FCB NZ’s It’s Not OK campaign shows how family violence isn’t bound by socio-economic status

Case Study: FCB NZ recently launched a campaign for It’s Not OK to shine a light on the prevalent issue of family violence in New Zealand. Contrary to popular belief, violence occurs in every sector of society, including high socio-economic households too – a shocking one in four. To tell this story, rather than an ad, FCB created an unexpected article in the pages of the glossy June/July issue of HOME magazine.

The magazine feature presents itself like any other editorial – an architecturally designed home, found in the wealthy, leafy suburbs and owned by a regular looking couple. But all is not as it seems. Within the eight-page spread viewers discover an up-turned chair, smashed vases, a broken table and a blood smeared banister. The editorial concludes with an important message: “Family violence can happen in any home. Last year alone, police made more than 100,000 family violence investigations across the country, in every kind of neighbourhood.”

The editorial feature was integrated seamlessly into the magazine, with all images shot by HOME’s photographer to fit with the usual theme and feel and written in collaboration between FCB and HOME’s writers.

The result was the most talked about HOME issue in 73 years, with the feature reaching an audience of 1.1 million people – over 10 times the magazine’s circulation. The campaign also gained celebrity support with stars such as Liam Neeson, the All Blacks and the NZ Government talking about the issue on social media. It has also received critical praise with a Silver Award in the Media category, at the Spikes Asia Festival.

Says Jeremy Hansen, editor of HOME magazine: “We were amazed by the positive response to the piece: multiple emails thanking us for raising the issue, praise for its subtlety and impact, and a stunning online response, with HOME’s own Facebook post about the campaign reaching 41,136 people.

“The response reminded us of the power of a smart multi-media campaign with print as its foundation to inform a wide audience about an important issue. It was enormously satisfying to work with IT’S NOT OK and FCB to tell more people about their vital work.”

Key findings about family violence show:

·         26% of women who live in a home with a household income over $100,000 per year, have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner

·         One in four women who have completed a university degree or higher (postgraduate degree), have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner

For more information on this campaign please visit: www.areyouok.org.nz and http://homemagazine.co.nz/does-something-seem-strange-to-you/.