Liberacion Nacional Political Party: THE DEBATE

Credits & Description:

Category: Public Affairs
Advertiser: LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL POLITICAL PARTY
Product/Service: JOHNNY ARAYA MAYOR CAMPAIGN
Chief Creative Officer: Javier Mora (Tribu DDB)
Chief Creative Officer: Pablo Chaves (Tribu DDB)
Creative Director: Manuel Chacón (Tribu DDB)
Copywriter: Carlos León (Tribu DDB)
Planning Director: Bernal Esquivel (Tribu DDB)
Interactive Director: Rogelio Umaña (Tribu DDB)
Copywriter: René Pino (Tribu DDB)
Copywriter: Santiago García (Tribu DDB)
General Manager: Diego García (Tribu DDB)
President: Jorge Oller (Tribu DDB)
Producer Director: Roxana Viquez (Tribu DDB)
Producer: Esteban Miranda (Tribu DDB)
Editor: Yamileth Oviedo (Tribu DDB)
Music: Carlos Loría (Tribu DDB)
Account Director: José Cárdenas (Tribu DDB)
Account Executive: Adriana Monge (Tribu DDB)
Art Director: Joaquín Brenes (Tribu DDB)
Art Director: Laura Mendez (Tribu DDB)
Animation: Guillermo Ramos (Tribu DDB)
Director: Rafa Chinchilla (Camera)
Media placement: Print Ad - La Nación - October 25, 2010
Media placement: TV Ad - Channel 7, 6, 11, 42. - October 26, 2010
Media placement: Website - www.johnnyaraya.com - October 26, 2010
Media placement: Facebook FanPage - Johnny Araya - October 26, 2010
Summary of the Campaign
As Mayor of San José for the last two decades, Johnny Araya decided to run for office again in 2010. He had lost popularity, new candidates were growing stronger and opinion polls showed the need for change in the capital city of Costa Rica.
In 2009, Johnny Araya tried to run for President of the country, but lost the primaries of the PLN party to Laura Chinchilla. In that election he lost 6 out of 7 provinces in the country. His popularity seemed to be in decline, while facing a new election with a deteriorated image.
To be the Mayor of San José he needed to show experience as his main asset and change as his main promise. With two decades in office, it was a massive challenge for which we found a breakthrough: a DEBATE with himself between the Mayor (Johnny) and the Candidate (also Johnny).
As Mayor, experience and achievements supported his solid and benefit driven message. As candidate, personal improvement, change and growth turned to be his purpose-inspired message.
Johnny Araya was elected Mayor of San José, with 60% of the votes. Today he is the most popular figure for future president of Costa Rica.
The Situation
The City of San José is the capital of Costa Rica, with 1.6 million inhabitants. The Mayor of San José is an extremely visible figure, with a high potential for President of the country.
The need for this PR campaign emerged with a request: to win with high impact and low budget. Araya needed a credible campaign to show him as the only one capable of improving himself, based on his experience and shared desire forchange. He needed to neutralize his opponents.
The creative breakthrough was a DEBATE that would create high impact for a positive image and a local identity.
The Goal
The goal was to win the election. The objectives included a solid victory that would bring him leadership and legitimacy, facilitating future governance. The target audience included every person registered to vote in San José, 18 years of age and older.
Research came from opinion polls published, as well as those conducted by the Mayor, including fast tracks, focus groups and systematic exploration in the city. In order to achieve our goal, we conducted countless conversations with people, in order to support the validity of THE DEBATE. However, the main measurement or opinion poll was going to be one: the election results.
The Strategy
The strategy was designed to create THE DEBATE, Johnny vs. Johnny, for a high visual impact and a viral reaction of multiple sharing. The idea was focused on proving that there was no better option to Johnny Araya. Not only based on his experience and achievements, but also based on his candid approach to failure and frustration. He had to show his capacity for personal improvement.
In order to address the most difficult issues, the DEBATE included tough questions from Johnny the candidate, to Johnny the Mayor. In fact, he was enabled to attack himself, as the Candidate, and answer back as the Mayor. By creating the DEBATE with himself, we opened a way to present Johnny as a humble person, clearly showing his willingness to discuss any issue, but also inspiring people to improve.
In every message and in the web, achievements were shown next to the projects and proposals.
Execution
We first launched a print advertisement in the main newspapers of the country. It said: The Mayor of San José will debate with the next Mayor of San José. It included the TV channel and the time for the scheduled debate.
On October 26 2010, the debate was aired. For 3 minutes, Costa Rica was impacted by an unusual debate.
Johnny Araya, current Mayor of San José, was presented, followed by the entrance in the scene of Johnny Araya, dressed casual and presented as the candidate. They started answering questions and debating over the most critical issues. The effect was achieved during the previous audiovisual post-production, and the message was delivered in a memorable and impactful way.
This was followed with shorter versions of the debate. Out of home was placed strategically in the city, along with press releases explaining and leveraging the message behind the strategy: Johnny Araya could only be improved by Johnny Araya.
Documented Results
1. In June 2010, the mayor´s work was considered good by 33.6% of the population. By October, the campaign increased from this percentage to 69.8%.
2. Before launching the campaign, only 38% stated that they sympathized with the candidate´s, Johnny Araya´s, party. This percentage was increased to 47.1% by October and reached over 60% by election day.
3. Johnny Araya won the election with 60.89% of the total number of votes.
4. Today, Johnny Araya holds an intention of vote of 58% for the next presidential elections, over 17% above his closest opponent.