International Festival of Theatres for Disabled "You've never seen such actors"

International Festival of Theatres for Disabled, wanted to be perceived as a cultural phenomenon, not a charity act. The majority doesn’t perceive the disabled as actors. So, they made theater posters out of things that people don’t perceive as posters. A joint team of agency and the actors themselves created over 70 pieces of original artwork Each of them read: You’ve never seen such a poster. You’ve never seen such actors, either. A sticker put on each object carried additional information. In the same fashion, they made flyers out of handkerchiefs. All these materials were placed in various venues where our target goes: clubs, cafes, etc. A survey by Proteatr revealed that over 50% of audience came to see the performance because of our campaign. (For the two days, the house was full!) P.S. They were contacted by Hora, the Swiss partners of Proteatr, who asked them to develop their next campaign.

Agency: Leo Burnett Moscow, Russia.

Studio Brussels "The Shit-Shit"

Radio station Studio Brussels is a rather small music channel in Belgium. Every summer they are present at all major music festivals. But how can you reach your target audience amidst big spenders like Coca-cola, Vodafone, Toyota and Stella Artois? Or… How can you stand out with a humble budget? By creating something that really shows you understand the festival-spirit and really care about your audience. They started from two facts. 1. all major festivals in Belgium are held on grass, the habitat of cows. 2. Youngsters use the time in between bands to sit on the grass together. So they created something completely new: a cushion, which looked exactly like a cow’s droppings. Put it in the grass on a festival’s grounds and you’d hardly see any difference with real cow’s droppings. Until … you sit on them. The campaign was entirely built around the sitshit itself. They had it promoted by Belgium’s most famous financial guru on television, radio, online and print. And at the actual festivals. On top of that ‘the sitshit’ got a lot of free press. The sitshit was for sale at every major summer festival and online for just 2 euros. It was a gigantic hit. Online sales had to be limited because demand was so high. For each festival Studio Brussels supplied a couple of thousand sitshits, which were all sold out in minutes. People lined up in long queues so they could get their own copy. The sitshit was even admitted in an exhibition of the Belgium Design Museum and in a designers’ book: ‘Forms with a smile’. The result? There wasn’t one teenager left who hadn’t heard of the sitshit … and of radio station Studio Brussels.

Agency: Mortierbrigade Brussels, Belgium.

The Dinosaur Exhibition.

The best thing about dinosaurs is that they are real, they lived. They wanted to give people a real adventure, not a classic advertising campaign. The campaign triggered huge enthusiasm. People engaged in a huge quest to find the bones. It ran almost exclusively on word of mouth. No classic advertising materials were used to promote it. The target was youngsters. Kids and teenagers. That is why the bones were buried in school gardens and parks, in 5 different Romanian cities. The curiosity and energy that youngsters have also ensured the succes of the campaign. Free media coverage in the most important TV stations and newspapers. The number of visitors tripled compared to the same period of 2007.

Agency: Leo Burnett & Target Bucharest, Romania.

Adidas "Impossible Huddle"

The UEFA EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland ranks alongside the Olympic Games as the largest sporting event in the world in 2008. And adidas wanted to be the number 1 football brand, sending their “Impossible is nothing” message far beyond the borders of the two countries. Strategy: Don‘t merely show pictures of famous football players. Bring the footballers closer to the fans and the fans closer to them. Let each fan feel like a fly on the wall, as the tension reaches a crescendo, just seconds before the beginning of the match. They created a 17 m high, 33 m wide, 3 dimensional 11 man huddle featuring the best players of the tournament in Switzerland‘s most frequented location: the Zurich main train station. A 14 tonne place of pilgrimage that was 10 times larger than the wax figures on display at Madame Tussaud‘s in London, Hollywood or Berlin. But every bit as detailed. During the European Championships, the Huddle evolved into a landmark where fans of all nations took millions of pictures and films and celebrated their passion for the game. The Swiss rail authority reported an estimated overall audience of over 13 million people over the course of the three weeks. The Impossible Huddle was launched live on N24, a European news network, and was on major stations throughout the continent within hours. Major news titles such as BBC, Financial Times, Die Welt, Gazetta dello Sport, Le Parisien and NRC Handelsblad featured it on their front pages or online editions. It was discussed on hundreds of websites, blogs and advertising journals throughout the world. Online communities such as facebook and youtube featured groups and posts honouring the Huddle, as well as user-generated short films inspired by it. And one week before the final, the press declared adidas the winning sports brand of the UEFA EURO 2008. Recognized by 30 % of the audience, as compared with 12 % for competitors, they reported an increase of 50 % in the football apparel sales, earning them an estimated 15 % added market share.

Agency: TBWA\ Berlin, Germany.

