Amplifying Awareness – Kennards Hire Sound Sensitivity Stations

Challenge

Auditory Processing Disorders (APDs) affect over 6% of Kiwi children, while 10% of Kiwi adults experience moderate or high sensitivity to sound. Despite these figures, sound sensitivity remains largely overlooked at large-scale noisy events and concerts.

Inspired by the personal experience of Kennards Hire team member, Kimberley White – whose son struggled with managing his sensitivity to sound at a major pop concert – Kennards Hire set out to address this issue. The Kennards Hire Sound Sensitivity Stations made their debut at Auckland’s Eden Park in March 2024, providing free ear plugs to stadium goers to make stadium events more accessible, inclusive and enjoyable for all.  The stations were the first of their kind at any major venue in New Zealand, and the initiative has since been expanded to include Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin too.

Our job was to drive mass awareness of the free-to-use sound sensitivity stations, making sure stadium-goers knew they were available and accessible, while also leading a wider conversation around the topic of sound sensitivity and its impact on the daily lives of many.

Idea

Herd MSL led a strategic storytelling press office campaign, leveraging the human-interest factor of the story, and tactically aligning timing with culturally relevant moments.

Kimberley’s story was at the heart of the campaign, both for the launch in Eden Park and at Forsyth Barr Stadium, allowing us to build emotional connection and relatability with audiences.

Making sure our timing was spot on, we aligned our press office outreach for the Eden Park stations with the highly anticipated P!NK concerts and also tapped into a trending social media conversation about concertgoers wearing ear plugs – sparked by Taylor Swift’s tour in Australia. Similarly, we tied the launch of the Forsyth Barr stations to the high-energy Freestyle Kings Motorcross show.

Results

• 7m+ earned media reach

• 28 pieces of local media coverage, across print, online, radio, podcast, and social.

• Over 30,000 earplugs dispensed at Eden Park since installation, as of December 2025.

• Over 15,000 earplugs dispensed at Forsyth Barr Stadium in 2025.