Category: Best non-fiction program, series or film where a client has successfully created a reality, documentary or light entertainment show around a product(s) or brand(s)
Advertiser: THE VATICAN CHARITY FOUNDATION
Product/Service: GENERATING SUPPORT FOR PRIESTS
Agency: SAATCHI & SAATCHI
Executive Creative Director: Agostino Toscana (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Creative Director: Stefano Maria Palombi
Copywriter: Antonio Di Battista (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Copywriter: Stefano Maria Palombi
Art Director: Manuel Musilli (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Head Of TV: Raffaella Scarpetti (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Producer: Fabrizio Conte (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Account Supervisor: Raffaella Rosati (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Account Manager: Ilaria Del Giudice (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Production Company: Lux Vide
Director: Stefano Maria Palombi
Director Of Photography: Gianluca Laudadio
Media placement: Internet - www.questononeunfilm.it - 12/12/2011
Campaign Description
Since 1984, when agreements between the Italian Government and the Catholic Church of Rome were reviewed, the Government stopped economically supporting priests. So common people can support priests’ social commitment through their own offerings which have strongly decreased during the last year, when the image of priests have been damaged by sex scandals and the crimes of paedophilia.
In Italy there are more than 38,000 priests who, everyday, help suffering people to survive: the poor, orphans, immigrants, unemployed, usury victims, and more else. Moreover, priests work with their mission in 26,000 Italian churches, all over the country. For that reason CEI, the Italian Bishops’ Conference, wanted us to realise a campaign that helps fight the negative image and increase offerings, letting people know the other side of the Church that the Italian media never mention.
Effectiveness
To fight the negative perception of the Italian Catholic Church priests after the sex scandals, we started with a very simple idea: for every priest who has done something wrong, there are a thousand others who are socially committed. We wanted to make it known, communicating the other side of the Church that the Italian media never mention, a side where courageous priests have been murdered, defending the rights of the helpless.
To do this, we made a documentary about 4 priests in Naples, a city which has sadly became synonymous with degradation in Italy. We promoted the movie through the traditional cinema circuits, without disclosing that it was about priests. We wanted to avoid the immediate rejection of those who have prejudices against them, and we tried instead to attract an audience by communicating the stories with cinema classics: thriller, war, romantic and fantasy. On the day of its activation, we put users in front of a surprise because the title was changed: "This is not a movie. This is the truth”. This title completed the message and the real content of the film was finally revealed.
Implementation
We developed a teaser and a reveal campaign, firstly introducing a movie with posters, display adv, social media ads, and a 15” trailer to capture public’s interest and move them on the website, questononeunfilm.it. We communicated 4 stories without reference to priests, in the classical movie’s genre: thriller, war, sentimental, fantasy, in order to also capture the youth. We choose a strong, urban style and violent lyrics from Co'Sang as track.
On December 12th, the movie went live online, showing the real experiences and the courageous social commitments of priests in Naples, where dramatic crimes take place everyday.
Outcome
With no budget for PR operations and seeding, the film has collected more than 160,000 views, has sparked conversations online and trough the traditional media. In fact, national newscasts have mentioned the movie on-air, and the satellite channel TV2000 has spontaneously broadcast, on prime time, the full version of the movie during Christmas night.
Besides, the campaign has been shown where the stories come from: all schools in Naples have used the movie as teaching material; to stimulate the conversation among the youth on the issues of anti-racism, the fight against the Mafia and, most importantly, shown in the neighbourhoods where the acts really happened.