Chris Freel: “Every Week, There Are Special Moments Where the Industry Is Helping to Save Lives"

No other industry has quite the same amount of power to influence change as the advertising industry does. The words produced, the art created, the TVC beamed into the homes of the everyday person all serve a purpose. 

A purpose to convince, to sell, or to adopt a new way of thinking, to change people's minds, to vote, to support, whatever it may be it is always driven by purpose. When this purpose is as simple as doing good, for example, Innocean’s White Ribbon campaign, or Dentsu Creative Australia’s World Transplant Documentary, or Howatson + Company’s Exhibit Ai, or The Monkey’s, First Digital Nation, or DDB NZ’s Correct The Internet… just to name a few of the campaigns that serve a purpose greater than improving sales - a buzz enters the air.

Chris Freel, journalist turned sales turned CEO of UnLtd and founder of MOOD Teas has seen the good that can be achieved through campaigns that are backed with a purpose. During his time at UnLtd, he has worked closely with children’s charities from all over Australia and has worked with leading agencies to raise awareness and funds for non-for-profits that are grateful for all the help they can get. 

LBB’s Casey Martin spoke to Chris about UnLtd and MOOD Teas and how leaving the world better than we found it is much easier when we work together.

LBB> You’ve been CEO of UnLtd for the past six years - why the move? What drew you to take up the challenge of a charity organisation? Did you see it as a challenge, or did you know exactly what to do?

Chris> I wanted to make a difference and help young people who don’t have the same opportunities through no fault of their own. It’s deeply personal for me having been on both sides of the fence. I also love our industry and believe that it has so much potential to make a positive difference in the world. So, the opportunity to lead UnLtd was the dream role for me.

Any new job is a challenge, but I have always had clear views on how I thought UnLtd could grow and have a huge impact. I have always believed that our industry is full of people and organisations that want to help, but often people just don’t know how to. The first step was ensuring that people were aware of UnLtd and more importantly that there were easy ways for them to get involved, be that using their skills, time, networks, or funds for good. Then it was ensuring that everybody could see the difference that their contributions were making, and spend time with the charities and young people whose lives were being positively impacted by the collective effort of our industry. That has helped us build an emotional connection that is extremely strong.

There was a lot of good work that UnLtd had done before I arrived, so a large part of my role was to build on that and embed UnLtd more into the fabric of the industry. I wanted people to see UnLtd as their organisation and feel proud to be a part of this movement.

LBB> In your experience, how has your previous career experience benefited UnLtd? Were there any skills that you didn’t expect to be transferable?

Chris> Of course. Not just in my career, but in life as well. I grew up in a council estate in Northern England. We didn’t have much but I had a lot of love around me growing up. I lost my dad to a heroin overdose when I was 13. I never really knew him, so my life didn’t change much, but my half- brother who lived with him didn’t have that support. His mum was also an addict and as a result his life spiralled out of control. He was expelled from lots of schools, in and out of juvenile detention, into drugs, alcohol and crime from a very young age. His life could’ve been very different if he had had somebody to believe in him and help guide him.

That is the role that many of our charity partners play. This life experience resonates so much for me at UnLtd.

In my career I started as a journalist, then moved into events, marketing and then sales so have built up several skills over the years. I’ve been lucky to work with some amazing people and learn from them, and I’ve also been in leadership roles at school, university and in my career. I think the industry was looking for somebody to help lead in this space, I was able to recruit a great team of people who are incredible, structure the organisation to make it easy for people to get involved and create a big impact, and connect with different stakeholders across our charity and corporate partners to get the most out of them.

I’ve always been a bit of a hustler and you need to rally people in this job. You often are not the number one priority so ensuring that goodwill turns to action is one of our biggest challenges. When people can see the impact that they are having, that is a big momentum shifter. We all want to see results so ensuring that the industry is consistently reminded of the impact they are having is also very important.

LBB> What have been the best highlights during your time at UnLtd? What have been some of the ‘oh we’re doing good’ moments?