Ford Fiesta "Famehouse"

The pre-launch campaign for the new Ford Fiesta. To do so they created a limited edition of car covers ('housses') designed by leading contemporary Belgian designers. The five designs were selected from the entries to an open competition. On the night of July 21st one thousand covers were placed over parked cars throughout Belgium. Each cover contained an invitation to pre-order a limited edition Fiesta Faemehousse. A micro site contained details of the design and cover owners to trade their covers: one housse was selling for 51 euro. In the Belgian market it had three objectives: to sell one thousand new fiesta's before the car was in local dealerships, to dramatically alter perceptions of the Fiesta as a car for young urban adults, and to stimulate media interest in the car before its design was revealed. The micro site achieved 168,000 hits, a record for Ford in Belgium. The Fiesta Famehousse sold out in just 4 weeks, achieving sales levels unseen outside of Belgium's traditional Motor Show month. Significantly there was also a marked shift towards young urban adults amongst early purchasers.

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Brussels, Belgium.

Fiat 500 "Launch at the London eye"

Their objective was to launch the iconic Fiat 500, capturing the imagination of the public and media and reinforcing the launch messaging of “Everyday Masterpiece”. In the UK, Fiat has struggled to shake off its reputation for making unreliable small cars. The launch of the Grande Punto in 2006 started to reverse the brand’s fortunes but the media and public remained unconvinced. With the brand floundering at the foot of the market share tables, the launch of the iconic Fiat 500 was seen as crucial to the future of Fiat UK. The event had to take place at a venue that could showcase the car at its best. A place that shared the car’s iconic design and engineering excellence. Most importantly, it had to be held somewhere that would attract the media and be seen by everyone. So, where better than a London icon–the London Eye. But not just at the London Eye. In it! On launch night, we threw a spectacular party. They invited 500 VIPs, 100 members of the media and 1,500 competition winners to witness the unveiling taking place 500 hours into 2008. In addition, they screened the event live into 170 Fiat dealerships nationwide. Virgin Radio hosted the evening with Mika and The Feeling providing the entertainment. At 8pm the car was revealed in a capsule at the top of the Eye and remained in there for 2 weeks. The results of the launch were truly spectacular as the event achieved £580,493 worth of media exposure and 8,500 orders taken within one month of launch.

Agency: Leo Burnett London, United Kingdom.

Mercedes-Benz "Clean Wall"

The aim was to show the public at large what an important contribution to protecting the environment Mercedes-Benz makes with the Atego (the “urban truck”) with BlueTec, the world’s cleanest diesel technology. What is the best and simplest way to demonstrate what BlueTec means for our cities? By showing how their cities would look if all trucks were as clean as those of Mercedes-Benz. Very directly, wherever dirt and pollution are especially evident for all to see – on walls right next to busy roads. Using a high-pressure cleaner, walls next to busy roads in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart were cleaned in such a way that the shape of an Atego appeared. The accompanying headline read: “The Atego. Now with BlueTec 5. Making our cities cleaner again.” Their solution was effective for two reasons. First, because even the making-of in itself aroused a great deal of attention (crane, workers, action). And secondly, because the idea is as simple as it’s unusual, with a very distinct “before” and “after” effect which delivered direct proof that the city is cleaner with Mercedes-Benz trucks. At the same time, road haulage companies and business owner-drivers were to be addressed through the choice of locations (industrial estates, etc.). The success: Resounding media response and significant increase in demand for information and interest in the Atego at dealerships during the campaign period.

Agency: BBDO Stuttgart, Germany.

Ricardo "Fictitious Constuction Projects"

An offline campaign for online shopping: Gigantic fictitious construction projects shock Switzerland. www.ricardo.ch is the biggest platform for online shopping in Switzerland. A survey has revealed that the target group substantially underestimates the size and diversity of the product range. This campaign aimed to change that. What if the countless shopping offers from www.ricardo.ch were not sold over the internet? Then giant new shopping centres would have to be built in tiny Switzerland. So fictitious construction projects for real “Ricardo” shopping centres were announced. On official-looking information panels and giant posters on existing scaffolding. A baseline told concerned citizens to click through to www.ricardo.ch for further information. Switzerland is one of the most populated areas in the world. So any new construction project announced – especially when as huge as theirs – is followed with enormous attention. The click-through rate on www.ricardo.ch rose rapidly during the promotion: +657%. There worried citizens learned: the biggest shopping centre in Switzerland fortunately still only exists on the internet. And they could start shopping online right away. Several newspapers reported on the “Ricardo” construction projects, which multiplied the advertising impact.

Agency: Ruf Lanz Zurich, Switserland.

