While the rest of New Zealand’s telcos compete on price, Spark has their sights set on a bigger purpose: build a digital future with everyone in mind. Seen internally, through gender parity in leadership as well as diversity and inclusion efforts on every level of employment, and spreading out into the community.

This campaign raises awareness about an invisible inequity online. And create a path for change the whole country can adopt.

The campaign intersects three key ambitions of Spark:

1. Help New Zealanders have a better relationship with their data. Giving them visibility and control of how their gender identity is represented online.

2. Improve the sophistication of NZ businesses’ datascapes, enabling better customer relationships.Giving business customer’s agency to fight assumptions and design with respect.

3. Lift digital inequities for communities. Working specifically with rainbow mental health organisations and trans and non-binary communities to improve digital wellbeing.

The trans and non-binary existence is unfamiliar, under-researched, and worse, unaccounted by most of the world.

We know there are millions of people who make up these communities worldwide, but we don’t have true numbers or data on them. That’s because we’re asking the wrong questions.

If a form asks for someone’s gender, and there are only two choices, people are going to lie. If a person’s information is not correctly collected, stored or used, systems can’t understand or innovate with them in mind. Meaning products, services, spaces and experiences across every aspect of society will continue to leave them out of the narrative and make them feel invisible in multiple ways each day.

When the New Zealand Government didn’t update the 2018 census to be gender inclusive, Spark stepped in to bring an underground problem to light and rally businesses to be the start of a solution.

Beyond Binary Code rewrites the internet to see more than two genders. Co-created with rainbow mental health organisations and trans and non-binary communities, it’s a single piece of a code that can be added to any website to make data forms and fields gender inclusive.

The idea contains four key elements:

1. A code builder tool. Helps businesses understand whether they need to collect gender data at all, and if so, customises code to suit their needs.

2. Downloadable HTML code. Added (or adapted) to any website to instantly update forms and fields.

3. Resources to help businesses on their beyond binary journey. Getting business buy-in, implementing the code (specifically for small businesses), understanding data privacy obligations and/or the ripple effect gender data points have on an entire business.

4. Non-binary community members are the star of the idea. Leading the film, sharing stories, giving advice and promoting the idea.

Data on the communities we were helping is unaccounted for at a national level, so we turned to the human side of information to emotionally connect New Zealand to the problem.

To create change we had 3 audience sets:

1. Trans, non-binary and rainbow communities. Despite launching during NZ Pride, this was not a rainbow washing effort. To affect real change, the community members were co-creators, advisors, and advocates at every step.

2. Changemakers in business. The code is only one part of the beyond binary journey. We worked with NZ businesses to design tools and packs to help businesses get buy-in with management/stakeholders, how to roadmap change and begin implementing it.

3. Progressive apathetics. Bringing to light a problem the rest of the nation probably hadn’t thought about: getting them to understand its roots, and helping them view the concept of gathering gender data as archaic and unnecessary.

Over a two year period, Spark worked with rainbow mental health organisations, trans and non-binary communities and gov’t organisations to understand the ripple effect a single datapoint like gender has in business — from marketing/communications, to third party vendors, recruitment and talent, and spaces.

To lead change, Spark first had to evaluate their own gender data practices. As of today, the business does not collect gender data, operates from gender inclusive spaces, IDs include preferred names and pronouns, and inclusivity training sessions are mandatory.

Beyond Binary Code launched to New Zealand businesses in February 2022. While the code has already been downloaded by overseas organisations, there is a planned secondary launch to reach global audiences in June 2022.

Beyond Binary Code is a movement. Its timeline is ongoing, and the code, along with a supplementary toolkit, will be ever-evolving and updated to meet the needs of the communities it serves.

Launched two weeks prior to Cannes submissions, the website recorded over 10k unique views, 200+ code downloads and started meaningful conversations with 36 major businesses.

Amongst the companies to implement the code were New Zealand’s biggest digital news website and the country’s leading online ticketing/event company. Spark is currently in discussions with global cloud computing company SalesForce. Their customer management tools are used by millions of businesses around the world.

In June, Beyond Binary Code will be sent to tens of thousands of Spark business customers. The code has been written to work in HTML and Java script as well as Wix, SquareSpace, WordPress and other direct-to-market website building software.

Beyond Binary Code is designed to be an enduring resource for businesses – an open source tool and education platform that will continue to drive change for years to come.