The solution
We knew the key to KYUP!’s success would be sharing Mel’s moving story on a national platform, to ensure her story inspired more young people to take a stand against domestic violence. As a black-belt martial artist, passionate speaker and published writer, Mel is a storyteller’s dream!
We set about building strong relationships with Cosmopolitan’s feature team and entered Mel in the ‘Game Changer of the Year’ category in the magazine’s Women of the Year Awards. This campaign involved collating all of her work since 2013 in a multimedia award submission celebrating her as the inspiring leader that she is.
When the news agenda showed that women were tragically still being killed, assaulted and abused by domestic partners, we worked with Mel on penning passionate opinion pieces and pitched them to Sydney’s media. Publicising the workshops she led in areas across Australia was a priority too, targeting regional press to make sure families knew their children had access to the violence prevention workshops.
The outcome
We are proud to have secured a number of high profile media opportunities for Mel and KYUP! – from a profile in Marie Claire and Daily Telegraph article, to a Business Chicks magazine double spread and even a special segment on SBS telling her story in full.
Cosmopolitan magazine did indeed name Mel Thomas ‘Game Changer of the year’ in 2018. As well as the accolade in itself, she was given the opportunity to speak at their high-profile awards celebration, influencing Australia’s top women in the not-for-profit space. Her story and work were featured in a double page spread in the last ever issue of Cosmopolitan magazine before it closed its doors. The award put Mel on the map as a woman bringing about important social change in Sydney.