New Gidget Foundation Australia campaign shows newborn parents need our care too via Ogilvy

The harrowing sight of a newborn’s carer struggling to cope with the demands of early parenthood is played out in a confronting new Gidget Foundation Australia campaign, developed by Ogilvy Network ANZ.

Live this week, the new campaign aims to remind the broader community that newborn parents need as much tender care as their babies, in what can be an overwhelming time of change for many.  Using the endline ‘Gidget Foundation is here for you’, it also positions the not-for-profit organisation as a leading point of emotional support and mental health care for expectant and new parents.

The campaign was developed as a joint project between WPP, Ogilvy Network ANZ and Hogarth, spearheaded by WPP’s chief strategy officer Katie Rigg-Smith, and Ogilvy ECDs Kristal Knight (NZ) and Hilary Badger (Melbourne) who led creative.

Knight explained that emotive imagery and audio had been deliberately used throughout the campaign’s executions, to cut through an otherwise idealised image of parenting in the early years: “This campaign aims to evoke those deep protective feelings we all have for the vulnerability of newborn babies, and then with a rug-pull moment reveal that their parents are newborn too.

“As mums ourselves, Hilary and I related deeply to those overwhelming feelings of being lost in a whole new world of sleeplessness, responsibility, fear and the pressure to act like everything’s peachy. We have huge admiration for the Gidget Foundation and hope this campaign shows that they’re here to help anyone who’s struggling, and provides a frank reminder to all Australians that new parents need as much nurturing support as their babies.”

Arabella Gibson, CEO Gidget Foundation said with perinatal depression and anxiety affecting one in five mothers and one in 10 fathers, it was vital to have a campaign that could target people who are pregnant, parents of babies up to one year old and their families and supporters: “Perinatal mental health issues impact around 100,000 newborn parents in Australia each year.  Maternal suicide is also a leading cause of death amongst expectant and new mothers.  But despite these confronting statistics, admitting that you’re struggling is still stigmatised because the newborn years are supposed to be a bubble of bliss.  We want everyone to understand that perinatal mental health issues are a common and often expected part of parenting, and that help is available.  We’re proud to launch this campaign as a vital step towards more people asking for that help.”

Says Rigg-Smith: “What the Gidget Foundation does is so important it cannot be overstated. It was such a privilege to be part of this journey with them and the team from Ogilvy. It is beautiful work and I genuinely hope we can reach as many people as possible with it.”

The campaign was launched on June 1 to coincide with the Global Day of Parents, and is now live across broadcast TV, BVOD, social, radio, digital OOH, large format OOH, and YouTube.

Gidget Foundation
Arabella Gibson – CEO, Gidget Foundation Australia
Alicia Yelavich – Marketing Director, Gidget Foundation Australia

Creative and strategy: Ogilvy Network ANZ

Production Company:  Finch Company
Producer: Christina Wilmont
Director:  Zia Mandviwalla
Managing Director / Exec Producer:  Corey Esse
Executive Producer:  Nick Simkins
Producer: Amy Dymond
DOP:  Sean Ryan
Production Designer: Janai Anselmi

Casting Agency: Natalie Harvie / Citizen Jane

Post House: ARC EDIT
Editor: Joanna Scott
Post Producer:  Amelia Walton

Sound company: MassiveMusic
Sound Designer: Myles Lowe
Composer: Lance Gurisik
Sound Producer: Luci Roe

Photography Production Company: Photoplay
Photographer: Lester Jones
MD/Exec Producer: Alison Lydiard