Lessons from Over 100 Multicultural Video Campaigns with Ethnolink

Creating effective multicultural content requires more than translation. It demands cultural understanding, strategic planning, and authentic community engagement. 

In a recent webinar, Anthony Lam and Costa Vasili from Ethnolink shared insights from producing over 100 CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) video campaigns, revealing what works and what wastes budgets.

Here are the core takeaways that you can apply today to your multicultural campaigns. 

For a deeper look and some real-time Q&A, catch the full webinar here.

The Foundation: No One-Size-Fits-All Approach

The most critical lesson from years of multicultural campaign production is that every project is unique. 

What works for one community may fail completely with another, even when they share the same language. 

This fundamental principle underpins every successful CALD campaign and shapes all strategic decisions from language selection to visual design.

Strategic Language Selection: Beyond Demographics

Choosing which languages to prioritise isn’t just about population size. Effective language selection requires comprehensive audience identification that considers:

• Migration patterns and recency of arrival
• Age demographics and employment status
• English proficiency levels
• Geographic distribution and hazard exposure (for emergency communications)
• Existing resource availability in specific languages

The multiplier effect of language addition significantly impacts budgets. Each additional language can double, triple, or quadruple costs, making strategic prioritisation essential. 

Sometimes focussing on one language initially, allows for testing and learning before broader expansion.

Budget optimisation strategies include grouping languages by cultural regions (South Asian, East Asian), choosing between subtitles versus full dubbing, and developing content with wide appeal that can serve multiple communities within a language group.

Case Study: The Butterfly Foundation’s Single-Language Approach

The Butterfly Foundation’s eating disorder awareness campaign demonstrates the power of strategic language focus. 

Rather than spreading resources across multiple languages, the team chose Arabic to reach diverse Arabic-speaking communities across Australia, including Lebanese, Iraqi, Egyptian and Sudanese populations.

This single-language strategy maximised budget efficiency whilst allowing the team to test their approach with a substantial and diverse audience before committing to broader multilingual expansion.

Read the full case study here

Community Consultation: Essential but Not Always Mandatory

Community consultation forms the backbone of authentic multicultural content, though it’s not always mandatory due to time, budget, or confidentiality constraints. 

When possible, consultation should occur at multiple stages:

• Discovery phase to understand community challenges and preferences
• Script and storyboard review for cultural accuracy
• Talent and voice selection feedback
• Final content review before launch

This iterative process ensures authenticity, helps avoid cultural missteps, and increases content effectiveness. 

Importantly, community members should always be compensated for their time, typically through gift cards or tokens of appreciation. Requesting free consultation can be insulting and disrespectful to communities.

Live Action vs Animation: Matching Format to Objective

The choice between live action and animation depends on campaign objectives, budget, and cultural considerations:

Live Action works best for:

• Emotional storytelling and awareness campaigns
• Building trust through authentic representation
• Demonstrating real community members and environments

Animation excels at:

• Explaining complex information clearly
• Maintaining cultural neutrality when needed
• Managing budget constraints across multiple languages
• Avoiding lip-syncing challenges in multilingual production

Research shows that audiences often prefer animation free of cultural identifiers, especially when combined with localised voiceovers. This approach can feel authentic across different cultural contexts whilst simplifying production logistics.

Case Study: Country Fire Authority’s Clear Safety Communication

The Country Fire Authority’s emergency preparedness videos demonstrate animation’s effectiveness for instructional content. 

Vietnamese-language videos used simple iconography, minimal on-screen text, and no characters to clearly communicate fire danger ratings. 

The approach simplified translation processes whilst ensuring the critical safety information remained accessible across language barriers.

Cultural Nuance: Beyond Surface-Level Representation

Authentic multicultural content requires deep cultural understanding that goes beyond changing skin tones or clothing. 

Key considerations include:

Visual Representation: Food choices, dress, family structures, and environmental contexts must reflect authentic community experiences without stereotyping.

Sensitive Topic Handling: Taboo subjects require careful navigation. The Butterfly Foundation project used professional actors to tell real stories because community members weren’t comfortable appearing on camera, protecting their privacy while maintaining authenticity.

Language Adaptation: Translation can change video length significantly. Vietnamese versions often run 20% longer than English originals, requiring production planning adjustments.

Iconography Awareness: Symbols carry different meanings across cultures. Icons should be tested with target communities.

Case Study: Pacific Labor Mobility’s Cultural Symbol Adaptation

The Pacific Labor Mobility support program illustrates this challenge perfectly. 

Original storyboards featured scales of justice to represent fairness, but community consultation revealed this imagery didn’t resonate with the target Pacific Islander audience, who were more familiar with scales from their local markets than from legal contexts.

The visual was redesigned to better reflect their cultural understanding of justice and authority concepts.

Production Process: Timeline and Partnership Reality

The biggest mistake organisations make is underestimating timelines and not factoring in community consultation time. 

Successful multicultural campaigns require:

• Discovery and consultation phases
• Multiple review cycles for scripts and storyboards
• Cultural review of final content
• Translation and localisation time
• Additional approval processes

The most effective approach involves partnerships between video production specialists and multicultural communication experts. 

This collaboration ensures both technical quality and cultural authenticity without clients managing multiple vendors.

Case Study: NSW State Emergency Services’ Multi-Language Success

When NSW State Emergency Services needed to reach linguistically diverse communities in high-risk flood, storm and tsunami zones, they required agencies who understood both quality content production and complex community communication. 

The collaboration between Punchy Digital Media and Ethnolink delivered:

• 90 emergency videos across 15 priority languages
• Community co-designed scripts tested for cultural appropriateness
• Native-speaking talent and authentic SES volunteer locations
• Over 500 individual scenes across preparedness and warning content
• 170,000+ views with engagement above industry benchmarks

Rather than clients managing separate video and translation vendors, the integrated approach enabled simultaneous community consultation across multiple languages whilst maintaining consistent quality and cultural authenticity. 

The result: NSW SES shifted from one-size-fits-all messaging to trusted, life-saving communication that reflects and respects community diversity.

Read the full case study here

Key Principles for Success

Keep it Simple: Audiences consistently prefer plain language and direct presentation across all cultures.

Balance Authenticity with Respect: Cultural nuance should enhance authenticity without stereotyping.

Plan for Iteration: Community feedback should inform multiple production stages.

Consider Distribution: Budget allocation should include strategy for reaching target audiences, not just content creation.

Respect Community Time: Always compensate community consultants appropriately.

Moving Forward

Creating effective multicultural content requires understanding that translation is just the starting point. True connection happens when content reflects community experiences, addresses real needs, and respects cultural nuances. 

The investment in proper consultation, strategic planning, and authentic representation pays dividends in campaign effectiveness and community trust.

Ready to Create Impact?

We’re on the lookout for one organisation whose mission aligns with ours to empower communities across Australia. 

We’re giving away a $20,000 creative communications campaign to help amplify your message and create real change.

For the chance to be selected, simply visit this page and tell us why your organisation deserves to win.