This Australia Day, while you’re doing the traditional Australia Day barbie, the traditional Australian beach day or the traditional Australian pub day, have a look at the people around you.

Aussies now come in all shapes, sizes and colours. So this Australia Day, SBS is challenging Australia’s most creative minds to develop an advertising campaign that demonstrates diversity and reflects the real Australia.

Because, as Andrew Cook, director of Media Sales, notes, “the media has a certain sameness about it that has not really changed as Australia has been changing.”

A new migrant arrives in Australia every 2 minutes & 12 seconds. 28% of people in Australia were born overseas (that’s 6.6 million people). 47% have one or both parents born overseas. 20% of Australians speak a language other than English at home (that’s just under 5 million people) and more than 260 languages are spoken by people in Australia. 11% of the Australian population identify as LGBTQI. [Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011 Census of Population & Housing]

The Diversity Works Challenge is offering $1m of free air-time across SBS TV and digital assets to the brand or agency with the best campaign that features Australia’s diversity prominently, and the TVC will launch in prime time on SBS.

Andrew Cook talked to The Stable about the initiative.

Andrew Cook

The Stable: Where did the idea come from? (It’s a first, yes?)  

Andrew Cook: Yes, this is an original idea when it comes to diversity and advertising in Australia. We gained inspiration for the idea from our friends at Channel 4 in the UK.  Channel 4 offered £1 million of advertising to a winning advertiser who could come up with a great ad campaign that prominently featured disability and disabled talent. 

TS: Brexit and Trump have opened a nasty wound. Why diversity now?

AC: Firstly, diversity isn’t something new to SBS. Given our unique Charter and purpose, we have a responsibility to reflect and explore Australia’s diversity in all that we do. Encouraging diversity in the industry is another way SBS can promote a greater recognition and understanding of the diversity that makes up our country today.

Australia is continuing to change and our population is becoming increasingly multicultural and diverse. While some advertisers are starting to think with diversity, we believe the timing is right to speed up this thinking given the state of population change. We shouldn’t be celebrating every time an ad shows some diversity in thinking – it should just be a normal part of all clients thinking in connecting with all Australians.

TS:  A couple of years ago Cheerios ran a campaign in the US with a multi-racial couple and another with a gay couple. There were a lot hurrahs and a lot of protesting. Do you get anti-diversity (for want of a better term) comments about your programming? 

AC: Not at all. If anything our thought-provoking, distinctive content creates discussion, which is the ultimate goal – for each Australian to better understand one another.

TS: How open is the brief? What criteria will you use to judge the winner? The agency or client has to pay (or find funds for) production costs, yes?

AC: The judges will be looking for a campaign idea that integrates Australia’s diversity into the fabric of the campaign and achieves the brands overall marketing objectives.  In addition to developing a script for a 30 second TVC, a 500 word rationale addressing the criteria must also be submitted.

Judging of the entries will be based on the below criteria and weighting:

• Diversity of Australia is accurately reflected and integrated into the fabric of the campaign – 50%
• The creative strategy is clearly defined and meets the overarching client’s objectives – 30%
• The creative approach is coherent, consistent and cuts through – 20%

The client will need to fund the creative execution.

TS:  Advertising agencies have their own diversity problems. What would you like to say to the industry that’s still ageist and sexist and has at least once this year put its foot in it about not hiring outside white Aussies?

AC: Workplace diversity is highly advantageous. At SBS, we believe the diversity inside our organisation helps us to better reflect, understand and explore diversity across the spectrum of our content. Diversity in all of its forms brings a diversity of perspectives and opinion, which is valuable and increasingly important in our increasingly diverse country.

We are all media players operating in a country where 28% of our population were born overseas and 32% of us are from a non Anglo-Celtic background. We have the best incentive to represent that diversity – both on screen and behind the scenes – if we are to resonate with, and be relevant to, all Australians.

SBS Diversity Works Challenge FAQs: