Our aim was to have Respect Campaign become a Statewide Campaign however for Respect Awareness Inc to run a campaign of that magnitude would not be feasible in today’s climate where there is lack of Respect exhibited in so many ways throughout the communities. In 2013 Bee Dee Bags have sponsored 2,000 printed reusable shopping bags with our logo on the front and back and the words “Stop and Think” in the expandable side fold of the bag. Professional advice was that we would need Radio and TV commercials and possibly a Jingle as central add to the concept and professional development of our marketing. A Professional Jingle maker from Tasmania produced a Jingle for us in 2004. This jingle is being used by the Radio Stations in Wagga and is also being used by the High Schools in Wagga. It is aimed at the teenage market and Respect Awareness has had very positive feedback. In 2012 the competition for the Schools was to write the lyrics and music or lyrics for a rap, song, jingle or commercial. A class from Kooringal Public School had the winning entry with a rap – words and music – produced by them. This has been used on radio stations.
The needs of today go far beyond the need for a Jingle and as a result of the wider breadth of thinking and action being needed Respect Awareness presented our State and Federal members with papers based on Tony Blair’s Respect Action Plan in England. Tony Blair has stated that a campaign such as this has to include all levels of Government as well as local communities. Respect Awareness has been putting pressure on the Governments to instigate a Respect Campaign along these lines. Tony Blair launched his campaign in January 2006 with 28 million pounds and has underwritten the campaign for 80 million pounds over two years. One area of his campaign is dealing with ‘problem families’ and he has some exciting and workable solutions being put into practice to cover this situation. There are many other situations covered with proposals that are very workable. He has expanded some of his portfolios as well as creating a couple of new ones.
While we have had interest shown from outside Wagga, in today’s Society people are reluctant to start new groups so this is why Respect Awareness Inc has refocused its thinking on outreach goals centred on Respect that can be used anywhere Statewide. An example of this was the production of Drink Coasters for use in Hotels and Clubs in the latter part of 2004. Respect Awareness took orders for 100,000 from the Hotels and Clubs in Wagga Wagga who proudly supported this outreach. The Hotels and Clubs bought the coasters which have the message in eye-catching font in black on a yellow card. The message age is ‘plant RESPECT and watch it grow’. This is something that can be sold to State Bodies for use across the State.
Respect Week is a great avenue for getting the message out into the public and now enjoys a very high profile in Wagga for that week and leading up to it. Each year we are looking to develop other things that might be able to be done in that week and capitalise on the high profile we enjoy.
There are many other avenues that Respect Awareness will be looking at – some brought forward from the Campaigns designed by the CSU professional advertising company Kajula. Respect Awareness is also open to any suggestions anyone wants to put forward or areas where Respect Awareness might secure sponsorship. Some of the earlier outreach avenues have been replaced and streamlined to suit today’s society.