Tent City finds a permanent home with launch of Street-Life View via Clemenger BBDO, Sydney
To help raise awareness of the plight of over 100,000 Australians sleeping rough every night, Lanz Priestley, the mayor of ‘Tent City’ and founder of homeless organisation ‘Sydney Homeless’; together with Clemenger BBDO Sydney have launched Street-Life View, an interactive website that lets you walk through Sydney’s Tent City despite its recent removal.
Martin Place may be clear of the homeless this week, but the people of Tent City and thousands like them still need help.
The website uses technology similar to Google Street View, to show the real situation on the streets, not just for Sydney-siders but the whole country. Most people find talking to the homeless difficult. But Street-Life View allows you to explore Tent City and not just see homelessness first hand – but also meet the people who lived there, understand them and find out what you can do to help their cause.
Says Lanz Priestley from Sydney Homeless: “Nothing’s going to change without the support of the community. We need to care about each other, and demand action from those who represent us. Sydney is a place where you shouldn’t have to fear for your safety, you shouldn’t have to go hungry, you shouldn’t have to live on the street.”
Over the past six months, many of Sydney’s homeless took up temporary residence in the city’s CBD, to gain attention for the need many have for food and shelter in a safe community environment. This prominent reminder of the homelessness crisis has finally put the issue on the national agenda.
Homelessness NSW says the number of people rough sleeping in Sydney had increased by 28% since 2011. A survey in February this year found 433 people were sleeping rough in the city, while crisis accommodation services were 90% full.
While the government and city council fight over who’s responsible, all it takes is for decent people to act. Street-Life View aims not only to keep housing affordability on the national agenda, but also act as a rallying cry for direct action, encouraging Australians to take the issue to their local MP and demand action.
Says Ben Coulson, chief creative officer at Clemenger BBDO Sydney: “Homelessness doesn’t go away when protesters are removed from sight. Street-Life View does its bit to make sure these people are not forgotten. Street Life View also gives us a new way to understand more about life on the streets, and help those people out.”
Priestley, sold his own home in eastern suburbs 20 years ago so he could give his own children, the eldest 47 years old, deposits to buy houses. He has been living on the streets in the Financial Heart of Sydney since 1991.
Client – Sydney Homeless
Mayor of Martin Place, Lanz Priestley
Agency – Clemenger BBDO Sydney
Ben Coulson – Creative Chief Officer
Brendan Forster – Head of Creative Technology
Madeleine Marsh – Head of Account Service
Rachel McEwen – Account Manger
Josh Aitken – Senior Copywriter
Nick Alcock – Junior Copywriter
Taylor Green – Junior Art Director
Dale Emrose – Developer
Jay Young – Developer
Ivan So – Senior Designer
Claire Bisset – Lead Digital Producer
Ron Woodward – Photographer
Ellen Fromm – Creative
Isabella Caruso – Creative
30 Comments
Great idea. But i hope the agency realises how childish and amateur they are in the way they write credits. Don’t you think people see the stupidity of it. Another reason a lot of people wouldnt work there. Grow up.
Nice to see good, reactive work out of Australia for once. I’m all for more topical
Simple idea for a great cause
Simple and topical. Very cool
Great idea, Ellen and Isabella,
Good to see this one got up!
Hopefully the bankers in martin place squirm when they see this
Let’s see Gladys try and take this down. Hopefully it continues to make her “completely uncomfortable” and homelessness stays an issue worthy of attention.
The political response to the issue rivals China’s attitude to Protesters. It disgusting and hard to believe it can happen here.
Well done to Clems Sydney for continuing to keep the spotlight on this important issue!
I’m signing the partition and I hope everyone who has time to write comments on this blog also has the time to do something to help people less fortunate.
Again, well done Clems.
The political response to the issue rivals China’s attitude to Protesters. It disgusting and hard to believe it can happen here.
Well done to Clems Sydney for continuing to keep the spotlight on this important issue!
I’m signing the partition and I hope everyone who has time to write comments on this blog also has the time to do something to help people less fortunate.
Again, well done Clems.
Not always a fan of agency pro bono, but I’m bloody glad someone did something about this issue, it sucked. And the idea is rad also.
Great to see an agency putting their brains and resources behind an issue that really matter in the city they operate.
A very creative response to a poor decision by our struggling government to sweep this under the rug.
Well done to all of you who worked on this. A simple idea that gives dignity to the people effected.
The trick with these ideas is to do the right thin by the cause and the creative. This does both beautifully.
Top idea guys. Timely, purposeful and well-executed.
Will this really raise awareness to a higher point than the media coverage?
Will it get the government to act when the issue has literally been moved on?
Will it change the hideous law that has been put in place?
Will it just be for awards? I hope not.
What’s the job number at Clem’s for commenting on your own work?
Suppose you’re right. It’s probably better to do nothing about it then…
I’m surprised BBDO would think it’s a good idea to include “Mayor of Martin Place, Lanz Priestley” at the top of the credits given his violent criminal record and multiple jail stints (as recently as 2014), which have received extensive media coverage.
