Description:

It's a sad fact that in 2021, New Zealand's LGBTQIA+ communities face worse health outcomes than their peers in a range of different areas, including mental health and HIV transmission. So, to mark International Pride Month, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation wanted to challenge the country to 'Sweat with Pride' by exercising for at least 21 minutes a day – to get active and raise money to support Rainbow communities.

Our task was two-pronged: firstly, we needed to raise mass awareness for the campaign and enlist as many participants as possible; secondly, provide some much needed motivation to keep our participants sweating all month long. To compound this challenge we needed to achieve these tasks on a small budget to ensure the funds raised were going where they were needed. Our solution was to do both tasks at once – to turn our attention-grabbing recruitment campaign and ongoing motivational content into one cohesive piece of work.

We created three drag-tastic "Perspirational Trainers". Tilda Sweatpours is an 80s aerobics instructor, with a peppy attitude and an entire wardrobe of leg warmers to be envied. Carmen Collected is much more zen and philosophical – they believe the answer to pretty much anything is juice. And you can tell from the high socks, high shorts and shrill whistle that our P.E. teacher, Jim Locker, really means business. Three trainers, three different approaches – it was up to our sweaty fundraisers to pick the trainer that was right for them. We introduced our trainers with cohesive video content, outdoor, and social, inviting people to join the cause and ‘Fight discrimination with perspiration’. Then, throughout the month, their chosen trainer provided motivational updates through video and social content.

Our campaign and brand aesthetic would be attention-grabbing – loud, even – while also being the gleeful day-to-day support and motivation our fundraisers (or “Sweaty Bettys”) needed to keep them going and drive fundraising. We embraced colour for a number of reasons. The bright, vibrant choices we made linked us not only to our rainbow communities, but also to the visual cues of fitness, vitality and positivity.

These choices are evident throughout the work. Carefully considered wardrobe design and backdrop selection anchored each trainer in a unique colourway that spoke to their persona. Unique trainer name lock-ups complemented each character’s motivational style, and later rolled out into ‘Sweaty Stage Names’ for participants who reached $1,000. Bold and punchy typography was inspired by a retro fitness aesthetic, incorporating loud colour gradients and illustrative symbols, tying headline and photography-driven executions together in a carefully balanced explosion of colour and positivity that was impossible to ignore.

The result was better than anyone could have imagined. The number of participants that signed up in 2019 increased by 67% in 2020. And the total money raised skyrocketed – more than doubling to a current total of $371,000 and counting – money is still rolling in as this entry is submitted.