Shift 20 Initiative launches Australian-first braille Out-of-Home campaign for people with low vision or blindness via Special and JCDecaux

October 4 2023, 9:20 am | BY Ricki Green | 17 Comments

As part of the Shift 20 Initiative, Special, in partnership with JCDecaux, has unveiled an Australian-first Out-of-Home braille campaign for AAMI, designed to empower individuals with low vision or blindness who read braille.

 

The Shift 20 Initiative, which launched recently, is a coalition of leading brands together with the Dylan Alcott Foundation, focused on increasing disability representation, inclusion and accessibility in Australian advertising and media. The initiative aims to help brands create marketing communications with diverse audiences in mind and encourages them to look for opportunities to make a shift.

Special partnered with JCDecaux on this groundbreaking Out-of-Home campaign concept as part of the Shift 20 launch, collaborating closely to develop this new approach to creative and production – and the hope is that more brands will apply approaches similar to this, in order to create more accessible communications and more broadly, have it become a universal medium for the vision impaired. These Out-of-Home signs units also aim to generate conversation around the issue of accessibility.

Shift 20 Initiative launches Australian-first braille Out-of-Home campaign for people with low vision or blindness via Special and JCDecaux Shift 20 Initiative launches Australian-first braille Out-of-Home campaign for people with low vision or blindness via Special and JCDecaux

The braille inscriptions were written ​​in collaboration with Vision Australia, intended to describe both the visual elements of the creative, as well as the copy. To further enhance accessibility, the creative includes a QR code for the Shift 20 website for those who use text readers.

Says Mim Haysom, EGM brand and customer experience, Suncorp Group: “As Australia’s largest personal insurer, we know how important it is to support diversity and inclusion and represent all Australians in our workforce and through our advertising campaigns.

“Brands have been evolving the way they represent people in our community, but we can and need to do more to support all aspects of diversity and inclusion. Adapting how we deliver these campaigns to achieve greater accessibility is the next step and we’re very proud to be working with Special and JCDeceaux on this Australian-first initiative.”

Says Peter Cvetkovski, creative director at Special: “Accessible communication is not only essential for inclusion but also for building connections with your audience, especially given that almost 4.5 million Australians have some form of disability. Furthermore, it’s important to note that creating accessible advertising is not just about changing how we communicate, but seamlessly integrating accessibility into our everyday lives.”

Shift 20 Initiative launches Australian-first braille Out-of-Home campaign for people with low vision or blindness via Special and JCDecaux Shift 20 Initiative launches Australian-first braille Out-of-Home campaign for people with low vision or blindness via Special and JCDecaux

Says Lama Perrin, group manager creative and digital solutions, JCDecaux: “This collaboration between JCDecaux, the Dylan Alcott Foundation’s Shift 20 Initiative and Special highlights the path to inclusivity in Australian advertising with the launch of an Australian-first Out-of-Home braille campaign for AAMI. Together, we’re not just creating ads; we’re creating accessibility and changing the narrative.”

Special created units for both the Shift 20 initiative and AAMI rolling out across Melbourne and Sydney. The AAMI Out-of-Home unit introduces Lara Nakhle – singer songwriter who is herself blind – as the new voice of the ‘Lucky You’re With AAMI’ jingle (Lara also appears in the AAMI commercial, as the new AAMI woman).

The Out-of-Home campaign will be displayed in Melbourne and Sydney at various locations throughout September and October.

The braille boards are printed on a high-quality composite panel, which can withstand all types of weather conditions and resist warping in the sun. The braille is created using Relief Printing, a process that applies hundreds of layers of ink, adding small percentages at a time, gradually building up the raised braille dots, which is applied on top of the existing creative.

Agency: Special Australia
Partner/CEO: Lindsey Evans
Partners/CCO: Julian Schreiber & Tom Martin
Partner/CSO: Bec Stambanis
Partner/CSO: Dave Hartmann
Executive Creative Director: Ryan Fitzgerald
Creative Director/Creative: Adam Ferrie
Creative Director/Creative: Peter Cvetkovski
Copywriter: Shaun McFarlane
Art Director: Bella Plush
Managing Director, Melbourne: Sarah Raine
Managing Director, Special PR: Alex Bryant
Senior Business Director: Felicity Touzeau
Business Director: Priya  Addams Williams
Business Director: Nick Darrigan
Creative Strategist: Kate Wilkinson
Lead Producer: Charlotte Wren
Head of Stills Production: Nick Lilley
Head Of Design: Adam Shear
Finished Art: John Rivera
Comms Strategy Director: Georgia Thomas

PHD Australia
Managing Director: Simon Lawson
Business Director: Joey Graham
Account Executive: Ben Williams
SEO: James Hanley
Programmatic: Jethro Pacquing & Riana Adams

Omnicom Media Group
Chief Executive Officer: Peter Horgan

JCDecaux
Group Manager Creative & Digital Solutions, Lama Perrin
Account Manager, Kristian Muhllechner
Account Manager, Alec Howat

Talent
Lara Nakhle – AAMI

Printer – Grand Print Services