By Mike Wacher, Senior Planner, ACON.

WorldPride is one of the largest international events that celebrates the strength and uniqueness of gender diverse and sexuality diverse communities from around the world. It’s a celebration of love, equality, pride and progress that brings the global LGBTQ+ community together.

For the first time, the event would be held in a Southern Hemisphere destination – in Sydney/Gadigal Land – and would be the biggest event held in Sydney since the 2000 Olympics.

With the sheer magnitude of visitors anticipated to descend upon the shores of the Harbour City, it presented an opportunity for ACON – NSW’s leading health organisation for gender diverse and sexuality diverse communities – to communicate a message that spoke to the broader LGBTQ+ community and showcase the diversity of Sydney both in its people and its land. We wanted to welcome visitors from near and far with open arms and show them how we do it Down Under.

A social marketing campaign was developed with the aim of promoting a culture of care and looking out for one another. There would be no shortage of celebrations to be had, so we wanted to encourage community to enjoy themselves, but as always, to do it with safety in mind.

The message centred around an idea that is intrinsic to our community and that unites us all – love. They say love conquers all and love is the answer. So what better message for what would be one of the largest rainbow celebrations ever.

With strong, striking colours, the campaign tagline reads “This WorldPride, whatever you do, do it safely and with love.”

The campaign consisted of specific messages that covered a range of areas of health and safety, including:

• HIV and STI prevention with condoms, PrEP and undetectable viral load
• Awareness of PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) for HIV
• Harm reduction with alcohol and other drugs
• Sexual consent
• Awareness and prevention of COVID-19 and mpox (monkeypox)
• Street safety

Community were put front and centre and the campaign featured a diverse cast of 37 participants – people from a vast array of backgrounds and ethnicities, people identifying from the full gender spectrum, with differing serostatuses and from all generations.

The campaign consisted of multiple assets that formed a comprehensive media plan. We produced a video and multiple print messages that were displayed and broadcasted across out-of-home, on public transport, in LGBTQ+ venues, gyms, cinema, radio, social media, dating applications and at WorldPride events.

Visit the campaign website WITHLOVE.ORG.AU.

Published: May 2023