Chris> There are so many. I feel lucky to be part of this organisation. I remember taking a small group of people from Channel Nine out to visit two of our charities in Dubbo and Lake Cargelligo. We spent three days with the charities, working with them, getting to know the kids and being a part of their world. These kids have been through so much trauma and are so strong. They are also kids and loved playing cricket, handball, doing arts and crafts and spending time with us. The charities helping them are incredible but did not receive much funding at that time and one of them was about to fold as they only had two weeks of funding remaining.

I remember talking to Stepho from Nine and he decided on the spot that Nine wanted to fund them for the next three years. We announced it in the Lake Cargelligo bowlo where the whole community of Police, Teachers, Elders, kids, youth workers and everybody in between had turned up and the whole room burst into noise. Tears, cheers and a huge wave of relief as everybody realised that the kids would not have to lose their support. That was hugely emotional and a game-changer for that community and, five years later, Nine are still supporting them. Now the community that used to have one of the highest youth crime rates is thriving.

I also love seeing our industry come together to make a difference, whether that is at events, through campaigns, volunteering or fundraising. Every week there are special moments where the industry is helping to save lives.

LBB> I’m sure you’ve answered this question a million times, but why create a brand that sells tea? Are you an avid tea lover?

Chris> I am partial to a cuppa. UnLtd had talked about a social enterprise for a while without having the resources to start, and part of our growth strategy was to grow and diversify our revenue streams. When COVID hit it was the perfect time to focus on this, as our events program began to slow slightly. We wanted to do something more to combat the horrible fact that suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Australia and decided to create a product where the profits from that were channelled specifically to support youth mental health initiatives. 

Why tea? We did some research showing that young people were drinking more tea than coffee, over-indexing on herbal teas and wellness drinks, and that they really gave a shit about helping people. We also know that connection and conversation play a big role in positive mental health and that having a chat over a cuppa was a great mechanic for that. Tea also has a two-to-three-year shelf life which gives us a runway to back ourselves to sell it. It’s been a rollercoaster, and still is but MOOD Tea is now three years old, in 900 Woolworths stores, spreading into offices, hotels and hopefully soon anywhere where people drink tea. If you know anybody who buys tea, then please let us know as we would love to talk to them. My favourite is Happy Days, it always lifts my mood.

LBB> How far involved are you when it comes to the charities themselves? Have you been able to see firsthand the difference UnLtd is making?

Chris> The charities are the ones who do the hard work and they are amazing. We visit them often and the UnLtd team are in touch with them daily. Yes, we have been lucky to see first-hand the difference many times, in fact almost every week we will see one or many young people whose lives have been positively impacted by our industry. We also ensure that the people in our industry that help our charities see that impact firsthand, by either visiting our charities or having them come to their offices. Our industry acts as the marketing department for most of our charity partners and they are heavily involved in their growth and impact through raising awareness and funds for them. Over six years I have been lucky to spend time with young people who I met six years ago and are now in a job, or back in education or in a couple of cases a parent and are a completely different person to the one I met years ago because of the support that they have had. It’s an incredible feeling to see that.

LBB> Are there any stories you can share where you’ve seen/heard of the impact that you’ve made with either MOOD or UnLtd? Have you received any updates/stories from the charities?

Chris> Lots. The charities always update us on impact. It’s hard to pinpoint one but for me right now seeing the difference in one of the young people that I met four years ago through our charity partner Musicians Making a Difference is huge. He had been through significant trauma, was homeless, using drugs and struggling to stay alive. Four years later he is clean, has a house, and is working. He came to one of our events recently and is such a great young man.

LBB> How would you like to see the industry continue to be involved with UnLtd and MOOD? Is there anything moving forward that you’d like to see more of when it comes to industry involvement?

Chris> The industry is amazing and there are so many ways to get involved. Donating inventory, buying inventory, attending events, using skills for good, working on campaigns for our charities, volunteering, buying tea, small regular dollar donations through workplace giving or individual giving. Coming to our industry Pantomime this week!

LBB> If you were to have a superpower, what would it be?

Chris> To stop the ageing process!