Thinkerbell & Guide Dogs Australia: Trust matters

Thinkerbell’s campaigns are always interesting. This one is fascinating. It serves two purposes – it underlines the trust that people can have in Guide Dogs Australia as a charity and highlights the importance of trust between a guide dog and its human.

That Guide Dogs Australia is an organisation built on the values of integrity and trust has been demonstrated by its being awarded Most Trusted Charity Brand as part of Australian Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands for seven years.

Thinkerbell’s new campaign for the charity illustrates the power of trust with an experiment using baby ducklings as a metaphor to show how a person with low vision or blindness places immense trust in their Guide Dog to help navigate through the unpredictability of life in a safe and independent way. The metaphor also extends to the trust placed in the charity by its clients, volunteers, donors and broader community.

Charlie Spendlove, head of marketing & communications centre of excellence at Guide Dogs, stated, “We are delighted with this piece of work that illustrates the trust Guide Dogs has built up over more than 60 years. It marks the beginning of a strong working relationship with the people at Thinkerbell. They have provided some ‘measured magic’ with this campaign, showcasing the essence of what our brand stands for in a very emotive way.”

Thinkerbell’s chief creative tinker, Jim Ingram, added, “In getting to know the Guide Dogs Australia team, their experts and their trainers, we were genuinely impressed by the level of support and care they give to every single client they work with. But the most incredible observations were the abilities of the Guide Dogs and Guide Dogs-in-training as they assist a person with low vision or blindness lead a life with freedom and independence. This prompted us to find a demonstration that truly showcased the level of trust that people with low vision or blindness place in Guide Dogs, both the animals and the organisation, every day.”

The person featured in the campaign Liz, is a client of Guide Dogs. Liz was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at 18 years old and was matched with her first guide dog five years ago. The Guide Dog featured is Jazi – a 20 month old black Labrador trained by Guide Dogs Australia. The ducklings used in the campaign were supplied by Michelle’s Happy Hens & Ducklings and are raised and sold as pets. The welfare of everyone involved, including dogs, ducks and humans was priority during the creation of the work, with no harm coming to any.

The campaign aims to help Guide Dogs continue to receive the support of the community on which it relies to fund its work providing services for Australians with low vision or blindness.

More about the experiment here.