supported by a series of individual athlete focused films which were posted across social channels and hosted at the campaign’s web hub at www.paralympic.org.au/imagine.
The creative pieces spotlight Paralympians Chris Bond (wheelchair rugby), Paige Greco (para-cycling) and Taymon Kenton-Smith (para-archery) alongside para-swimmers Rowan Crothers, Katja Dedekind and Ruby Storm as they reflect on the biases they have overcome, their successes and their future aspirations. As the athletes speak, images of key milestones in their stories are projected across their bodies and the walls around them.
The campaign was briefed in by and created for a team at Paralympics Australia which included Cameron Murray (Head of Commercial, Communications & Brand), Brendon Harrington (General Manager, Brand, Marketing & Digital) and Amy Miller (Senior Manager, Brand, Marketing & Digital).
It was conceived and created by a group at Publicis Worldwide Australia led by Michelle Sakzewski (Client Partner), Simone Waugh (Strategy), Ryan Petie (Executive Creative Director) and Chris Moore (Producer), with Oliver Sindle (Director/Editor) and Karen Hayward (Producer).
“At Paralympics Australia, we envision a society where all Australians have the opportunity to play sport, regardless of their ability. As we head towards Paris 2024, we hope this campaign encourages our fellow Aussies to get behind these phenomenal high-performance athletes as they step onto the world stage,” said Paralympics Australia chief executive officer, Catherine Clark.
“We also hope to inspire every person with a disability to imagine what they can do and participate in sport. And to enable them to take part, we’re aiming to engage sports organisations, coaches, businesses and all levels of government to make the change needed to remove the barriers currently in our society so they can play, train and compete for our nation”.
“When speaking to Paralympic athletes, they all describe the incredible barriers they have overcome both in life and to play their sport. They’ve encountered people who have said, ‘You can’t do that’. So, we wanted to inspire athletes and Australia to imagine what we CAN do if all of us got behind our Paralympic athletes on the path to Paris 2024 and beyond,” said Publicis Worldwide Australia managing director, Simone Waugh.
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