An ode to what’s possible when you ignore the nervous voice inside, Play it Safe is an original song and music video created to celebrate the Sydney Opera House 50th anniversary and connect the House with a broader audience. Songwriter and performer Tim Minchin was approached to create an original song to ignite the Opera House’s brave creative spirit in all of us. The provocative idea, combined with Tim as a new irreverent face to the house, and the resulting content - a joyous, touching and humorous song and music video - ensured our message reached 1.8 billion people.

There are two Australias.

On the one hand, there’s the enduring myth of the larrikin. The one who’ll never let the rules get in the way of what’s right, and who’ll break rank with a cheeky smile on their face. Bold, brave, brash. This is how Australia likes to see itself.

On the other hand, though, there’s the real Australia. The nervous, conservative country defined by the phenomenon known as ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’. If anyone becomes too bold, too outspoken, too successful – if any poppy grows too tall – we are quick to cut them down to size. We’re suspicious, often resentful, of anyone who breaks rank or challenges convention. Though it was born of noble, egalitarian ambitions, Tall Poppy Syndrome has created a culture that encourages playing it safe and leaving conventions unchallenged.

Australia’s cultural identity is a contradiction – we’re defined by a love of boldness, until we actually see it.

We wanted to appeal to Australia’s best side by taking aim at its worst.

And our lead artist and songwriter was key to delivering our message.

Australian artist Tim Minchin is an internationally renowned Australian comedian, provocateur and songwriter. A passionate advocate of the arts and challenging the status quo, we knew Tim’s experience would give him a unique perspective on resisting conformity and creating provocative work that lives on in culture.

The 50th birthday moment presented the perfect opportunity to celebrate creative bravery and help the public reconnect with their own creative and curious spirit.

It was a simple, but daunting brief from the Marketing team: create a tribute worthy of an icon. (Where do you begin celebrating a House that means so much to so many?)

The task required us to:

Nod to the past but celebrate the future.

Acknowledge the rich legacy of the Sydney Opera House, while also shining a spotlight on the bright future of Australian creativity.

Incorporate each of the Sydney Opera House’s resident companies:

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Ballet, Bangarra, The Sydney Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, The Sydney Philharmonia Choir, Opera Australia, The Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Make people feel like the House belongs to them.

There’s a common misconception that the Sydney Opera House is elitist, or “not for people like me.” Though whatever we created needed to be artful, it also needed to speak to everybody – and urge them to visit.

Unveiled in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has stood as a monument to the power of brave creativity ever since. But as Australia drifts towards conservatism and conformity, the Opera House’s message is being forgotten.

On the House’s 50th anniversary, we wanted to remind Australia and the global public why it’s more important than ever to keep the Opera House’s bold spirit alive, with one clear message:

If we silence the little voice in our heads that tells us to ‘play it safe’ and do the opposite – there’s no limit to what we can all achieve.

And so, together with Sydney Opera House marketing team, we collaborated with two iconic and fearless Australian talents, songwriter and satirist Tim Minchin and director Kim Gehrig as well as a host of the House’s resident companies and performers to create “Play it Safe”: a visual and musical love letter to doing the opposite.

To ensure the Sydney Opera House’s relevance for years to come, we needed to reach a broader audience locally and globally than available through our usual paid media and subscriber channels.

Our message: 50 years on, the Sydney Opera House is home to the extraordinary, and can still awaken the spirit of brave creativity in us all.

The Sydney Opera House PR team devised a strategy to launch the song and film at a global level, generating high-impact, mass media coverage, and encouraging the broadest possible audience to watch, share and engage with the film.

The long form film premiered on YT, FB, IG in owned channels, and was also shared by Tim himself (with a social footprint of 3.3m), via IG, YT released as an original song on Spotify, and screened in cinemas around Australia.

Campaign duration:18th Oct – 17th Nov 2023

A comprehensive pre-launch strategy led by the Sydney Opera House PR team focused on tier one embargoed interviews with Tim and SOH spokesperson, resulting in global high-impact coverage – such as The Guardian and The Sydney Morning Herald.

A launch event at the House with key industry, stakeholders and relationship media. Film premiere and interview with Tim, the embargo lifts and pre-pitched exclusives run from 5pm. Further interviews and performances leveraging launch day interest scheduled for primetime broadcast and radio.

Artists and collaborators further push the film and song via own channels.

After the film’s premiere, extensive proactive outreach led to the majority of outlets playing the song or embedding the film in their stories. 

Placements: Cinema, YT, FB, IG, Stories, TikTok, YT Shorts, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, SOH website, Artist channels 

Paid media included cinema, YT, FB, IG. 

Since its release, Play It Safe has made Australians laugh, cry, and burst with pride.

It was covered widely, locally and internationally, landing 677+ stories in top-tier publications across TV, radio, digital and print media - with 100% of articles including one or more key brand message

Play It Safe achieved a total campaign reach of 1.8 billion people globally.

It appealed to existing members and subscribers, with 40% surveyed participants were ‘certain to visit’ after seeing the film.

And more importantly, 73% of people not on their database said they “had a better opinion of Sydney Opera House” after watching the film, and 49% said they were “certain, or very likely to visit”