Advertiser: AMERICAN RED CROSS
Agency: BBDO NEW YORK
Category: Best Integrated Campaign Led by Direct Marketing
Advertising campaign: AMERICAN RED CROSS STORIES PROJECT INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN
Composer: Adam Taylor
Print Producers: Darcey Lund (BBDO New York)
Art Producer: Alison Berk (BBDO New York)
Photographer: Billy Siegrist (BBDO New York)
Art Director: Julia Blackburn (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Christina Liu (BBDO New York)
Senior Creative Director: Linda Honan (BBDO New York)
Editors: Dave Cea (Cosmo Street)
Print Producers: Desiree Principe (BBDO New York)
Producers: Eliot Rausch (Uber Content)
Print Producers: Mike Musano (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Gisell Galan (BBDO New York)
Copywriters: Iain Nevill (BBDO New York)
Producers: Peter Murray (Uber Content)
Account Team: Jodi Mcleod (BBDO New York)
Copywriters: Kim Devall (BBDO New York)
Prop Stylists: Randi Brookman Harris
Director Of Music/Radio Production: Rani Vaz (BBDO New York)
Editors: Stephen Mirrione (Cosmo Street)
Designers: Arielle Wilkins (BBDO New York)
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars (BBDO New York)
Director Of Integrated Production: David Rolfe (BBDO New York)
Designers: Dennis Payongayong (BBDO New York)
Designers: Mia Doerwald (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Michael Arani (BBDO New York)
Agency Producers: Nicholas Gaul (BBDO New York)
Prop Stylists: Sara Nersesian
Account Team: Tara Deveaux (BBDO New York)
Agency Producers: Regina Iannuzzi (BBDO New York)
Agency Producers: Sofia Doktori (BBDO New York)
Outcome
Our predicted 1 in 20 quality rate was dwarfed as 1 in 2 kits provided quality content.We received over 250 hours of film, over 2,000 photos and approximately 100 completed journals (at 5% of the cost of a traditional production). This let us create over 30 films, 6 print ads, 6 radio spots, a series of posters as well as an outdoor photo exhibit. Today, the Red Cross continues to use the kits to collect stories.Peggy Dyer, Chief Marketing Officer, added, “In its first month of airing, the campaign has contributed to our most successful year-end fundraising results ever.”
Implementation
This was not a campaign about response rates, but rather quality of response. We carefully vetted each storyteller so we were confident of a high return but predicted that only 1 in every 20 kits would give us useful content.The effectiveness of the kits would shape the rest of the campaign.
Client Brief Or Objective
Most people only think of the Red Cross in the wake of a major disaster. We were going to tell the organization’s full story by giving a voice to people helped daily by them. The storyteller kits we sent out would be the catalysts for the entire campaign. They would have to inspire and motivate our storytellers – no response would mean no campaign. And the more inspiring the kits, the better our final campaign would be.
Execution
The American Red Cross is an organization for the people, funded by the people. This made it crucial that this campaign message came from those personally helped by the organization.The stories we were asking people to recount were often deeply emotional and still raw. We knew that it was much easier, and often beneficial, for people to recall them alone and in their own time, rather than in front of an entire camera crew. That’s why a new way to capture these stories was needed.