This article was originally published in B&T.
CARE Australia, the Asia-Pacific arm of the international, not-for-profit, humanitarian aid agency, has joined Icon Agency’s growing client roster to amplify nationwide messages related to tackling poverty. Specifically, the engagement will see Icon deliver a public relations campaign to garner awareness and support for women living in poverty across the Asia and Pacific regions.
Icon has been appointed by CARE Australia to support its upcoming ‘Her Circle’ campaign which promotes the notion that, when a woman escapes poverty, she uplifts four others in the process. ‘Her Circle’ explores the ways in which women are pillars of their communities, with a strong focus on promoting gender and economic equity.
CARE Australia’s Director of Fundraising and Marketing, Cath Hoban, said, “Much like any global crisis, the ravaging effects of COVID-19 have not been gender-neutral – women and girls are bearing the brunt. The pandemic has increased the number of women and girls living in poverty, making the work of CARE Australia more urgent than ever.
“When it comes to defeating poverty and helping communities withstand crises, CARE Australia knows that working with and supporting women is the solution. When one woman escapes poverty, she’ll bring four others with her — and that’s a powerful multiplier.”
Launching in February 2022 ahead of International Women’s Day, Icon will be driving the national campaign through an integration of influencer marketing, media relations, ambassadorship and strategic organisational partnerships.
The campaign’s goal is to raise awareness, and a stronger understanding, of CARE Australia’s work and impact through increased online engagement and peer-to-peer fundraising to assist women living in poverty across the Asia and Pacific regions.
Speaking on the new engagement, Joanne Painter (main photo), managing director at Icon said, “CARE is one of the most recognised aid agencies in the world – and for good reason. We are extremely proud to be supporting CARE Australia’s tireless efforts in providing relief to our most vulnerable members of society, while simultaneously raising awareness around key community issues.
“As an agency that achieved gender parity this year, Icon is pleased to support CARE Australia in delivering a campaign for women, by women. The decision for the project to be female-led was informed by the understanding that, to help others, it often needs to come from a place of empathy, familiarity and common ground.”
Speaking on Icon’s appointment, Cath Hoban said, “Public support is instrumental to CARE Australia’s work, we can’t do it alone. We look forward to working with Icon to gain the support that is needed to help us provide life-changing opportunities for women – at a time it is needed most.”
CARE has been committed to helping the world’s most vulnerable people since the first ‘CARE packages’ were issued to survivors of World War II in 1945. Now an international confederation made up of 21 members working in 104 countries, CARE seeks to end extreme poverty for all who experience it. The organisation provides assistance to those in poverty regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, placing women at the heart of their work as one of the most effective ways to tackle poverty. In 2019-20, CARE Australia, the Asia-Pacific arm of the organisation, alone directly helped 2.4 million people across 25 countries.
“Given Icon’s focus on delivering purpose-driven projects and making a positive impact within our communities, this partnership makes a lot of sense to us. There is a strong alignment between the values of CARE Australia and Icon, and we are excited to join forces on this meaningful initiative,” said Joanne Painter.
The appointment comes off the back of an ever-growing client list for Icon, who recently welcomed Kathmandu, Greater Western Water and UNSW Sydney as new clients in 2021. Some of Icon’s recent successes include launching a campaign in collaboration with FARE and ACT Health, a website rebuild for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and an integrated campaign for the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) to encourage Australians to be wary of alcohol consumption around children.