The horror of last summer’s bush fires hasn’t left rural NSW and a new fire season is about to begin. NSW Rural Fire Service has launched a new campaign through Wunderman Thompson Australia urging the people of NSW to plan and prepare. The campaign idea is very simple, learn from those who were caught. Fire Lessons features residents affected by last summer’s fires talking about their experiences, losses, and lessons learned.

It is the first NSW Government bush fire campaign to go live since last year’s fire season, which was the worst for NSW in living memory. Twenty-six lives and more than 2,000 homes were lost, and there was a significant impact on the environment and communities across the State.

The campaign’s lead film features Jim Hughes, a South Coast resident who lost his home on New Year’s Eve. Jim recorded from a distance as his home burned down in front of his eyes. In the campaign, Jim recounts his experience to ask Australians the question, How fireproof is your plan?

In a supporting film, Jim reads his own emotive poem, I just want to go home, which helped him process the bereavement that comes with being displaced from his family home.

Angela Morris, national chief strategy officer, Wunderman Thompson, commented, “Despite last year’s devastating bush fire season, there is still a need to remind households in at-risk areas that they need to plan and prepare properly for this season. The question at the centre of last year’s campaign, How fireproof is your plan?, resonated strongly, so we wanted to build on this. Our challenge was how to do this sensitively.

“Our solution was to tell authentic stories, based on self-reflection about the fires and preparation, to really ensure the message about the importance of proper preparedness gets through. That’s why creatively this year’s campaign features the perspective of fire-affected residents like Jim, rather than messages from the RFS.”

Anthony Clark, director communications and engagement at the NSW RFS, stated, “Last fire season was unprecedented in terms of fire danger, fire activity and impact on the community. So often after fires we hear how people wished they did more to plan and prepare, and this is one of the key fire lessons.

“The challenge has been delivering a campaign that is authentic and sensitive and by using real people and real stories, it underlines the very real danger posed by fires while also giving some hope as communities continue to recover from this terrible fire event.”

The Fire Lessons campaign will run in the fire season from October 2020 through to March 2021 and launches with 60-, 30- and 15-second TVCs. The campaign extends to OOH, social media and online videos, digital banners and site takeovers, radio, and localised press campaigns tailored to the context of each local at-risk area.

Credits 

I just want to go home written by Jim Hughes.

Creative Agency: Wunderman Thompson 
National Chief Creative Officer: Simon Langley
National Chief Strategy Officer: Angela Morris
Associate Creative Director: Steven Hey & Simon Koay
Partner: Ana Lynch
Group Engagement Lead: Sheridan Turner
Engagement Manager: Rebekah O’Grady
Senior Broadcast Producer: Gabe Hammond

Post-Production: Wunderman Thompson
Editor (film): Phil Horn
Colourist: Matt Fezz
Flame Op: Richard Lambert
Post-Producer: Chloe Marshall
Editor (social): Kel Gronow

Casting: Lucky Break Creative

Sound Design: SongZu

Media: Atomic 212°