| Cannes Lions, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| CYBER | SOCIAL: CONTENT PLACEMENT (INCL. COPY/IMAGE/AUDIO/VIDEO PLACEMENT) | BRONZE |
| Clio Awards 2015 | ||
| Social Media | Product/Service: Social | Silver |
| Eurobest Awards, 2015 | ||
| Interactive | Social: Innovative Use of Social or Community (including emerging platforms for brands) | Bronze Eurobest |
Client: Special Olympics Belgium
Product: Special Olympic Summer Games
Entrant: Ldv United Antwerp, Belgium
Title: Special Olympics - Kevin De Bruyne
Product/Service: Special Olympic Summer Games
Entrant Company: Ldv United Antwerp, Belgium
Advertising Agency: Ldv United Antwerp, Belgium
Production Company: The Pickles Photography Anderlecht, Belgium
Creative Director: Bart Gielen (Ldv United)
Planning Director: Kristof Janssens (Ldv United)
Managing Director: Petra De Roos (Ldv United)
Art Director: Thomas Thysens (Ldv United)
Art Director: Han Verschaeren (Ldv United)
Copywriter: Ruben Van Maldeghem (Ldv United)
Copywriter: Tine Bongaert (Ldv United)
Designer: Jeffrey Uten (Ldv United)
Motion Designer: Niki Desiron (Ldv United)
Account Executive: Astrid Claus (Ldv United)
Strategic Planner: Eline Goethals (Ldv United)
Entry URL: http://www.NO-URL-AVAILABLE.be
Creative Execution
Sports heroes get loads of attention on social media. We wanted to use this attention to put the 2014 Special Olympics in the spotlight. That’s why we created a controversial portrait: we replaced the eyes of one of Belgium’s biggest football heroes, Kevin de Bruyne with those of Christof Swaenepoel, a Belgian Special Olympian. We let Kevin post this portrait on his social media stating the following question: “Would you still be a fan if I looked like this?” 12 Hours later, when all eyes were on us, Kevin reposted the thought-provoking portrait. This time claimed by the Special Olympics.
We started a dialogue between thousands of people. Within 24 hours Kevin’s first post alone got 1.400 shares and more than 150.000 likes. All Belgian news channels covered Kevin’s remarkable social media move. National radio & TV and every big national newspaper published our portrait both on- and offline. All together, zero euros in paid media generated a stunning 4 million euros in earned media.
With one single thought-provoking post of a national sports hero, we managed to raise awareness, break the taboo, sell out stadiums, and most importantly, give thousands of Special Olympians the attention they deserve.
In comparison with other global sport events like the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, the Special Olympics Summer Games gain just a fraction of attention and TV coverage. This means that 5.000 Special Olympians perform the most important games of their lives in front of empty stadiums: there’s no crowd, no attention, nothing.
The 2014 Special Olympics took place in Antwerp (Belgium). We wanted to give them full stadia. But to connect people with the Special Olympics, and athletes with an intellectual disability, we needed to touch them directly, right in their personal atmosphere. So we used the fame of Kevin De Bruyne, one Belgium’s national football heroes, and his social media network to reach our public. Kevin touched the public by posting a thought-provoking portrait together with a single question. A question that not only got people thinking, it got them to buy tickets.