We set out to produce an inspiring video piece that shone a spotlight on the Sydney Opera House's LGBTIQ+ community. In light of our first ever float in the esteemed Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, we saw an opportunity to capture the stories of the staff and community members involved in the celebration.
The Sydney Opera House video strategy is built around four distinct pillars which act as a guide for the content we produce. The Mardi Gras Float Launch video very successfully aligned with three of these four pillars:
We are also always looking for ways to collaborate with our corporate partners and the Opera House float proved to be a very natural way of doing so. With Energy Australia staff members participating in the parade as part of the Opera House float, and their company LGBTQ+ support network PRISM there was a comfortable alignment of values and brands.
Finally we strive to find opportunities to be part of, and be engaged with our local communities and our participation in the the 40th anniversary of Mardi Gras (aligning with our 45th birthday and Opera House architect Jorn Utzon's 100th) was a wonderful moment in which to do this.
Ultimately the piece was a whole of house effort. We collaborated with Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet on the project and managed significant amounts of pre-production in-house, while making up for a modest budget with the engagement of our Major Partner Energy Australia who had 15 staff members join the Opera House marchers in the parade. The video project is an expression of the breadth of the Opera House community and their passion in making this project come to fruition.
The video was incredibly well received across all our social channels with an organic engagement rate of 33.46%. On Facebook we had reactions comments and shares of 2,671 and 6,060 post clicks. Our audiences were overwhelmingly positive in their reactions and genuinely delighted to know of our participation in the parade and the backstory of how we got there.
Some comments:
I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING 😭 @sydneyoperahouse
I love this! You guys rock 😘
I LOVE this!!! And yes it did make me cry. LOVE the credits too. Not often you see Anthony and Amelia together.
Fantastic people! A great float..
Oh I love it soooo much!!!! 💥✨🌈🙌🏼
Absolutely love this you guys looked fabulous
I was in the parade back in 2010, and the lady who says 'you can't explain the exhilaration....' is absolutely spot on. Holding my husband's hand as thousands of people cheer us on is something that I will never forget. Thank you Sydney Mardi Gras for changing my life. x😍
