On average, women in New Zealand are paid 10% less, for doing the same job as

men. To promote equality, and put a stop to this blatant sexism, YWCA Auckland

decided that men should be charged 10% more than women.

As the aim of the campaign was to highlight the absurdity of two genders being

treated differently when it comes to money, we had to utilize PR to get the exposure

and debate that we needed to get people thinking, including decision makers at

government

Our ultimate goal was to encourage New Zealanders to visit

www.demandequalpay.org.nz to show their support for the Pay Equality Bill.

Worldwide, YWCA’s mantra is ‘Empowering Women’, so it makes sense that they would be champions of the pay equality cause. And because women in New Zealand are paid 10% percent less than men, we decided that men should pay 10% more. In everything we did we showed the imbalance and just how this 10% affected everyone. We fought absurdity with absurdity, created a conversation, and drove all who came in contact with the campaign online to support the Pay Equality Bill.

The Direct campaign was hugely successful, achieving all its objectives. In launch month, visitors to the site increased by 9,000%, and donations increased by 22% on the previous month. And it was the most debated topic in the NZ Herald in November.

It received national and international awareness earning media coverage valued at over $1.4 million (broadcast TV, news, radio, press, editorial, PR, social media). It had a phenomenal 1,750% return on investment ($17.50 for every $1 spent).

Most importantly, we gathered the signatures we required to support the Pay Equality Bill. Which has now been put forward to Parliament to become an Act.