“Just think how good it would be if we could get all the footy finals captains to add their voices to the “Just think” anti-violence campaign started by Tom Harley and the Geelong Advertiser”. As soon as the words had left his mouth, Matt Finnis from the AFLPA knew he would be up against incredible time pressures if he wanted to bring the idea to life in TV, radio and print in a mere 5 working days.
As he ran to catch a plane back to Melbourne from Sydney, Matt rang Wilson Everard Creative directors Justin Groves and Jeremy Wynne and asked if they could put something together that would get the backing of the AFL, Tom Harley and the captains, The Geelong Advertiser, Fairfax media, all the TV networks, radio stations and hopefully the Federal Government.
Three hours later he arrived at Wilson Everard’s offices in Bowen Crescent Melbourne and was presented with the campaign. By 2.30pm he walked out of the office, campaign in hand, and by the end of the day he had all the backing he needed.
Over Thursday and Friday Matt spent most of this time on the phone with players and team media managers co-ordinating times to film players in three different states. At the same time Wilson Everard began creating all the print work and organised a film crew with post production house SMR. By Monday the artwork for the print was approved and ready for despatch and the filming was underway. By Tuesday night the TVC was finished, and as Matt left SMR he was still on the phone, this time with the Prime Minister’s office as Mr. Rudd wanted to lend his support to the campaign.
On Thursday the campaign was launched at the MCG with the Prime Minister in attendance and by Thursday night was all over the news. Matt’s objective of giving the “Just think” campaign a stronger voice through the finals had been well and truly achieved.
