Wollongong City Council

WISDOM was tasked with creating a visual identity and marketing strategy for a Buy Local campaign for the Wollongong Local Government Area.

With so many businesses affected by COVID lockdowns resulting in an economic downturn, the campaign goal was to encourage locals to spend on local businesses of all kinds. This included retail, events, food and beverage, as well as professional services. For people still hesitant to enter the community with covid still present, the campaign encouraged online shopping with click & collect, rather than online shopping from stores located outside the region.

‘We Shop the Gong’ is a re-envisioned take on the famous local pride campaign ‘We Love the Gong’ (WLTG). That brand was introduced over ten years ago, and in its heyday, was a huge success with locals from all over the Illawarra embracing the brand. This re-envisioned brand pays homage to WLTG, in a fresh way. The visual application uses nostalgia to communicate to locals… ‘We Shop the Gong, because We Love the Gong’.

The uptake by local businesses was essential in the success of the campaign. To encourage uptake WIDOM developed a media kit for downloadable graphics, as well as a social media generator that allowed business operators to create branded social media graphics using their own images and text. This was available on the campaign website. These organic graphics shared on social media by the Wollongong businesses reinforced the digital advertising that was being pushed by the campaign.