By Malay Desai
From: Ogilvy Brazil
The grand Prix winner at Cannes last week is a campaign from the football-crazy south american country. Tapping on to one of the most popular fan clubs, the idea was to create an organ donor drive pegged with making the fan ‘immortal.’ after the television commercial showed real patients waiting for transplants, donor cards were introduced online or through mail, the fans being told that their support for the team will keep going after they’re gone. According to the agency’s video, 51,000 fans signed up as donors, taking the waiting list to zero.
Why we like ?
That big week of the yearhas just wound up, and we don’t have much to write back home. Of India’s 45 film entries, none made it to the shortlist, the last win will remain Mumbai Mirror’s Gold in 2011. We spotted many stunners though, and incidentally, must talk about an Ogilvy Brazil campaign for the fourth time in the history of this space!
Ogilvy (also behind Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign we featured here) has struck a Grand Prix for ‘Promo and Activation’ with this. Tapped into the pride of thousands of football crazy fans at the home of football isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially when one wants to make them give up their hearts, lungs or eyes after death.
Fans of the 108-year-old club are known for their passion and loyalty, and here they’ve been given a proposition that sets them thinking. Organ donation rates in Brazil are low, just as here, and it took a massive emotional charge to achieve a small spike. ‘Donate your organ and it will keep working for another fan of your club – you will be immortal’ is the heart of the thought. It is eyewash really, telling the fans what they want to hear to make them do what you want them to.. but hey, try telling that to this campaign’s managers. ‘Clever communication,’ they’d say. And we must agree, there has been no better use of direct marketing for a social cause in recent memory.
To make real patients talk about their need of organs was the emotional shot. ‘I promise that your eyes will keep on watching Sport Club Recife’ one of them appealed. The activation, through a Facebook app and snail mail, would have needed tons of efforts, this was almost a multi-agency non-profit project.
And if you thought the average Brazilian couldn’t see through the idea, sample this byte from the video: ‘(If) ..my lungs go to a guy from a rival team, he will breathe Sport Recife!’ Worth making notes for fans of Indian Cricket or IPL clubs?
We’re still a long way away from Brazil, boss.
To watch this film, feed this link into your browser: Vimeo.com/59346263
