One of the greatest challenges marketers and content creators face is that of inclusivity. Of course, there is a desire to be as inclusive as possible when developing any creative strategy, but it becomes essential when lives are at stake.

Untold Fable’s head of client services, Rosie Robertson, shares insights into how she and her team put equity into practice to create the Own It cervical screen campaign, which resulted in engagement and genuinely positive, life-saving outcomes.

Imagine walking into a doctor’s office knowing you have choices. For too long, this has been more of a fiction than a reality for too many people.

Funded by the Australian Government, ‘Own It’ – the new national cervical screening campaign – was built on this fundamental shift of empowered choice and proves what’s possible when creativity is guided by an equity-first approach.

Delivered in partnership with ACON, NACCHO, AMHC, and ACPCC, ‘Own It’ embraces multi-sector collaboration, with each body playing a key role in shaping the campaign’s creative strategy.     

At Untold Fable, we believe that authentic representation – both in front of and behind the camera – leads to powerful storytelling that resonates deeply with the communities it serves. This was a critical element of the campaign, which sought to make cervical screening accessible and relevant to everyone.

Our mission was clear: engage communities that have historically experienced barriers to cervical screening, ensuring that everyone with a cervix in Australia – particularly those from First Nations, multicultural, LGBTQ+, the disabled, and rural or remote communities – could see themselves reflected in a campaign designed to empower and inform. This meant embedding diversity not just in the faces on screen, but in the voices shaping the narrative and the teams crafting the content.

Creating a platform for empowerment

Traditional health campaigns have often relied on fear-based messaging to drive action, but we knew that approach wasn’t right for ‘Own It’. 

Fear can create resistance, while empowerment fosters engagement. Our goal was to move away from narratives of risk and negativity, instead focusing on personal agency and choice. 

When people feel in control of their health decisions, they are more likely to take action.

Historically, cervical screening has been seen as a uniform experience – one test, one method, one approach (a doctor and a speculum). 

But this is no longer the case, thanks to the advent and implementation of the self-swab option. The ‘Own It’ campaign was designed to redefine this moment as one of empowerment by giving people the knowledge to choose how they engage with their health. 

By showcasing real people sharing their real screening experiences, we aimed to dismantle barriers of fear, discomfort, and stigma, replacing them with confidence, choice and control.

From the outset, authenticity was key. Featuring 18 individuals from diverse backgrounds, the campaign amplified voices that have often been overlooked in public health messaging. More than just participants, these individuals were partners in shaping the creative process, ensuring that the stories told were true to their lived experiences.

Maximising inclusion with a clear narrative

Given the complexity that comes with including multiple contributors and languages in a campaign, many shy away from doing so. However, we found a way to negate this challenge. 

The campaign was created with a modular approach to the narrative, allowing us to weave in multiple stories from contributors across different formats. This also ensured that in-language, stand-alone stories could be used effectively, making the campaign more accessible and tailored to diverse communities. 

In addition to the paid advertising collateral, we also created a series of behind-the-scenes assets where our campaign talent shared their stories and personalities in their own words and way. As part of the campaign, we also created simple toolkits tailored for each target audience, enabling local communities to adapt materials and actively participate in extending the campaign’s reach.

Behind the lens: Building a representative production team

Equity doesn’t stop with on-screen representation. We knew that to tell these stories with honesty and depth, we needed a production team that truly reflected the communities we were reaching. We structured our crew to embody the same diversity we championed in the campaign:

• 75 percent of the production team were women, non-binary individuals, or people with a cervix
• 30 percent representation from multicultural and/or First Nations backgrounds
• LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent representation across key roles

By prioritising inclusivity behind the scenes, we ensured that the creative process itself was shaped by varied perspectives, leading to richer storytelling and a more resonant final product. 

This also created an environment on set where talent felt safe to share their stories and deliver them in a way that was authentic and resonated in the final content. 

A collaborative approach to storytelling

The success of ‘Own It’ is rooted in collaboration. The partnership between the Australian Government and leading health organisations – ACON, NACCHO, AMHC, and ACPCC – ensured the campaign was both clinically sound and culturally competent. 

Meanwhile, agency partners like Cultural Perspectives played a crucial role in recruitment, translation and on-set language support, ensuring that every detail of the campaign was accessible and representative. 

Nani Creative and Lush provided guidance on language that would resonate with First Nations audiences.

Customedia’s media placement strategy further extended the campaign’s reach, ensuring that materials were seen by the right audiences through geotargeted placements such as free-to-air TV and out-of-home media. 

Additionally, highly targeted in-language materials for Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese speakers were distributed through digital channels and convenience advertising – including toilet door placements – to meet communities where they are. 

Media and influencer relations have also been implemented by Sling & Stone.

The campaign’s community partners – ACON, NACCHO and AMHC – are also leading on-the-ground engagement efforts, including pop-up cervical screening clinics and information stalls at community events. 

To further enhance engagement, lip glosses mimicking the size of the self-collect swab were created, offering a tangible and discreet way to demonstrate this new option.

Shaping the future of inclusive campaigns

Australia is on track to become the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035. However, to achieve this goal, we must close the equity gap in screening rates. 

More than 70 percent of cervical cancers occur in people who have never been screened or aren’t up to date with their screening. The introduction of the option to collect your own cervical screening test with a simple swab is a game-changer, particularly for those who have previously faced barriers to screening.

In the second half of 2024, the period the campaign has been running, nearly 24,000 first-time screeners and 38,600 overdue screeners opted for the self-swab option. 

Uptake of self-swab has also been observed in more remote areas, with particularly high uptake among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The impact is clear: when given the choice, people are more likely to take control of their health.

At Untold Fable, we’re proud to have played a role in shaping a campaign that doesn’t just inform but empowers. 

We believe this approach to equity-first creativity paves the way for future campaigns to embrace inclusivity, not as a challenge but as an essential driver of compelling, authentic storytelling that makes a lasting impact. 

By putting diversity, lived experience and choice at the forefront, ‘Own It’ is more than a public health initiative – it’s a movement towards equity in healthcare. 

We hope this campaign inspires more brands to adopt inclusive approaches, showing that representation and accessibility aren’t just the right thing to do – they’re the key to deeper engagement and ensuring this engagement leads to meaningful outcomes. 

As head of client services for Untold Fable, Rosie Robertson has worked with global brands, including Nike, Bayer, Bumble, HSBC, Tommy Hilfiger and Tripadvisor. A female-founded and female-led digital-first production company, fuelled by a diverse, global network of talent and creators, their unique model combines a production company with a global network of creative talent and a DE&I-centric technology platform. Robertson collaborates closely with clients to develop successful, award-winning campaigns. Her career spans creative agencies and production companies, leading projects that have earned prestigious accolades, including Cannes Lions and D&AD awards.