Netsafe stirs up action in new ‘Spicy Noods’ campaign via Supergood, Wellington

A new Netsafe campaign taps into university students’ favourite meal to raise awareness about how to regain control if a person’s nudes are leaked. With insights provided by student focus groups, Netsafe and Wellington-based creative agency Supergood created the Spicy Noods campaign – a play on the staple student dish.

The campaign will target O-Week celebrations at all universities across the country, including key information about what to do if nudes are leaked placed inside student O-week welcome packs. At Victoria University in Wellington, spicy noodles will be cooked onsite at a pop-up noodle cart and served to students in custom Netsafe Spicy Noods cups.

“We didn’t want to just rely on digital delivery and because of the sensitivities around nudes, sparking conversation was key to ensuring quality engagement with the campaign,” says Ian Palmer, Strategy Director at Supergood, which specialise in impact focussed campaigns for not-for-profits and public sector clients.

Key to the Spicy Noods campaign message was highlighting Netsafe’s role in promoting online safety and how it assists people to get nudes taken down if they are leaked.

“If a person’s nudes are shared without their consent, then Netsafe can help them regain control. That’s where the campaign catch line ‘Netsafe’s got you covered’ is essential,” says Palmer.

The multi-channel campaign will roll out on TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram online, on Phantom Billboards in central city and near university campus locations, and via a range of direct advertising with student unions and campuses across the country.

The campaign also gives people the chance to win a year’s supply of noodles by going to spicynoods.co.nz.

“It’s really serious and triggering when your nudes are leaked,” says Supergood Creative Director, Lauren Hayes.  “We knew this needed to be approached with care, while still being relatable and meaningful to young people.”

Supergood took a unique approach by conducting focus groups with university students who lived and flatted together. This dynamic helped generate authentic conversations and useful insights to help the Supergood team design a campaign that truly resonated with its target audience.

“We had never conducted focus groups using friendship dynamics before, but using groups of friends, who were comfortable in each other’s company, helped uncover honest and valuable insights,” says Hayes.

The focus groups revealed not only how common sharing nudes is, but also how desensitised many young people are to them because of the frequent exposure to explicit content online.

These insights helped to shape the campaign’s tone and messaging, says Hayes: “A surprising insight was how common sharing nudes has become, with some young people accepting the risks because they were so accustomed to it.”

Through the focus groups, Supergood also discovered the target audience did not want to see explicit content or nudity in the campaign, preferring a more light-hearted approach without oversexualizing the subject.

However, says Hayes, balancing humour and innuendo with the serious nature of the issue was challenging: “It’s a tough space to get the balance right and ensuring the campaign was not going to retraumatise people when they encountered it was incredibly important. The focus groups had a really strong sense of where that line was between not re- traumatising people and taking the subject seriously, while also being fun and playful enough to get cut through. We’re really proud of this campaign because it is so impact and audience focused.”

Netsafe Chief Customer Officer, Leanne Ross, says the Spicy Noods campaign aims to position Netsafe’s relevance to young adults, as a place they can access practical help to regain control if their nudes are leaked: “Supergood’s focus on behaviour change psychology was what impressed us. It is an important element that needs to be balanced with creative ideas.  Knowing that Spicy Noods resonates with the target audience gave us the confidence to launch this campaign and know that it would connect with more young adults we could help, if they understood what we do.”

Client: Netsafe
Strategy: Supergood
Creative: Supergood
Offline activations: Supergood
Media planning and buying: Supergood / Digitella