Host launches campaign against cyber bullying for School Aid and the Vodafone Foundation

Host, Sydney has developed a national, educational campaign for SchoolAid and the Vodafone Foundation to help combat the growing issue of cyber bullying. The campaign personifies cyber bullying behaviours as nasty, highly contagious viruses that lurk in cyberspace and these characters were illustrated by Berlin-based Dutch artist, Johan Potma.

While bullying is not a new problem, the proliferation of technology and the internet has allowed it to take on new forms.

Fifty per cent of Australian children have been the victim of ‘cyber bullying’ in one form or another – malicious and harmful behaviour facilitated by email, chat rooms, IM, mobile phones or social media environments.

 Along with a bully and a victim, there are those bystanders whose very presence reinforces the bullying behaviour. It is this audience of ‘not so innocent bystanders’ that the campaign targets – specifically children at the most influential age of 8 to 12 years.

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The campaign launched at the start of this school term. Press, online, TV and in-school materials create awareness and drive kids to a website, where they can take a test to find out if they have been infected by The Bullies virus. If so, they can cure themselves by extracting the virus, pickling it and displaying it in an online pickling gallery.

Amanda Quested, Head of Project Management at Host, said: “The challenge was to make this a fun message to receive, as opposed to authoritarian – and to demonstrate that the sharing and often anonymous nature of the ‘cyber channels’ mean that it’s easy to passively observe or even perpetuate the bullying in a way that wouldn’t happen face-to-face.”

Sean Gordon, SchoolAid’s founder, said: “SchoolAid’s Cure the Bullies Campaign is an amazing way for kids to get involved in helping other kids on a very real and practical level. By taking the quiz, kids can identify passive, ‘bystander’ behaviours in themselves, which helps them to take responsibility for their behaviour and grow to become  more  considerate and inclusive classmates, who genuinely make a difference in the lives of those around them.”

Tanya Bowes, executive director for Communications & Corporate Affairs at Vodafone Hutchison Australia, said:  “We believe this campaign tackles the growing issue of Cyber-Bullying in a unique way. It provides children with a self-discovery tool to recognise and deal with both passive and active forms of bullying in a way that’s fun and engaging and talks to children in their own language. The Vodafone Foundation together with SchoolAid are proud of this campaign and hope will make a positive impact on this social issue.”

Client: SchoolAid Trust and The Vodafone Foundation Australia

Agency: Host

Creative Partner: The Jamboree

Website and Digital animation/production: Host Digital

TV Animation: Adnan Lalani

Music & Sound Production: Sound Reservoir

Post-Production: Fuel vfx

Media agency: Ikon Communications