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Palmolive releases beautiful campaign directed by an Indigenous creator, telling First Nations stories.

Diversity 23 March, 2023

Produced through Genero’s creative network, the campaign highlights the underrepresentation of First Nations peoples in the native agriculture supply chain.

Sydney, 23 March 2023: Palmolive has released a stunning new campaign to support their latest product, Palmolive Skin Food body wash, which is infused with native Australian superfoods. During product development and discussion with key industry supplier NATIVE EXTRACTS, the brand came to learn about the​​ huge underrepresentation of First Nations peoples in the native agriculture supply chain. Their campaign aims at raising awareness of this issue and supporting First Nations growers. 

“Native ingredients are on-trend, but First Nations representation in the native agricultural supply chain is low – industry bodies suggest less than 2%.” says Kate Johnson, Senior Brand Manager at Colgate-Palmolive. “We’re working with our supplier, NATIVE EXTRACTS, to ensure we’re consciously sourcing our native ingredients from First Nations growers & suppliers. There are some incredibly inspiring people working in the native agriculture sector, who we’ve had the privilege to work and partner with, like Pat Mamanyjun Torres from Mayi Harvests, Dominic Smith from the Pundi Produce & Diramu brands, and Dan Newchurch from the Newchurch Family Farm. We’ve been so inspired by their stories, their connection with native food, and with country & culture, that we wanted to share their voices, to help inspire others.”

To produce the campaign, Palmolive partnered with creative platform Genero, to find a creative team within their creative network, who could source and tell these stories in a genuinely authentic way. Production agency ‘We Believe’ led by Executive Director Andrew Coyle worked in partnership with First Nations Director Cornel Ozies to deliver this unique campaign. The films were shot across various locations in Ngawait & Narungga country in rural South Australia, Djugan/Yawuru & Jabirr Jabirr country in Broome WA, and Ngannelong (Hanging Rock) in Victoria. 

“Cornel is a remarkable talent who’s driven to tell stories that build connections with Indigenous and mainstream Australia. With a groundbreaking documentary ‘Our Law’ on Netflix and great experience producing campaigns for big brands based around positive outcomes for Indigenous people, we knew he’d be the perfect partner to produce this important campaign for Palmolive” Kim Norman, MD for Genero Australia & NZ said.

“Our central philosophy for this campaign was the First Nations value of 'we not me’, which reflected the growers’ approach to native agriculture. They all believed, if you care for country, country will care for you. And through their inherited knowledge they generously showed us how we can care for the land by using traditional methods.”

Cornel Ozies, First Nations Director.

“Our aim was to create a campaign that built a connection between native agriculture and a wider audience.” Executive & Creative Director Andrew Coyle, says. “Along the way we were inspired by their knowledge, brought to tears at times and elevated by the connections we made with our First Nations growers. This all happened because we took the time to listen. My hope is that our audience may have a similar journey”.

The campaign is split into two parts with different objectives. The first is a content series that tells the stories of three First Nations growers, shining a light on their beautiful native Australian ingredients, traditional agricultural practices and connection to land. This series will run on NITV and is aimed at educating and inspiring First Nations involvement in the agriculture sector, directly addressing the issue of under-representation of First Nations peoples in the supply chain.

The second is a fun and upbeat consumer focused campaign featuring Indigenous actor and Skin Food enthusiast, Miranda Tapsell. The campaign will run on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube from 23 March 2023. It highlights the product’s native superfood ingredients, hyper-nourishing formula and Palmolive’s partnership with First Nations growers.

“This campaign highlights the importance of working with creative teams who have a deep understanding of the audience and culture a brand is trying to speak to. It’s a fantastic example of how brands can work with Genero’s global creative network to ensure they’re producing genuinely authentic content which is respectful of cultural nuance, offers unique perspectives and empowers diverse voices”.

Kim Norman, MD for Genero Australia & NZ

“The ‘We not me’ campaign has been the result of significant collaboration between Genero, the We Believe creative & production teams, composer Tristan Barton, the VMLY&R Strategy team, Kantar Research, our Colgate-Palmolive team & the phenomenal First Nations growers in Australia that we’ve had the privilege to work with” said Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Director Anthony Crewes. “Native foods are synonymous with First Nations people, culture and ancestral heritage. With natives being on-trend today across many FMCG products, there’s a great opportunity for manufacturers to support First Nations growers by taking a closer look at the supply chain and making conscious choices for inclusion.”

Colgate-Palmolive believe ‘Everyone deserves a future they can smile about’, and their hope is that this campaign can be a small part towards inspiring positive change in the future. 

This campaign was covered by Mumbrella, read the article here.