Salvation Army: DONATED SONGS

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Localised Campaign

Advertiser: SALVATION ARMY

Product/Service: SALVATION ARMY

Agency: WIRZ/BBDO

Date of First Appearance: Dec 1 2010

Entrant Company: WIRZ/BBDO, Zürich, SWITZERLAND

Executive Creative Director: Philipp Skrabal (Wirz / BBDO)

Creative Director: Thomas Kurzmeyer (Wirz / BBDO)

Art Director: Chantal Heimo (Wirz / BBDO)

Copywriter: Andi Portmann (Wirz / BBDO)

Direction: Simon Jaquement

Cinematographer: Lorenz Merz

Producer: Heinrich Reinacher (Markenfilm)

Media placement: Traditional Street Collection - Cities (Bern, Zurich, Geneva,...) - 1 December 2010

Media placement: Website/Clips/Virals - Heilsarmee, Facebook, Youtube - 1 December 2010

Media placement: Public Relations TV - SF1, TeleBasel, TeleBern, TeleZüri - 1 December 2010

Media placement: Public Relations Radio - FM1, Radio1, RadioBasilisk - 1 December 2010

Media placement: Public Relations Print - Handelszeitung, Berner Zeitung,... - 1 December 2010

Media placement: Public Relations Online - derbund, twitter, bernerzeitung - 1 December 2010

Media placement: Poster / Public Transport Poster - Tram - 1 December 2010



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

During their traditional street collections, the SALVATION ARMY sings the same well-known Christmas carols every year. This means that they are reaching fewer and fewer people and in particular younger donators, since they are unable to appeal to them: young people see the SALVATION ARMY as a serious organization but a boring one. This is why it was our aim to give the SALVATION ARMY a surprisingly younger appearance.



To ensure that the SALVATION ARMY does not lose any credibility or authenticity, it should not abandon its long-held tradition of singing. What is more, the SALVATION ARMY loves to sing and young people love to listen to good songs: which is why we had the idea of asking Switzerland's music stars whether they would donate one of their songs to the SALVATION ARMY.



The donated songs gave the musicians the means needed to project the SALVATION ARMY’s rejuvenated image: a perfect example of the medium as the message.



Creative Execution

We asked Swiss music stars whether they would donate one of their songs to the SALVATION ARMY. Some of the most famous bands in Switzerland took part, allowing the SALVATION ARMY to sing their songs for free, several of which had been number one in the Swiss charts.



This enabled the SALVATION ARMY to get out onto the street using the songs and the names of top stars that have an enormous fan-base in Switzerland. The SALVATION ARMY was out rocking and rapping on the streets, garnering attention and making their image look a lot younger.



We informed the media in a targeted way about the donated songs and used PR to achieve a countrywide coverage of 65 per cent. We also created viral film clips, a website and posters. After all of these measures had been implemented, the street collections finally got underway with the SALVATION ARMY choirs singing the donated songs all over Switzerland.



Results and Effectiveness

The reporting carried out by TV and radio stations, newspapers and websites achieved 65 per cent penetration countrywide. Achieving similar results using conventional advertising would have required a media budget of Swiss francs 550,000.–, i.e. seven times more than our entire communications budget.



The song donations were effective not only in the mass media but also out on the street. Young people reacted positively and the SALVATION ARMY became a topic of conversation. It also helped to halt the slide and turn things around in terms of donations, which amounted to around Swiss francs 1.5 million despite competition from other charities.