How Think HQ Stood Up Against Trans and Gender Diverse Discrimination without Saying a Word
When we are children, we are taught that everyone is different and that our differences are what makes us unique. We as adults teach children this, in the hopes that the world is less prejudiced than the one we experience.
Slowly but surely we are getting there, despite the amount of work that still needs to be done.
Every day, those who are part of LGBTQIA+ communities are faced with prejudices that aren’t straightforward verbal remarks, but rather ones that are nuanced in nature. Things that people may not even realise they are doing.
In an attempt to get people to think about what they are really saying even when they say nothing, Think HQ and the Victorian Government produced a campaign titled ‘The Unsaid Says A Lot.’
Aimed towards highlighting the discrimination of trans and gender diverse people, LBB’s Casey Martin spoke with Andy Lima from Think HQ on the challenges and highlights of this campaign.
LBB> You’ve captured the intricacies of the things left unsaid perfectly in this spot. Each moment isn’t over-the-top at all but rather serves as a reminder that our body language is just as important as our speech. Talk us through the inspiration and the concept process for this spot?
Andy> The campaign objective was to drive awareness of trans and gender diversity (TGD) in Victoria, supporting greater LGBTQIA+ inclusion and addressing discrimination towards trans and gender diverse people.
For most people, lower levels of acceptance arise from no or limited experiences or connections with people from LGBTQIA+ communities. There is widespread confusion and misinterpretation about diverse identities and little understanding of the difference between gender, sexuality, and identity. Discrimination often comes from entrenched views and stereotypes and a lack of understanding and empathy – it can also come from fear.
Our goal was to shift perceptions by getting people to see, feel, and know what it’s like to be TGD. Authenticity was key to that, and we needed a single, clear message.
We wanted to create a campaign shaped by and with TGD communities to authentically reflect their experiences. We started by reaching out to our networks and enlisting a Community Working Group engaged throughout the creative process through a series of workshops using our Positive Change framework, working alongside our strategy and creative teams.
The first workshop was all about setting ground rules and sparking ideas. We started with a blank slate and explored the issues the group identified as most important for this campaign to focus on. We explored their vision, gathered insights and formulated challenges that were then used to develop strategic territories. The recurring themes were about celebrating TGD stories and their diversity and addressing the fear of the unknown by non-TGD folks.
The second workshop was about brainstorming ideas based on the strategic territories and how to bring them to life as a campaign. We discussed the positives, things to improve or change, risks, and questions that needed answering. We walked away with several creative territories to explore and move to the concept stage - one of which was “The unsaid says a lot.”
During the third workshop, we presented fully fleshed-out concepts that were then evaluated and picked apart by the Group, resulting in the campaign you’ve seen. So, the campaign's inspiration came from the Group's own experience and perspectives of the countless micro-interactions and experiences of discrimination TGD folks have every day, but also from their incredible resilience.
This campaign is a reminder to all of us to be more mindful and compassionate, to understand that what's unsaid often speaks volumes, and to stand in solidarity with trans and gender-diverse folks. Their stories, resilience, and courage are the true driving forces behind this work.
LBB> Having those who are a part of the trans and gender-diverse community, like Harvey Zielinski, as a part of the collaborative process is extremely important. What did you learn during this process that you will take with you into the future?
Andy> We had a truly collaborative process from start to finish. During concept development, we co-created the campaign with eight people from TGD communities as part of the Community Working Group, incredibly diverse in itself. Once the concept was approved, we engaged Harvey Zielinski to direct the spot and our talented pool of actors. It was important that we had representation in front and behind the camera. The collaboration continued through the delivery and implementation of the campaign, where we counted on the help of several ambassadors and campaign supporters.
We learnt a lot, but probably the most important was to never assume anything - listen with intent, ask meaningful questions, come from a place of respect. The TGD communities are incredibly diverse and not one experience is the same.
It was not lost on us how sensitive this campaign is, and we knew how harsh it can be out there for the TGD communities. We needed to create a safe and trusting environment for the Community Working Group, Harvey, the actors and everyone that contributed to the project.
Ensuring their psychological and physical safety before, during, and after the campaign was paramount. I think most people are familiar with the term ‘nothing about us, without us’ by now, and this campaign is a great example of putting that into practice, TGD led, TGD employed – but also partnering with allies from the LGBTQIA+ community and beyond in a safe and inclusive way. We are grateful for their trust in us to deliver this work.
LBB> What challenges presented themselves during the creation process of this campaign? How did you overcome them?
Andy> First, authentic collaboration takes time, so allow it to happen. We initially had a very compressed time frame to produce the creative and promote the campaign. But we knew we needed to get this right, so we were pragmatic and simply made the decision to delay the launch while we continued to consult with the community before we launched the campaign into the world.
Second, this is an Australian first - a government backed campaign about TGD inclusion is not something you'd see every day and it was incredible to see Victoria leading the way. That, in itself, brought with it some challenges, in that we didn't have a benchmark or reference point. But what we did have was an extremely supportive, collaborative and trusting client, who were also very attuned to the TGD community throughout the process.
Third, it required a lot of bravery. While we know that the majority of people around the world would like their country to do more to support and protect trans and gender diverse people, we also know that there's a growing anti-trans sentiment and that TGD communities are still subject to extremely high levels of violence and exclusion, and that the campaign would certainly have detractors. We don't need to reaffirm the TGD communities’ bravery and resilience, but we also had a brave client that backed and continues to back the campaign.
LBB> The choice to use both positive and negative examples of these everyday moments was extremely powerful in conveying the message. Why did you choose to explore both sides of the coin and why was it important to do so?
Andy> As humans, we communicate thousands of things without words. In fact, 93% of our communication is non-verbal – meaning we use facial expressions, body language, gestures, eye contact and space to say exactly what we want to say, without saying it.
And when you’re someone who receives a lot of non-verbal communication (50−60 a day), you understand: Every. Single. Word. Sometimes it may be someone who’s unsure how to interact, but shows that they’re friendly, whereas others, maybe not as friendly.
With this concept, we wanted our audience to feel those moments that they may not know about or do themselves without understanding the gravity of it. We wanted to translate the meaning of non-verbal communication and show the effect it has on trans and gender diverse people.
On one hand, we were helping people be aware of discrimination, but on the other hand, we were showing moments of allyship and how important it is to be inclusive. We wanted to leave our audience with a choice of how they want to engage with TGD communities.
We wanted the film to be heartfelt but uplifting, showing moments of allyship and discrimination - both big and small. These moments were juxtaposed against each other and used pacing and briefly paused moments to build and release tension. The film was intended to be completely dialogue-less to show just how much of an impact non-verbal communication can have on TGD communities and prompts us to be good, to be kind, to be understanding, and to be human.
LBB> The tagline ‘The unsaid says a lot, so think about what you’re saying,’ is a powerful piece of copy. Is there a future where this campaign is expanded upon, say within education?
Andy> I hope we don’t have to have this campaign in the future. But sadly, we know from what we have seen over the past few weeks both locally and globally, that this campaign is needed more than ever. It’s hard to say what another iteration of this campaign would look like at this stage, but what I would like to see now is more support for this current campaign at a grassroots level.
It’s been amazing to see so many people and organisations reacting positively, sharing and reposting the hero campaign video - it’s a phenomenal result off the back of our community stakeholder outreach. But we need to maintain this momentum throughout the year, we need to spark conversations amongst families and friends, in workplaces and in communities and hopefully create more trans and gender diverse allies in us all.
