The APG Creative Strategy Awards Shortlist 2009: RSPCA NSW Australia

CREDITS
Planned by: David Hartmann
Agency: The Campaign Palace, Sydney
Brand: RSPCA NSW Australia
Campaign: You need the RSPCA. The RSPCA needs you

PANEL'S VIEW

Planning is at its most powerful when it reframes a complex problem - one with creative, financial, cultural, political and emotional dimensions - with a simple thought. This paper, for the Australian RSPCA, cuts across these multiple dimensions by linking animal welfare to human welfare.

This simple thought, as put forward by The Campaign Palace, was unearthed through research into the daily work of animal welfare officers. Planners were expecting to see cuddly kittens being rescued from trees. What they witnessed instead were officers counselling battered wives, women who would stay with abusive husbands to protect the family dog. Or officers responding to an anonymous tip-off about dozens of cats being kept in cruel conditions. The mentally ill person, and not the cats, were the focus.

By concentrating on the RSPCA's impact on human welfare, the work earned tax-free status for the charity, increased the level of donations, recruited new donors, galvanised staff, and brought much-needed attention to the plight of both abused animals and abused people.

This article was first published on Campaign