By Erin Moy

I wish I had made Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes. The masterclass in communication from the New Zealand Herpes Foundation (NZHF) and Motion Sickness is the piece of advertising from the past year that made me most jealous.

Why? It didn’t lean into shame or shock. In fact, it did the exact opposite. It challenged decades of entrenched stigma around genital herpes by embracing radical honesty, and using distinct wit and empathetic on-screen talent to make the information clear and consumable – and, at times, comedy gold. 

It’s the perfect example of good behaviour-change comms. One where emotionally intelligent storytelling and empathetic ideas get the best results. Audiences want storytelling that builds trust rather than forces attention.

For a long time, the public sector and social-impact marketing relied heavily on jump scares. And, of course, there is a place for so-called ‘shockvertising’ – it can be highly effective when not stigmatising the people it is trying to reach. But behaviour-change marketing is maturing, too.

I’ve spent several years creating ad campaigns, films and even digital and physical products to shift culture for the better. And what I’ve learned along the way is that when you’re asking people to change the way they behave, consume, act or vote, shock tactics have reached a bit of an expiration date. Especially as we become overstimulated and desensitised to shocking imagery and information in our day-to-day content consumption. 

Empathy as a creative technology

We often talk about AI, data, cameras or post-production workflows as the cutting-edge tech of our industry, but I think empathy is our most sophisticated – and complex – creative technology. Understanding the ‘why’ behind a behaviour is the only way to introduce a better one.

It’s hard to build a lasting relationship on a jump-scare. You may win a fleeting boost of attention or a spike in awareness, but you rarely foster the psychological safety required for a person to actually change their ways. In an era of deepfakes and algorithmic cynicism, trust is the most valuable currency a brand can hold.

Cultural consultation and authenticity

The modern consumer has a high-def radar for inauthenticity. And in my experience – particularly with younger demographics – pressure messaging often triggers avoidance, not action. When storytelling feels like an honest, nuanced conversation, audiences lean in.

For public health and safety campaigns, the stakes are high. When you are asking an audience to confront a sensitive topic, the creative must act as a safe harbour. If the content feels manipulative, the audience may turn away, glaze over or retreat. And brands or organisations that prioritise detailed stakeholder and cultural consultation – and honesty over hype – are the ones seeing sustained impact.

An invitation, not an instruction

The best campaigns don’t tell people what to do; they invite them to reflect on who they want to be. The audience is no longer a target to be captured; they are a participant in a conversation. 

Whether you are selling software or social change, your goal should be to leave the viewer feeling more capable, not more judged. The NZHF campaign worked because it invited the audience into a joke, then into a community, then into a new perspective. It turned a medical stigma into a cultural moment.

As we look toward the future of content more generally, and behaviour change in particular, the winners won’t be the loudest voices in the room. They will be the ones who listened well enough to speak the truth with empathy. In a world of endless noise, the quietest, most honest voice is often the one that gets heard. 

By trading shock for sincerity, we don’t just drive commercial outcomes, we actually shift culture for the better.

Erin Moy is a writer, producer, creative leader, Walkley-nominated filmmaker and founding partner at Entropico.

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