Shine A Light

Modern slavery is a hidden crime that exists within many of Aotearoa’s most successful industries. Thriving in sectors like agriculture, construction, fisheries, hospitality, and horticulture affects every single one of us and underpins much of the success our country celebrates. The problem is that most of our population doesn’t even know it exists and is unaware it is happening in plain sight. Our challenge was to design a campaign that would promote awareness around Modern Slavery in Aotearoa and inspire an audience to take action measures to combat and challenge its existence.

We created a powerful campaign using a compelling video, striking out-of-home (OOH) advertising, a dedicated website, and social media to highlight the confronting stories and statistics of exploited migrants. Our visual language used strong contrasts of light and dark to represent truth versus deception, reflecting the experiences of those lured by false promises. The campaign targeted successful migrants—those closest to the victims—encouraging them to become allies. By speaking their language and showing clear, actionable steps, we empowered them to support victims and report exploitative employers, aiming to spark real change through collective awareness and community-driven action.

Exploited migrants living in slavery are often unaware of their working rights in Aotearoa due to cultural and language barriers and misleading information from their employers. By rallying together communities of fellow migrants who understand their rights, recognise the issue, and can communicate with and support victims, we have the ability to ensure that every individual who is residing in this country has a fair chance. Ultimately, we envision a shift in attitude here in Aotearoa, where modern slavery is no longer ignored or dismissed as a third-world problem, and those responsible are held fully accountable.

Authenticity and accessibility were central to the development and delivery of this campaign. It was created in close collaboration with two experts working within this field: Gary Shaw, who is a New Zealand-based expert in modern slavery, sustainability, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices, and Cam Bower, a New Zealand-based investigator for migrant exploitation, and founder the Migrant Exploitation Relief Foundation (MERF), a charity which supports exploited migrant workers. Their invaluable insights helped shape the campaign’s narrative and direction, and the oversight they provided throughout production ensured the accuracy and authenticity of each piece of collateral we produced. Accessibility for our target audience, who may not use English as their first language, was achieved through translation options within the website and across all shareable content, making the campaign a more approachable and inclusive user experience.