Doctors Of The World: Reality Xmas [video] 2

Credits & Description:

Title: Reality Xmas
Agency: Mccann London
Brand: Doctors Of The World
Country: United Kingdom
Entrant Company: Mccann London
Advertising Agency: Mccann London
Media Agency: Um Manchester
Pr Agency: Persuasion Communications, London
Additional Company: Craft Worldwide, London
Chief Creative Officer: Rob Doubal (Mccann London)
Chief Creative Officer: Laurence Thomson (Mccann London)
Head Of Integrated Production: Sergio Lopez (Craft Worldwide, London)
Print Producer: Liam White (Craft Worldwide, London)
Artworker: Muhammad Qasim (Craft Worldwide, London)
Account Director: Francois Despagnac (Mccann London)
Account Manager: Tom Baines (Mccann London)
Planner: Nick Oquinn (Mccann London)
Senior Sound Engineer: Chris Gilbert (Mccann London)
Head Of Art: Dan Howarth (Mccann London)
Studio Manager: Ellis Faint (Craft Worldwide, London)
Creative Director: Mike Oughton (Mccann London)
Creative: Olly Wood (Mccann London)
Creative: Matt Searle (Mccann London)
Project Manager: Jon Marshall (Mccann London)
Art Buyer: Pam Oskam (Craft Worldwide, London)
Retoucher: Rob Mcdonald (Craft Worldwide, London)
Executive Producer: Sophie Chapman-Andrews (Craft Worldwide, London)
Business Director: Aj Coyne (Mccann London)
Planner: Charlotte Walters (Mccann London)
Director Of Communications: Louise Ringrose (Mccann London)
Marketing Exec: Rami Noumaan (Mccann London)
Emea Creative Director: Sanjiv Mistry (Mccann London)
Emea Creative Director: Jamie Mietz (Mccann London)
Editor: Dan Good (Craft Worldwide, London)
Producer: Romina Contepomi (Craft Worldwide, London)
Producer: Michelle Prinsloo (Craft Worldwide, London)
Editor: Blake Dixon (Craft Worldwide, London)
Relevancy:
We feel this work is relevant for Promo & Activation Lions as we generated interaction with our audience on a global scale, to promote a life-saving cause. We began this project with the objective of gaining
000 petition signatures to pressure the UK government into opening a medical air corridor over Aleppo. We ended the project with a staggering 15
468. With donations 336% above our initial target, and coverage on CNN Worldwide and BBC Online amongst others. All this from a humble set of 4, visually arresting Christmas cards – on a shoe-string budget of just £3,101.
Synopsis:
Conflict across the Middle East in 2016, and its many repercussions such as the refugee crises, had presented a bleak outlook going into the festive period. And, when the disastrous events of Aleppo unfolded, Humanitarian charity Doctors of The World (DOTW), whose fearless volunteers provide vital medical aid across the region, needed to target a global audience like never before, to raise awareness and donations at this critical time. But most importantly, apply pressure on the UK government to establish a medical air corridor. DOTW didn’t previously have a significant media profile, or the scale, network, resource or reputation of bigger medical charities. But we aimed to use this to our advantage, and bring about a change with a brave and novel creative idea to gain at least
000 signatures.
Campaign Description:
Every Christmas, we see romanticised images of the ‘Holy Land’. Everything looks calm and peaceful. Yet today, the Middle East is ravaged by war. For charity Doctors of the World, we brought this inconvenient irony to the fore with #RealityXmas - a set of Christmas cards designed to spark debate, provoke outrage, get petition signatures and increase donations. Combining traditional nativity scenes, synonymous with the festive season, with genuine 2016 editorial war images, they become a set of unique, and powerful visuals went global, gaining an unprecedented response.
Execution:
We put the cards for sale online – so people could purchase them, and spread the message themselves. And upon purchase people could opt to sign the petition and apply pressure to government in light of the ongoing Aleppo crisis. We also used the cards to write hundreds of personal messages to influences in media (Christiane Amanpur, Jon Snow), as well as politicians (Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn) high-profile humanitarians (Kofi Annan, António Guterres) and religious leaders (The Archbishop of Canterbury). Over the course of the build up to Christmas and advent, we had a tight window of opportunity to create maximum impact. To drive signatures and raise funds. With a budget of just £3,101 we began with a small run of 2120 cards. But these sold out within 48 hours. We re-invested to produce an additional 2 runs to meet demand, to keep momentum going for the duration of advent.
Strategy:
Our strategy was to achieve maximum impact within a small seasonal window: advent. Focusing on our provocative Christmas Cards as our core campaign element, surrounded by print, radio, social media and OOH.Our target audience – to ensure the message spread, and people signed the petition – were international, professionals and retirees, those interested in humanitarian issues, as well as the mid-market and encouraging action from beyond the usual third sector supporters in media. But most significantly, we targeted politicians through this coverage, and the cards themselves, to apply pressure at this critical time.The call to action was simple: purchase the cards and by doing so spread the word, and sign the petition – to bring the Aleppo crises to the fore.
Outcome:
Overall the cards had 1.78 billion online impressions, causing a 1853% increase in site traffic, acting as a catalyst for 15
468 ‘Free Aleppo’ petition signatures (7,623% above our objective), a key KPI, along with donations that soared at 336% above our initial target, enabling DOTW volunteers to continue to provide critical medical aid across the Middle East. Despite DOTW being UK based, it was an international success. Coverage on CNN news, BBC Online, Time magazine and International Business Times, spurred huge interest worldwide. Further publications covered the campaign globally, including the US, Australia, Israel, Indonesia, Netherlands, Korea, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, and South Africa to name but a few. And it was even embraced by religious leaders. Subsequently, orders for Christmas cards rolled in, and we successfully delivered the concerns of the world to the UK government.The value of people engaging with the brand on this scale was unprecedented.