ACM, VML, Wavemaker, Paramount, Media Merchants and many media owners have thrown their support behind Kindness Factory and the World Kindness Day on 13 November. Thanks to the industry’s support, over 6 million acts of kindness have now been logged on Kindness Factory’s website.
The event was supported by a clever, tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign created by VML, featuring big, bold, eye-catching and thought-provoking Public Kindness Announcements encouraging people to be kind and attentive to the people around them.
Says Jack Delmonte, creative director at VML: “How often do you get a brief to simply encourage people to be kind. You don’t… Except, we did. Not only do we get to flex creatively, but we also get to do it with amazing people for an awesome cause. I absolutely love what Kath and the Kindness Factory is all about and we’re very proud to be a part of it as both people and as an agency.”
The Wavemaker team supported the campaign with media strategy and planning, securing nearly $5 million worth of pro-bono media inventory. The media owners supporting the campaign included SCA, oOh! Media, Motio, GOA, Nine, Foxtel, OA Collective, The Media Shop, ARN, Val Morgan, ACM, Paramount, JCDecaux, Seven, Spotify, Tonic Health Network, Scentre, MOOVE, Cartology, Yahoo, ATN, LadBible, Pedestrian, Nova, Vevo, Amazon, REA, Mamamia, SBS, AreMedia and XAustralia.
Says Philippa Noilea-Tani, chief investment officer at Wavemaker: “I am continually inspired by what we can achieve as an industry when we work together. I am so appreciative to have had the opportunity to work alongside an amazing network of people, to help make the world a kinder place, and I am very grateful to our media partners who are helping us drive positive societal change.”
ACM, a long-term official media partner of Kindness Factory, used its 14 daily news mastheads to encourage their readers to log acts of kindness. In the lead up to the event, they also ran a Mascot Drawing Competition, challenging school children around the country to create mascots of the 12 attributes of kindness. The winners were announced on World Kindness Day with the “Self Acceptance Sausage Dog Sammy” drawn by Katie Keane from Port Fairy as the overall winner. They also awarded an internal ACM Kindness Champion award to Rebecca Vanderpol.
Says Tony Kendall, managing director of ACM: “ACM is the trusted voice in regional Australia and we take our role of supporting these communities very seriously. By partnering with the Kindness Factory we are playing an integral role in their mission to create a kinder and more resilient world. The work that Kath and the team at Kindness Factory do to keep communities mentally healthy, in particular the next generation, is critical for the long-term sustainability of communities. We are really proud of the partnership we’ve formed and the impact it’s having.”
Many other companies also got their kind on for the day with Wavemaker QLD sharing kindness cards and donuts with their staff and Media Merchants in Brisbane running a fundraising morning tea.
Kath Koschel, founder of Kindness Factory, thanked the industry for their support: “We are so grateful for UnLtd, ACM, VMLY&R and Wavemaker for their continued support, and all the other media organisations who helped us make this World Kindness Day the biggest one yet!
“Gratitude is one of the 12 attributes of kindness and this week we have over 6 million reasons to be grateful for everyone who helped spread the word or log an act of kindness. Our mission is to create kinder communities and the advertising industry’s support plays such a big role in helping us cultivate kindness across the country. Thank you for your generosity.”