Just this snippet from The Australian should surely have raised questions about whether this is really the sort or person or conduct BBDO want to be endorsing so publicly:
“The part-time homeless ‘mayor’ of the tent city in Sydney’s Martin Place has a long criminal history of serious assaults against young women and police, as well as theft, threat and driving offences.
Lanz Priestly has crafted a web of misdirection about almost every part of his life, refusing to answer questions about a business of which he was a director and using a list of aliases across the country…”
The full story only gets worse:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/sydney-tent-city-mayor-lanz-priestly-has-criminal-past/news-story/9ebeffc6bae0a84b2d3d49bb72b48960
Crazy how peeps in our biz still find time to complain. If only thy had it in themselves to do something good for a good cause. Or even just use their time to support a good course rather than waist of it whining that nothing will work. Hats off to those who give up their time to apply creativity for good. This is a great idea, it will kick up stacks of PR and help the cause of people who really need help. Keep it up Clems.
Once you have enough experience to smell jumping on a good cause ratherr than doing something for roster clients come back to the blog. I”m all for helping the homeless but maybe, just maybe, giving up a floor for the month in St Leonards would have made a real difference. Not poverty porn.
Sounds like you have a grudge. If you bothered to listen to any of the stories (or I dunno, work at a homeless or drop in shelter) you’d discover that most people who are homeless suffer from mental health issues, been at the receiving end of a history of violence or have committed crimes and violence themselves – often all three. Not everyone is a saint, especially those struggling damn hard at the bottom of society. We can’t be all as worthy as you, you brave, brave anonymous internet commenter.
Great work from some great (and very nice) creatives who actually care.
If that makes you angry and jealous, you are a bit of a goose.
I think this is a great idea the very cleverly keeps alive a very significant issue in our state.
And continues to give voice to a section of society that too often get often get overlooked.
It will keep the PR rolling and keep the pressure of our elected representatives to do more than sweep it issue under the rug.
I commend anyone who makes an effort of any kind to use their professional talents to help out others in their community.
On this occasion it’s a group of talented and decent folk at Clems.
I’m glad you guys spend your extra hours at work doing things like this, and not just being blog trolls like some others in our business.
Meh. Pure awards bait. And it’s not even good enough to pick up in my opinion. Prove me wrong
Hats off to the agency for taking the initiative to help what is undoubtedly a good cause.
As an industry we should all do more of it. That said, executionally the work falls flat. The required scale to catch fire and get talked about just isn’t there, the site lacks engagement and the design is average at best.
This will have literally no impact and help no one except the agency with a few nice pieces of shiny metal for the trophy cabinet. The creative brains behind this need to have a long hard look at themselves and ask what truely motivated them to create this gratuitous, expensive rubbish. When will this industry stop co-opting the issues of the disadvantaged for their own selfish reasons?
@good idea – you’re right, I do have a grudge. 2 in fact.
I have a grudge against men like Lanz Priestley who are violent against women – violent enough to do jail time – mental health issues or not.
And i have a grudge against an agency – especially one the calibre of Clemenger – so willingly turning a blind eye to the hypocrisy of not just collaborating with but heroing a criminal like Priestley, when the rest of the industry is working so hard to improve its treatment of women.
Your intentions may be good. But you and your Clemenger colleagues have made a mistake putting his name up their with your own.
I’m not sure I understand what I’m meant to do, as a viewer?
What’s the CTA and why should anyone care?
The industry is working so hard to improve its treatment of women? How? By an ANZ ad? Some crap about STEM careers? They barely even skim the sides of the continuous abuse of women every day and rising death count that doesn’t ever register in any media. And if you’re talking about the balancing of the genders within agencies, hiring a few junior women to do your FMCG ads just so you can say you have a balanced quota, but then no initiative to further their careers doesn’t do shit to improve anyones treatment – it just turns it into a farce.
BTW, don’t work at Clemenger. Never have. Stop thinking everything is so black and white in your small bubble.
Still waiting to see all the “PR”… perfect opportunity here but still no mention:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/18/homelessness-survey-finds-386-people-sleeping-rough-in-city-of-sydney?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
So sick of us thinking we can change the world. We might see and read this but we’re the ones working in advertising so that’s not really an achievement. Stuff like this doesn’t help our shrinking business, It’s cannibalising it, it proves to clients that we only care about ourselves. It’s “for good” advertising with bad intentions.
Those that say well “at least they’re doing something” need to wonder if the $$ investment to make this could have been used in another way to generate donations/better awareness.
Bring back the QR code, 3D printing, laser guided, GPS coordinated, fusion powered, teleporting, biodegradable, edible, poo making, ticket delivery system.
What am I supposed to do?
Where’s the CTA?
Do you think the average punter will do anything to support the cause?
“Awareness” won’t put a roof over anybody’s head.