Doctors Of The World: Im Moving To Canada

Credits & Description:

Title: Im Moving To Canada
Agency: Publicis
Brand: Doctors Of The World
Country: USA
Entrant Company: Publicis, New York
Advertising Agency: Publicis, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Andy Bird (Publicis New York)
Executive Creative Director: Joe Johnson (Publicis New York)
Vp/Creative Director: Jeremy Filgate (Publicis New York)
Vp/Creative Director: Josh Horn (Publicis New York)
Vp/Creative Director: Einav Jacubovich (Publicis New York)
Senior Producer: Hadleigh Arnst (Publicis New York)
Integrated Producer: Jason Bailey (Publicis New York)
Editor: Doug Zaner (Publicis New York)
Svp/Strategy Director: Erica Herman (Publicis New York)
Strategist: Beth Beckman (Publicis New York)
Search Analyst: Evan Finkelstein (Publicis New York)
Account Executive: Michael Emer (Publicis New York)
Svp/Technology Director: Alec Cumming (Publicis New York)
Associate Technical Director: Wojo Wieronski (Publicis New York)
Outcome:
2016 was a shit year. Like really, really shitty. But we managed to turn something negative (Trump’s hate) into something positive (aid for refugees).Throughout our campaign, click through rates crushed ad-word norms, with 12.96% click-through rates, rather than the average 1.72%.Donations increased by 190%, with 90% of them coming from first-time donors. And the average donation amount doubled.Finally, on election day, when the unthinkable happened and Trump won, the Canadian immigration site crashed. But we were ready, and our site traffic went through the roof.
Execution:
We had almost no budget so our campaign would live or die based on a smart response-driven approach, and pointed targeting. Luckily for us, the Election was creating all the fodder we needed. Using Google AdWords, we targeted Americans who were looking to flee to Canada due to the US Presidential election.We also launched social content responding to debates and news stories.Trump talks about building a wall, we post about moving to Canada before they build a wall. Trump talks about grabbin’ em by the pussy, we post about grabbin’ em by the moose knuckle.Everything led to our website, ImMovingToCanada.orgOur website brought Americans face-to-face with the people who were forced to flee their country, the Syrian refugees. On the site, they had the opportunity to buy the medical supplies the Syrian refugees desperately needed.
Synopsis:
In 2016, Syria was facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Doctors of the World, a human-rights organization was on the ground. They desperately needed donations towards medical aid for the refugees. But Americans were fixated on another disaster, the US Presidential Election. It was already difficult to get Americans to feel sympathy for the Syrian refugees. And evoking sympathy at a time when it felt as if our own country was collapsing made our task even harder.We needed to find a way to shift focus from one disaster to another.
Strategy:
We wanted to target altruistic individuals, who felt for the refugee’s plight. However, due to the 2016 US Presidential Election, the same individuals we wanted to reach were too busy planning their own escape. To Canada.Using Google trends, we noticed search for “Move to Canada” went up by 350%. More than ever before.So, we used one disaster to draw attention to the other.Using Google AdWords, we hijacked the moment Americans were searching and directed them to our site: ImMovingtoCanada.orgThere, we compared Americans fleeing due to the election, to the Syrian refugees who were fleeing for their lives. In addition, throughout the Presidential campaign, we responded in real-time on our social channels, driving even more traffic to our website.
Campaign Description:
We used one disaster, the US Presidential Election, to draw attention to another disaster, the Syrian refugee crisis. Using Google trends, we noticed that Trump’s nomination was causing a huge spike in the search term “Move to Canada”.So, we set out hold up a mirror to Americans considering to flee the US because of an orange man in an ill-fitting suit. And draw a parallel to the plight of the Syrian refugees, who were fleeing for their lives. How?With Google AdWords we hijacked the moment Americans were searching and directed them to our site: ImMovingtoCanada.orgIn addition, we launched a social campaign responding real-time to the debates and news, to further drive people to our site.Once there, we compared Americans fleeing due to the election, to the Syrian refugees who were fleeing for their lives. And gave visitors a reason to donate towards the cause.