Charles Sturt University engaged Ashwater Films to develop and produce a multi-platform content campaign for the Koori Knockout 2024 — one of the largest Indigenous sporting events in Australia.

The project involved the creation of a comprehensive content suite, including hero films, television commercials (NITV), social media assets and stills photography, all designed to engage and inspire a young First Nations audience.

The Challenge-

The objective was to increase enrolments of First Nations students — by creating content that felt authentic, relatable and genuinely reflective of lived experience.

Key challenges included:

Engaging a young Indigenous audience in a meaningful way
Avoiding generic or institutional messaging
Delivering a high volume of assets across multiple platforms
Ensuring consistency of message across film, broadcast and stills
Working within tight campaign timelines aligned to a live national event

The content needed to function as both individual stories and a cohesive campaign system.

Our Approach-

Ashwater Films worked in close collaboration with the university’s marketing team to shape a narrative-led approach centred on real student voices and lived experience.

We developed a series of personal testimonies, where each participant represented a distinct perspective — allowing individual stories to carry specific messages aligned to campaign objectives.

The approach focused on:

Identifying unique narrative angles for each participant
Aligning each story to a specific communication goal
Maintaining consistency across all formats while allowing variation in tone and perspective
Designing content to translate seamlessly across:
Hero films
Broadcast TVCs (NITV)
Social media
Stills photography

This ensured the campaign felt cohesive, while each asset delivered a clear and purposeful message.

The Outcome-

The result was a high-performing, multi-asset campaign that successfully balanced scale, authenticity and clarity.

Ashwater Films delivered:

5 hero films
5 television commercials (NITV)
Social media cutdowns
A full suite of stills photography assets

All content was delivered on time and on budget, meeting the demands of a live campaign environment.

The campaign provided Charles Sturt University with a strong, unified storytelling platform — enabling them to engage their target audience through relatable voices, clear messaging and culturally grounded narratives.