Hospice NZ and Clemenger BBDO Wellington have launched a new platform that allows those who are dying and their families to rate and review businesses, organisations, community groups, and schools.

The platform, 'Dying Reviews', aims to improve the way these entities treat dying people and their families. The platform is live, ongoing, and permanent, with the results and data from 'Dying Reviews' set to be released yearly. The first set of results is expected towards the end of this year.

The project is a collaboration between multiple Clemenger Group agencies. The 'Dying Reviews' form was designed by Perceptive NZ, while the website was designed by Levo. PR for the project is being handled by GRC Partners + Porter Novelli.

"Hospice's challenge was immediately apparent to us - to rebrand dying from something that happens in a distant room, to other people, to something that is constantly happening all around us, and will happen to all of us. It is an integral part of our human journey that deserves investment, empathy and attention, and yes, money," said BBDO Chief Creative Officer, Brigid Alkema. "Instead of rattling buckets and relying on pity, Dying Reviews puts the power into the hands of the dying, allowing them to call out the good, the bad and the ugly in how they're treated in day-to-day life. Organisations and businesses will now have the inside knowledge to better design for this phase, and the possibility of being called out if they don't."

CEO of Hospice NZ, Wayne Naylor, said there would also be something in it for businesses. "To put it bluntly, the demographic of NZ means the dying market is getting bigger and more powerful. If businesses can get it right and earn good star ratings, it will mean a tangible difference to their customer base. Dying people are very much still living, and part of society."

Naylor also emphasised the universal relevance of the initiative. "And selfishly, it's in all our best interests to improve what living looks like while dying, because it's something all of us will one day intimately understand."