Summary / objectives

• To raise awareness of the Parklands’ need to replace many of its largest trees due to age, drought and disease.
• To raise funds for their replacement from individual donors.

Background

Centennial Parklands is an iconic park in the heart of Sydney. It has millions of individual visits a year, many made by residents from surrounding areas. The park is a feature of life in the area and most people see it as something permanent, unchanging and not needing their attention or support.  

The park is known for its many large, mature trees. The benefits of the lush, shade-giving treescape is evident to all who visit. However, by 2006 it became clear that many of the largest trees needed replacement due to age, drought and disease.  

Centennial Parklands Foundation engaged Vitamin X to develop an awareness and fundraising campaign targeting frequent park users and the residents of surrounding suburbs.  

The challenge was complacency: most people did not know that the foundation doesn’t receive government funding and would depend on donations to fund the tree replacement programme.

After developing 10 creative approaches and reviewing them with the Foundation’s executive officer and board, the decision was made to develop the Transplant Appeal. This concept used the language of a medical emergency to get people’s attention and create a sense of urgency. The striking campaign visual also reflected the perception of the Parklands as the lungs of the city and helped tie all the elements together.  

The campaign was rolled out using:

• Unaddressed letterbox drops in surrounding suburbs.
• Mass-market brochures distributed via Parklands’ facilities and local community centres.
• Limited edition brochures targeting high net worth individuals (distributed at events).
• Corporate proposal packs (distributed in person).
• Posters.
•  Advertising in local print media.

Creator / originator

Agency: Vitamin X

Creative team: Alex France and Tania Viskovich, Centennial Parklands Foundation executive officer Michel Zwecker

Results

The campaign raised over $130,000 in its first year and had exceeded $500,000 last time we checked.

This campaign is a testament to the power of a strong creative idea and the value of a distinctive visual that can be extended across diverse deliverables.  

Had this been in the era of social media, it would have worked just as effectively there as well.

Other relevant information

Alex France, the creative who developed the Transplant Appeal concept, was also the originator of the iconic Greenpeace legacy campaign featured in SOFII’s Best of the Best section.