Nan's Song
The purpose of this campaign was to identify the early signs of gambling harm to avoid serious gambling harm developing, while reinforcing cultural values that can act as protective factors for gambling harm. It targeted recreational gamblers, aged 18 to 44 years, with a focus on Māori and Pasifika, who are disproportionately represented in terms of gambling harm, being 3.1 and 2.6 (respectively) times more likely to face problems than other audiences.
The challenge was highlighting the risks of “Pokies” to this recreational audience who likely won’t yet feel they have any gambling problem.
The strategy came to life in the campaign strapline, ‘watch out for the warning signs’ but what made it special is how the warning signs were delivered. Cultural creative advisor Misty Kimura and CEO Skye Kimura worked closely with Stanley Street to bring this together for clients Te Hiringa Hauora.


We’re conscious that talking down to people to drive behaviour change doesn’t work. We need narratives that invite people in, not push them away, but we also need to strike a balance with being direct and highlighting the problem.
That’s how Nan arrived. She’s a universal truth, a figure that many of us will recognise whatever our background, but has a particular resonance in Māori and Pasifika communities.
Nan represents a connection to our tūpuna, and mana tuku iho, the mana we inherit from our ancestors. Together with her song (Haere Mai - Everything is Ka Pai) they created a vehicle to deliver a direct message in a positive way that encapsulates the following values:
- Empathy and manaakitanga
- Respect and mana
- Guardianship and kaitiakitanga of one another both physically and spiritually
Watch below a behind the scenes of "Nan's Song" on set and click here to take you to the website and to watch the 90sec advertisement.