Ogilvy Group Melbourne’s CEO, Andrew Baxter is passionate about music and the arts. He also has a keen interest in The Song Room’s important work in providing opportunities for young children in disadvantaged communities.
Ogilvy Group Melbourne (Ogilvy) is Melbourne’s largest communications agency and worked collaboratively with three of their specialist businesses - BADJAR Ogilvy, Yello Brands and DTDigital to support The Song Room’s vision.
Over five years The Song Room has delivered programs to disadvantaged communities throughout Australia reaching more than 200,000 children every week. The programs have now been proven to improve school attendance, academic outcomes and emotional wellbeing. Having grown from a small Victorian service into a national organisation, it was the perfect time to build a stronger public presence.
When Andrew Baxter was invited to join The Song Room’s board in 2009, Ogilvy’s support shifted from adhoc communications to a dedicated partnership. They provided creative services in 2010 to support The Song Room’s first public income generation campaign and the launch of its new brand.
On the premise that thousands of children do not have access to music in their education, the Play Air campaign asked Australians to buy an “air instrument” from retail partners and also invited people to upload their best air moves online for a chance to win prizes and to help put real instruments in the hands of children who need them.
This partnership involved strategy, media, marketing and online delivery. As well as an innovative campaign, the partnership had a list of clear objectives that included re-positioning the brand, raising the public profile and awareness and developing strategic relationships with the corporate sector and media agencies which resulted in over $500,000 of in-kind support.
The Song Room utilized the services of three disciplines within Ogilvy Group Melbourne – advertising (BADJAR Ogilvy), digital (DTDigital) and brand design (Yello) to work independently and collaboratively to offer the most impactful and enduring change for children across Australia.
Benefits for the business
- Creative opportunities and a creative licence to make something meaningful as well as being an impressive project to showcase
- Networking opportunities
- Staff satisfaction
Benefits for the arts organisation
- Networking with businesses through OGM connections
- Rejuvenation of brand, marketing and communications support
- Creative and successful income generation campaign
- Raised awareness through media campaigns and the playair.com.au microsite
How they make it work
- With clear lines of management, The Song Room and Ogilvy Group Melbourne jointly manage the relationship
- Opportunities to promote the outcomes of the partnership are negotiated and both organisations promote the partnership in their newsletters, websites, etc
- Teams from all three supporting agencies and The Song Room meet regularly and enjoy a strong rapport.
“The Song Room’s PlayAir campaign is an initiative that we are excited to support through our Australian stores. We hope that all Australian’s get behind it to make a significant change to the many children in disadvantaged communities.”
Steve Carey, Head of Corporate Affairs, Spotlight