:

SUB CATEGORY :

BRAND VOICE & STRATEGIC STORYTELLING

COMPANY ENTERING :

LEO BURNETT SYDNEY, SYDNEY

TITLE :

BONDS OUT NOW

BRAND :

BONDS

ADVERTISER :

BONDS

AGENCY :

LEO BURNETT MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER :

JASON WILLIAMS

CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

DANIEL PIZZATO

COPYWRITER :

ELLIE DUNN

ART DIRECTOR :

STACEY KARAYANIS

AGENCY PRODUCER :

KAELENE MORTON

PRODUCER :

ROSEY KARAULA

PHOTOGRAPHER :

TRACEY LEE HAYES

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR :

KIM THOMPSON

MEDIA AGENCY :

OMD, SYDNEY

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

FOR LGBTQIA+ YOUTH, COMING OUT CAN STILL BE DIFFICULT. SO TO LAUNCH BONDS’ FIRST EVER PRIDE RANGE, WE PARTNERED WITH QUEER YOUTH CHARITY MINUS18 AND TRANSFORMED THE EVERYDAY FASHION PHRASE, ‘OUT NOW’, INTO A POWERFUL PLATFORM OF PRIDE AND SUPPORT. THROUGH A VIBRANT SET OF POSTERS, BONDS OUT NOW FEATURED 55 EVERYDAY AUSSIES FROM THE QUEER COMMUNITY PROUDLY SHARING HOW LONG THEY’D BEEN ‘OUT NOW’ FOR, TO HELP QUEER YOUTH FEEL SUPPORTED TO LIVE OUT AND PROUD. WE SHARED THE IMAGES OUT IN THE WORLD, AND OUT THERE ONLINE, THE CAST SHARED THEIR COMING OUT STORIES TO HELP INSPIRE THE YOUNGER GENERATION. DURING SYDNEY’S GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS, WE ALSO LAUNCHED THE OUT NOW EXHIBITION: A REPURPOSED RETAIL STORE WHERE OUR PORTRAITS WERE PROUDLY DISPLAYED, AND WHERE QUEER REVELLERS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD JOINED IN TO HAVE THEIR PORTRAITS TAKEN. FOR EVERY PORTRAIT SHARED ONLINE, BONDS DONATED $1 TO MINUS18, RAISING THOUSANDS OF LIFE-CHANGING DOLLARS. THROUGH BONDS OUT NOW, WE HELPED QUEER YOUTH FEEL SUPPORTED TO LIVE OUT AND PROUD – NOW AND FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

THE BRIEF :

FOR THEIR 2020 PRIDE RANGE CAMPAIGN, BONDS’ OBJECTIVE WAS TO ‘MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY’.

THE STRATEGY :

FOR LGBTQIA+ PEOPLE, THE VALUE OF REPRESENTING AND CELEBRATING THEIR STORIES CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED, WITH QUEER YOUTH ESPECIALLY SUFFERING FROM HIGHER RATES OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. IN PARTICULAR, WE KNEW THAT FOR LGBTQIA+ YOUTH, COMING OUT IN 2020 COULD STILL BE DIFFICULT. AS AN ICONIC AUSTRALIAN UNDERWEAR BRAND, OUR STRATEGY WAS TO USE THE FASHION SPACE IN A WAY THAT COULD HELP QUEER YOUTH FEEL COMFORTABLE AND EMPOWERED TO LIVE AS THEIR TRUE SELVES.

THE EXECUTION :

TO LAUNCH THE NEW BONDS PRIDE RANGE, WE PARTNERED WITH AUSTRALIA’S LEADING QUEER YOUTH CHARITY MINUS18, AND CREATED A PLATFORM THAT COULD GIVE MEANINGFUL SUPPORT. THIS IDEA WAS BONDS OUT NOW: TURNING AN EVERYDAY FASHION PHRASE INTO A POWERFUL PLATFORM OF PRIDE AND SUPPORT. WE RECRUITED 55 EVERYDAY AUSSIES FROM THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY WHO WERE WILLING TO PUT THEMSELVES OUT THERE IN THE NEW BONDS PRIDE RANGE. THROUGH A VIBRANT SET OF POSTERS, THE FASHION PHRASE ‘OUT NOW’ BECAME A MECHANISM OF PRIDE AND SUPPORT, WITH EACH PERSON SHARING HOW LONG THEY’D BEEN ‘OUT NOW’ FOR.

THE RESULT :

BONDS OUT NOW RECEIVED AN OUTPOURING OF LOVE ONLINE
AND IN THE PRESS, AND BONDS’ FIRST-EVER PRIDE RANGE EXCEEDED ITS SALES TARGET BY 70%. THE CAMPAIGN GARNERED OVER 14.7 MILLION MEDIA IMPRESSIONS, WITH 2.72 MILLION PEOPLE ENGAGING WITH THE CAMPAIGN’S ONLINE CONTENT. THE OUT NOW EXHIBITION ATTRACTED 2,500 VISITORS OVER A THREE-DAY PERIOD, AND SAW HUNDREDS OF QUEER REVELLERS JOIN IN OUR SHOWING OF PRIDE BY HAVING THEIR PORTRAITS TAKEN. FOR EVERY #OUTNOW PORTRAIT THAT WAS SHARED ONLINE, BONDS DONATED $1 TO MINUS18, RAISING $10,000 FOR QUEER YOUTH.