DHUWA is a coffee brand owned by Indigenous Australians, aiming to create connections and start conversations with non-Indigenous Australians. The team at DHUWA believe that bonds and relationships can be fostered and nurtured as people connect and share stories over a great cup of coffee.

DHUWA is a brand that sparks easy and difficult conversations, and social media is an environment that can bring out the best and worst in people. Developing strategies for handling the more unenlightened and confronting comments was identified as a vital component of the campaign.

From an engagement standpoint, the campaign’s primary goal was creating brand recognition, gaining a foothold in the market, and establishing DHUWA as a brand committed to driving positive social change and supporting the economic development of Indigenous Australia.

Developing any social media strategy requires an open-minded approach and a desire to collaborate and learn from the team behind the brand. Working with DHUWA to create a paid social media strategy epitomised the importance of this approach.

Collateral was created for the ads run across Facebook and Instagram, which evolved throughout the campaign to ensure it was optimised for the target audience. User-generated content was identified as the most impactful and engaging ad type, and a successful influencer program was established to capitalise on these findings.

A social media user-engagement playbook was also created, highlighting several personas and their potential comments. This outlined responses that could either assist in fostering positive conversation and education or callout and address negative comments and behaviour.