Blind Low Vision NZ helps people with vision impairments to live a full and happy life. But with a limited budget and low awareness, they needed a surprising, relevant moment that literally caught the eye of sight-impaired people.

The brief specifically targetted over 55s who were just beginning to notice concerning sight changes. This was so Blind Low Vision NZ could help them earlier - and even slow or prevent further vision deterioration. We were asked to find a way to demonstrate how Blind Low Vision can help those in need live a full and happy life, in a positive way - avoiding the tropes of charity advertising that relied on guilt, drama, sympathy and negativity.

The objectives were simple: raise awareness and gain as many new clients as possible, as a result.

Blind Low Vision NZ understood the best impact they could have on people with visual deterioration was to get to them at an early stage, in order to slow or even stop further problems.

Research showed that the target audience tended to be 55+, and often avoided modern media (online, streaming, mobile), becoming more insular as sight changes became more serious.

Usual digital mediums weren't going to be as effective in grabbing attention - the audience tended to avoid them because of the discomfort of looking at screens for too long.

The idea was to change the real editorial of New Zealand's most popular paper to make it accessible to those who struggled to see, while attracting attention at newsstands, cafes and public areas where the papers are readily available. Because accessibility standards suggest high contrast, black/yellow imagery and increased font size, it would be a powerfully visual attention grabber.

Blind Low Vision understood that the best impact they could have on people with visual deterioration was to get to them at an early stage, in order to slow or even stop further problems.

Research showed that the target audience tended to be 55+, who often avoided modern media (online, streaming, mobile), and became more insular as sight changes became more serious.

Usual digital mediums weren't going to be as effective in grabbing attention - the audience tended to avoid them because of the discomfort of looking at screens for too long.

Budget wasn't huge, so we needed to create a memorable, highly visible moment, nationwide.

We worked closely with the editorial team of the New Zealand Herald to make sure the execution had authenticity - it had to be more than just fake advertorial. All the editorial was real, reported that day, which could not be compromised.

We also collaborated with the paper's art department in order to follow internationally recommended accessibility guidelines, creating dummy runs leading up to the day to ensure production wouldn't be compromised for both parties.

The paper was peppered with solus ads explaining the unusual new look, directing people to blindlowvision.org.nz where the effect was seamlessly replicated on the splash page, backed up with an integrated campaign of bold, magnified outdoor and a TVC also made with real visual enhancement devices also supported the paper on launch day.

The paper launched nationally for one day, to a readership of 598,000 readers.

For the Hi-Viz Herald, the impact was literal - a bright yellow print edition with increased image contrast and increased point size, with solus ads throughout promoting Blind Low Vision NZ and explaining what you were experiencing. The work itself was a product demonstration, strictly using internationally accepted accessibility guidelines.

The work smashed a 3% increase target for general brand awareness, hitting 6% (from 23% to 29%).

A further target of a 3% increase in brand awareness amongst the 55+ age group also nearly doubled, hitting +5% (from 36% to 41%).

Website traffic spiked with a huge 201.105% increase in traffic on launch day.

The number of new clients also increased 20% on the same period in the previous year.

Source: Tracksuit. All Demographics + 55 to 64 years, Jul 2023 - Oct 2023.