Tauranga Safe City from time to time receives funding to deliver social marketing campaigns. Key elements in a successful social marketing campaign are: understanding the audience; clarity of the message(s); quality of design and effective use of media. Our association with v.marketing began in 2007 with the design and implementation of the ‘Blow the Whistle on Violence’ family violence awareness campaign during the Rugby World Cup. The campaign, that won an ACC-sponsored NZ Safety Award, brought the knowledge and experience from the crisis support sector together with the marketing skills of the team at v.marketing to promote positive images and messages in a rugby context. Since then, Tauranga Safe City and v.marketing have collaborated on the design and publication of the Parent Pack: Tools for the Teenage Years that has now been recently updated and put on-line www.teentools.co.nz. The most recent project is the Sexual Assault Primary Prevention Campaign: Say NO to USC (unwanted sexual contact) targeting 15-17 year olds, and an alcohol-related campaign during the School Ball season that focuses on the responsibilities of parents. These campaigns can be viewed on the website.

Our experience is that Lynley and the team at v.marketing operate from a shared values base. They work with our subject-matter experts to understand the issues we want to address, and offer innovative and thought-provoking messages and concepts using a range of media. The team delivers concept/design/artwork/web design and relationship management skills that frequently draw admiration and gratitude from our experts and community workers for whom this is their passion.

Michael Mills,
Tauranga Safe City Coordinator