A shot from the 'History is Calling' Voice to Parliament ad campaign (Image: YouTube)

The official Yes and No campaigns for the referendum on a Voice to Parliament will launch this month. As the government straps in for a neutral ride to educate the public and equip them with the tools — not the answer — to vote, Crikey put the call-out to a collection of creative agencies to determine their vision and version of the who, what, when, where and why in such a campaign.

An audience of many

Creative director of Indigenous creative agency Ingeous Studios Leigh Harris, a Kanolu and Gungarri man, called the critical “who” a motley mix of middle-aged white Australia, “allies”, pro-treaty (and No-voting) Indigenous peoples, fresh-faced voters, and rural and remote Indigenous communities. He said that a one-size-fits-all campaign won’t reach each piece of this puzzle.

The 30-to-65-year-old “Australian bogan” cohort might respond to someone on par with the late Chopper Read talking to them through a television commercial, Harris said. But for a Black audience that is pushing for treaty and saying no to a Voice, traditional advertising has its limits.

“If you go and roll out this ad campaign with blackfellas, some of them will come for it, others will just say, ‘Bullshit, I’m going to vote No,’” Harris told Crikey.

“For a lot of mob, unless they hear it from the horse’s mouth, they’re not going to believe it as true.”

Rather than a single agency at the helm, Harris wants lots of little local creatives — Indigenous and non-Indigenous — to feed content into a big umbrella project. He said that allows for tailored talking points to Black and white Australia.

Based in Cairns, Harris said northern mobs are far removed from what he calls the “golden triangle” of Indigenous decision-making: the Melbourne-Sydney-Canberra collective that “propagates everything”. Remote Indigenous communities in these parts are not focused on the to-and-fro of a Voice because they’re “battling day in and out to survive”. Any campaign delivered to rural and remote areas from a city focus simply “won’t hit the ground”.

Instead, Harris wants to pump the nation with an animated rendition of the 1987 Warumpi Band hit “Black Fella White Fella”.

“A lot of white fellas haven’t heard that song, but it’s got the strength of what needs to be said. It’s not a Qantas song, it’s this down-to-earth desert song that tells a story that is holistically about blackfella and whitefella and any fella,” he said.

A call for copy

The 2016 same-sex marriage plebiscite’s Yes campaign boiled down to four no-frills words: “Say yes to love”. Unlike that campaign, which had near-unanimous support from the community being voted on, Indigenous peoples are currently split on the vote for a Voice to Parliament.

Gurindji man and strategic director of Indigenous creative agency Little Rocket John Burgess told Crikey this is because Indigenous peoples are not a homogenised group, albeit sharing “commonalities and similarities”.

“When has this ever been attempted, to unify hundreds of nations behind one voice?” he said.

It’s no small task, but from a marketing perspective Burgess says the messaging should lean into the “once in a lifetime, once in a generation opportunity”. It’s a “step of self-determination” that he says starts with First Nations peoples at the vanguard of any Voice campaign.

“Mainstream agencies without adequate representation, cultural training, staff and links to the community will be working off an inadequate base that has the potential to derail the movement further.”

Pitching to a white voter base, advertising agencies say there is a real need for something short, sweet and simple.

Sydney-based agency Common Ventures executive creative director Brian Merrifield is confident a simple catchphrase (on par with the plebiscite’s use of “love”) will cut through. Whether it comes from community, from a politician pushing back on a narrative, or from a soundbite in the evening news, he said it’s up to advertising agencies to listen, watch and capitalise on what’s playing out in the public sphere.

“We all know that most people can’t ‘make a viral’ — unless you’re Mr Beast — but when it happens organically, you’d hope that the agency involved would help it grow,” Merrifield told Crikey.

In terms of fleshing out the finer print of a Voice to Parliament, Merrifield said that an explainer campaign risks “unintentionally endorsing a No vote” (in line with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s calls for more details), but if done right will serve as a source of strength for team Yes.

Advertising 101 is to talk to those that need to be made aware (inform), those who know a little bit or need more information (educate), and those who need a push to do something (act).

But right now Merrifield is opting for straight and simple: “The only question to be communicated is ‘Do you believe in a democracy?’”

Let’s get people talking

The vote on a Voice to Parliament is at minimum seven months away — Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney ballparked it as August to November — but debate and division among politicians, prominent Australians and the public is well underway.

Creative director Karen Ferry said this is all the more reason for a “no drama” approach: “The No campaign is trying to make it hysterical and dramatic. The government is doing the right thing by saying, ‘No, this isn’t a dramatic thing.’ They’re taking the fuel out of it. They’re removing the drama.”

Instead of hype, she argues advertising agencies should tap into the “social permissibility” side of things. The current culture in Australia is to keep your vote to yourself — a practice that Ferry says makes people think their choices, often underpinned by racism, seem more acceptable. She says it’s on the advertising industry to show people that “my friends, my family, my community” are on-side. This socialises the vote and drains any “stigma”.

Up in Cape York at the bowls club on a Friday night, Harris is already making inroads: “The white people I talk to, they’re mostly farmers, a bit rednecky. They’re still a bit uneducated about Black politics, but when we all rock up, it’s open arms. Those mob have an attitude to say, ‘Ok, I know it’s time to pull blackfellas in.’ They’re on-side.”