Worksafe and FCB New Zealand have launched a wild new campaign, challenging New Zealanders to take a fresh look at workplace safety. The spot, hitting screens big and small this week, asks workers to be more vigilant and proactive, by listening to their inner-meerkats.
Old Safety vs New Safety
Historically, workers have been told to follow the rules in order to be safe. And, while rules are great for the basics, you can’t write them for absolutely everything. The new kind of safety asks that workers are more proactive by looking for signs of danger and, if they think something could go wrong, step in and stop it.
In the last five years, WorkSafe has recorded 363 workplace deaths and more than 120,000 workplace injuries resulting in a week away from work. It’s an issue WorkSafe is asking New Zealanders to look at with fresh eyes and to take a new approach to.
As such, the campaign aims to empower workers to be more involved and to speak up. It focuses on the insight that we all have a sense for danger – we can see the signs and figure out what could go wrong – so, it’s up to each of us to do our part.
“Ultimately, we needed a campaign that empowers all in the workplace to take action if they are concerned about something going wrong,” said Chris Green, marketing manager, WorkSafe. “From the shop floor to the boardroom.
“This is about moving away from considering health and safety as clipboards and checklists – to really caring about people. Meerkats have each other’s backs and New Zealanders should have each other’s too.”
The TVC – a product of the film direction of Sweetshop’s Mark Albiston and the visual effects of Blockhead VFX – will extend into OOH, digital and social, with a series of heroic portraits shot by Match Photographers’ Ross Brown.
It’s a new direction for Worksafe.
“We really admire WorkSafe for their bravery,” said Leisa Wall and Peter Vegas, executive creative directors at FCB. “They knew that if they wanted to create real behaviour change and a platform that’s going to last, they’d need to do something radically different. They took the leap with us and we couldn’t be more proud of the result.”
Credits
Client: WorkSafe
Agency: FCB New Zealand
Creative: David Shirley
Creative: Melina Fiolitakis
Production Company: Sweetshop
Director: Mark Albiston
Executive Producer: Ben Dailey
Executive Producer: Kate Roydhouse
Producer: Larisa Tiffin
DOP: Marty Williams
Production Designer: Neville Stevenson
Offline editor: Luke Haigh
Character Design, Animation & Visual Effects: Blockhead
Sound design & Original Soundtrack: Cam Ballantyne
Stills photography: Ross Brown
