word on the street

I pulled into the McDonald's ahead, ordered a coffee, and asked the person at the counter, "I noticed these banners in the street. What's that about?"

They answered, "Oh, that's something to do with the smelters and the lead mob banging on again."

That's what they said. But their body language told me so much more.

I'd arrived in Port Pirie that morning to meet with our new client – Gail Bartel, the site's Communications Manager for the local lead smelter, one of the world's largest. We'd been engaged by the new parent company, Nyrstar, following our community engagement work for their Hobart zinc smelter, and now we were managing the rebrand for both Australian operations.

It was a great first meeting. Driving from the smelters to my motel afterward, I noticed the banners in the main street.

'Our goal: At least 95% of children 0–4 years, in the Port Pirie community, with a blood lead level of less than 10 µg/dL by the end of 2010.'

I didn't know what it meant.

The next morning, I relayed the McDonald's conversation to Gail.

I learned what the tenby10 program actually was – an inspiring goal, set by the new parent company, for tackling the largest unresolved issue facing each location within its group. I also learned from Gail about the history of the lead issue in Port Pirie. And I got to share what my agency had accomplished over the preceding years, transforming road safety in Tasmania.

Gail listened, loved what she heard, and we were invited to look at a strategy for tenby10.

When Gail and I first met, in 2007, only 48.3% of children under five in Port Pirie met the World Health Organisation's standard for blood lead levels. The smelter had operated continuously for over 120 years, employing generations of local families. Previous health communications had been either too scientific to land, or poorly received – people were reluctant to jeopardise the co-existence with the community's principal source of income.

And the word on the street? I'd seen it at McDonald's.

So we developed a new strategy. I worked closely with Ian Fowler, who had previously managed public relations for BP in New York. He knows his stuff.

First, we changed the conversation. Highlighting the many positive developments happening in and around Port Pirie.

Next, the tenby10 platform was effectively re-launched around the number '10' — its everyday familiarity (on a footy jumper or a letterbox, to name just two) — and the goal communicated in a way the community could understand, relate to, connect with. And importantly, own.

And thirdly, once understood, the tenby10 program was developed to provide many opportunities for people to participate towards the goal.

The accompanying positioning statement, 'For the future we all want' – written by our brilliant copywriter, Peter Barry – soon became one of the most embraced aspects of the campaign. Why? Because it was profoundly true.

Within eighteen months, 72.5% of children in Port Pirie met the WHO standard – up from 48.3%.

Where there had been apathy, and at worst anger, there was now real understanding and widespread enthusiasm for the ways people could participate.

By the end of 2009, tenby10 was being acknowledged across Australia and around the world – cited as a benchmark and case study for any city challenged with a lead exposure issue. The outcome, in the language of the program itself, was a transformation from denial to ownership.

The conversation that Gail and I shared on that second morning led to work recognised globally as best-in-class.

It also meant Nyrstar became our largest client for the next thirteen years, with work that extended to their executive team in London and Zurich and to projects across five continents.

None of that would have happened if I hadn't asked the question beyond our original brief.

But even more so, if the McDonald's barista hadn't given me such an honest answer.