Sparking conversation and standing tall for all at ME Bank.
Our objective was to foster an inclusive workplace were people felt like they could bring their whole self to work.
A new generation of customers expect brands to acknowledge their position of power, and do more than provide a product.
But in 2014 ME didn’t have a public position on Marriage Equality, although an average of 42* customers would ask a month (*internal social reporting). We had to meet our customers expectations.
We implemented cultural change which increased our people's sense of belonging by 30% over the 3 years I was leading ProudlyME, according to Culture Amp.
Taking a strong stand for what you believe in.
ME’s now a strong advocate for Marriage Equality, with the pride network, ProudlyME, being one of the best parts about working at ME.
ME meets Melbourne Queer Film Festival 💖
Another opportunity for ME to walk the walk was to sponsor a LGBTIQ+ event. I lead the Sponsorship and Profile team in exploring and securing the best partnership fit we could find.
Over the 3 years the MQFF sponsorship has existed, we’ve:
Held engaging and quirky activations at 3 major film festivals
Co-authored long-form editorial content in 40k program guides, showcasing our amazing people
Held social competitions generating conversation with 480,654 Melburnians hearing about ME and MQFF
Created a digital campaign reaching 1,043,340 on social and web with 4.89% engagement with our content
Generated Brand recall of 65%, making ME the 3rd most recalled brand from the film festival behind City of Melbourne and Village.
Encore! This is our second year sponsoring the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, led by our employee pride network ProudlyME (the stars of our ad).
2019: Advertorial
2019: In-program guide full page ad
Some social highlights
Launching MQFF by telling our stories
Part of a content series, holding conversations with staff.
Celebrating an Australian LGBTI Award
Showcasing the people who contributed to a workplace award nomination.
ME Movie Monday @ MQFF
The Co-leads and Sponsorship Stripe of Proudly ME, at the movies 💖
Future-proofing our passionate, grassroots efforts ❣
You can pay for a sponsorship and light up a building. But if the people inside your business don’t feel seen, you’re not authentically living your purpose.
ProudlyME’s digital footprint
To showcase our progress, we created a digital presence including purpose pages and a campaign page to highlight Proudly peeps stories.
This is now an evergreen asset, transparent, and a great way to spark continual conversation.
Formalising a culture of belonging
Working with the Co-lead, we held a co-design session to define a vision and purpose for Proudly. We then developed a network structure and KPIs for the business – to embed this passionate grass roots movement into the bank’s future.
Melbourne Queer Film Festival Program Launch
Queer Week Panel Discussion
ME at the Movies
The team.
My journey as Pride co-lead began with formalising a statement of support in 2014, peaking with me standing on a roof with a projectionist lighting up the building, and ending with a strong love for allyship and formalising our progress.
Sponsorship & Profile Stripe Lead: Bec Thexton
ProudlyME Network Lead: Hannah Belle
Brand Designer: Frances Gray
Copywriter: Ed Pitts
Head of Purpose: Scott Dare
Videographer: Harlan Alston
Comms Lead: Matt Callander