The National Drug Strategy

Vibe Australia, the sister company of GJC, developed the Indigenous Component to the Federal Government’s “Where’s Your Head At” National Drugs Campaign. This involved writing and placing stories in Deadly Vibe magazine and In Vibe magazine over a three month period, conducting radio interview on Deadly Sounds, and conducting a series of rap competitions at three Vibe 3on3™ locations. Vibe Australia was also responsible for designing and creating the Respect Yourself Respect Your Culture website (drugs.vibe.com.au) as part of the campaign.

Reason for Engagement
GJC, through Vibe Australia, responded to a need to have an Indigenous component to the National Drug Strategy, and submitted a proposal which was accepted.

Client’s Problem
DHA was developing and implementing a National information campaign to support the Drug Strategy. There was a need for an Indigenous component to this campaign. DHA required this information to be communicated in a clear, culturally sensitive and meaningful way. The client wanted innovation as well as a youthful approach. This had to be consistent with the mainstream approach while maintaining cultural credibility.

GJC’s approach
GJC wrote and placed six stories in Deadly Vibe and In Vibe over a three month period (May – July 2005). GJC in consultation with DHA sourced role models to speak on behalf of the campaign and were the basis of the stories. Each month we focused on a different drug and/or alcohol issue.

These stories were backed up by interviews on Deadly Sounds over the three month period.

GJC also developed and implemented a rap competition which was held at three Vibe 3on3™ events over the three month period (Coonamble, Mildura and Yirrkala). This involved helping event participants to write anti-drug raps which were then recorded with backing tracks. The best raps were then put up on the vibe website. Winners of the rap competition in each location were awarded a CD walkman.

GJC also developed, produced and distributed a poster which was sent to 47,000 organisations including schools, government organisations, medical services and Indigenous organisations.

All materials were placed on the campaign specific website at drugs.vibe.com.au

GJC worked in collaboration with a mainstream advertising agency and the DHA to ensure campaign coherence and integrity, and to ensure all key messages were delivered.

Project Outcome
The use of the selected real-life role models proved to be very successful in engaging with the target audience and communicating the relevant messages about drugs.

The imagery and stories developed were strong and the uptake of these was very successful.

The rap competition exceeded expectations, the participation rate was high and the raps developed were of an extremely high standard.

Materials Delivered
Six stories, three radio specials, one poster, and numerous community raps. All of these materials can be seen at drugs.vibe.com.au