Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef: driving participation in the Great Reef Census

The Great Reef Census asks for more than awareness. It asks people to analyse images of the Great Barrier Reef themselves, and what they find goes to the scientists and marine park managers who need it. Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef needed everyday people to move from reading about reef conservation to taking part in it.

Cosmos took the science, Student Edge took the students, Mouths of Mums took the families

This was a second year of work with Avid Collective, run across two bursts, and the publishers were picked the same way both times, for audiences that care about environmental causes. Mouths of Mums, AWOL, Urban List, This Weekend, Student Edge, Thriving Planet, Signature Luxury Travel & Style and Cosmos Magazine each carried articles and videos on the census.

None of them told the story the same way. Mouths of Mums wrote for families. Student Edge wrote for younger readers, on citizen science and how to get involved. Signature Luxury Travel & Style showed eco-conscious travellers the beauty and the fragility of the reef. Cosmos Magazine went into the science of reef conservation, and Thriving Planet took the global view. Amplification put the content in front of environmental enthusiasts, eco-travellers and students interested in science and conservation, and public relations carried it further again.

17,000 article views, 370 hours, and a client counting something else

Across the two-year partnership and its two bursts, the articles and videos drew more than 17,000 article views and 370 hours of attention time. The content was built to send readers on to the CGBR website and into the census.

The client counts a different number. “Any time we’re able to work with our media partners on campaigns that align to our values and have an impact for a great cause is a win-win,” said Linda Tyson, Managing Partner at Mindshare. “Last year’s campaign resulted in over 164,000 reef images being analysed by everyday citizens ... This was only possible with the help of our amazing media partnerships.”

Reading about the reef and working on it are different asks

Eight publishers wrote about the reef in their own voices, to readers who came to them for that, and asked those readers to do a piece of the science themselves. That is the job branded content did here. It explained the census in enough detail that taking part looked possible, in a voice the reader trusts.

Two things this does not do. It does not tie the article views to the images analysed, because nothing in the campaign measured that link. And it was not built to change what an AI answer says about the Great Barrier Reef.