The Labour Party: Taxi Stoltenberg, 6

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Practices & Specialisms
Category: Media Relations
Advertiser: ARBEIDERPARTIET (THE LABOUR PARTY)
Product/Service: ARBEIDERPARTIET (THE LABOUR PARTY)
Agency: TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY
Client: ARBEIDERPARTIET (THE LABOUR PARTY)
Product: ARBEIDERPARTIET (THE LABOUR PARTY)
Entrant: TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY
Type of Entry: Practices & Specialisms
Category: Media Relations
Entrant Company : TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY
Advertising Agency : TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY
Production Company : PRAVDA Oslo, NORWAY
Copywriter: Lars Joachim Grimstad (Try/Apt)
Art Director: Egil Pay (Try/Apt)
Account Director: Kjetil Try (Try/Apt)
Account Director: Morten Polmar (Try/Apt)
Account Manager: Cathrine Wennersten (Try/Apt)
Director: Mikkel Sandemose (Pravda)
Producer: Erik Schøyen (Pravda)
Editor: Patrick Larsgaard (Storyline)
Designer: Marianne Eskeland (Try/Apt)
Designer: Tommy Lybekk (Try/Apt)
Describe the campaign/entry:
After 8 years in government, The Norwegian Labour Party was struggling in the polls. The Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, was criticized for being out of touch with the man in the street.
So we gave the Prime Minister a day off. And put him where real politics are discussed, by real people. In a taxi. And filmed the whole thing, of course.
The video was shown in news stations all over the world, including NBC, The Today show, ABC, BBC, Al Jazeera, TV5 Monde, Rai Uno, RTG, Russian 1TV and a lot more. The story was covered by newspapers both online and offline literally all over the world.
Headlined all the Norwegian news in weeks to come, including the evening news Dagsrevyen at NRK (biggest new channel) and the evening news Nyhetene at TV2 (second biggest news channel). Biggest news on the front page on VG, Norways biggest newspaper. And a lot, lot more.
When the video was shared, the polls (TV2) showed The Labour Party at 28,6% and The Conservatives at 31,6%. Two weeks later, The Labour Party were up to 33.6%, and The Conservatives gone down to 25,3%.
At the election, The Labour Party regained their position as the biggest political party in Norway.
Describe the brief from the client:
GOAL:
The goal was to get The Labour Party as high as possible at the Election. All the 3 parties that were participants of the coalition government were struggling on the polls, so a political change was inevitable. For the Labour Party, is was important to win back the position as the biggest political party in Norway. In opposition, it is of course important to have as many parliament members as possible, and to be the biggest party is a very important mental political advantage.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Norwegian voters.

Results:
• 55% of the Norwegian public saw the stunt*
• 60% liked the stunt well/very well*
• 50% of the exposures were positive, 42% were neutral and 8% were negative**

• The story got an estimated total of 75 million exposures, to an estimated value of $ 3 300 000 - in Norway alone (population of 5 million people).
• The Norwegian version of the video got 1,5 million views on youtube in 2 weeks (in a country of 5 million people).

*Source: MediaCom, CAWI survey with 704 respondents
**Source: Opoint Mediananlyse

Execution:
August 10th: We shared the video of the stunt with Norway's biggest newspaper VG.

August 11th: The stunt was the biggest news on the front page of VG and on VG online. The Prime Minister shared the YouTube video on Facebook and Twitter. Literally every online news paper in Norway covered the story. BBC called, got the video and discussed the video LIVE on BBC news. The video headlined NRK news, the biggest news in Norway, covering the international interest. REUTERS an AP covered the story and the video went world wide.

August 12th: Headlined the TV2 news, Norway's second biggest TV channel. Some newspapers reacted to the fact that 5 of the 14 passengers were asked to participate in advance, but were reassured when we told them the true story that none of the passengers nobody knew that it would be the Prime Minister who was driving the taxi.

The Situation:
In Norway, political parties are, by law, not allowed to advertise on TV. This law is to prevent that the parties with the biggest budgets get big advantages. But PR is, of course, allowed.

After 8 years in government, The Norwegian Labour Party was struggling in the polls. The Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg was criticized for being distant and out of touch with the man in the street.

The Strategy:
8 years is a long time for a government to last. The job of the Media is to be critical, and the government often gets the blame. The strategy was to show the real Prime Minister, with all his passion and devotion for the Norwegian people. And we wanted to show him in an unexpected way, to let people see for themselves that he wasn't so grey, after all. Since political ads are not allowed on TV, we had to think outside the box. So we gave the Prime Minister a day off. And put him where real politics are discussed, by real people. In a taxi. In downtown Oslo.