Playground "Pack Ass"

Playground is a Scandinavian outdoor equipment store chain, based in Stockholm. Our brief was to sell lightweight hiking equipment and tell people that Playground is the store to visit for any kind of hike. Their idea was to provide the ideal packing equipment for any occasion. Whether you prefer to hike the old school heavy way or if you want to hike extremely lightweight, you can always find what you need at Playground. They decided to broaden Playgrounds huge selection of lightweight hiking equipment, hiking tips and packing lists with a good alternative for the old school heavyweight hiker: a donkey. During a couple of weeks it was possible to purchase donkeys from Playground. A temporary donkey shelter was built up inside one of the stores where two test donkeys were placed so that visitors could touch and squeeze and compare to other products. The donkey's test hiking in the city also attracted a huge attention. Due to a small media budget they needed to come up with an idea that engaged people and encouraged them to interact with the advertising. PR was a vital part in the campaign in order to get people attention and to push them to the store. The campaign received a lot of attention and PR in local newspapers as well as in professional blogs. Test hiking also generated a lot of curiosity among people in the streets. In total Playground experienced an increase of visitors at 520 percent and sales growth at 317 percent compared to the same period the year before. Some donkey bidders also showed up, but without any donkey transaction. Now everybody knows where to turn to find the most appropriate hiking equipment, regardless of your needs.

Agency: Akestam Holst Stockholm, Sweden.

Vendor "Weather-Channel"

The online travel vendor, Expedia.de, wanted to take a new communicative route, ... ideally, without investing money. They suggested a guerrillia campaign, live during the morning weather 'in' the weather panorama channel on BR, 3 Sat, SF and ORF. For this, self-made textile banners with Expedia offers and messages were held up during the live broadcasted precisely those locations where fixed cameras are installed. The result: free tv advertising. The weather panorama channel was the perfect environment for a travel vendor since the audience are already interested in travel. 2 million connections for free, 28,7% more clicks, 9,34% more bookings - Without spending any money for advertising.

Agency: Serviceplan Munich, Germany.

23 Days "The Youtube Fan-Diary"

Establish the video portal YouTube beyond the YouTube community of users and increase the potential audience. Turn football fans into YouTube stars. During the 23 days of the EURO 2008 football championships, YouTube launched a fan diary on its platform. Football fans were encouraged to film their EURO 2008 experiences and upload them to YouTube. The German film director Detlev Buck used the video contributions to produce a feature-length film for the cinema. The film celebrated its opening in Berlin and Hamburg and went on general release in the cinemas in 10 German cities. Not just the world’s first user-generated film for cinema, but the longest ad ever. From online to offline right to the big screen. The promotion exceeded the technical scope of the Internet. And turned users into protagonists – and several of them into celluloid heroes. More than 2,100 people from 16 countries took part and sent in film clips. Millions visited the YouTube site. Thousands saw the film in the cinema. Coverage on TV, radio, in the press and on the Internet proliferated the message.

Agency: Kolle Rebbe Werbeagentur Hamburg, Germany.

Deutscher Sparkassen "Wishing Well"

A promotion that can be implemented locally and will draw a lot of attention and attract people to make an appointment at a Sparkasse branch. The Sparkasse is one the biggest banks in Germany, with a branch on almost every street corner. And that’s exactly where they implemented their campaign. In order to draw people’s attention to the expertise of the Sparkasse’s savings specialists, we chose an unusual and eye-catching medium: wishing wells near Sparkasse branches. The campaign did not just attract attention around the wells themselves, but also in the nearby Sparkasse branches. Lots of customers saw the wishing well promotion on their way to the branch. This promotion became a topic of conversation and gave Sparkasse advisors the opportunity to approach the topic of savings accounts.

Agency: Jung von Matt Berlin, Germany.

AXA "Crashed Cars"

AXA launched a new car insurance which guarantees a very easy handling. The objective was to generate awareness at a great press event that intoduced this new insurance. The task was to get journalist attention to attend the press event. Even jouranlists like to play. By producing a crashed toy car we were able to draw their attention as well as to show off what the new insurance is all about: a car insurance as easy as a child’s play. The surprising mailing already caused a lot of PR. From the adressed journalists, more than 90% attended the press conference.

Agency: Krieg Schulpp Buerge/Springer & Jacoby Zurich, Switserland.

Biffar "Crime Scene Seal"

House and apartment owners are to be convinced of the benefits of the especially safe front doors made by 'Biffar'. The problem: normal mailings are mostly thrown away without being read. They make people go through the experience of what it's like not to have a safe front door: The entrance turns into a crime scene. After all, 70% of all burglars get into the house via the front door. A convincing argument for safe front doors. Adhesive stickers, strikingly similar to police crime scene seals, were being placed on house and apartment entrance doors in affluent neighbourhoods with older houses. The promotion gained a response rate of 7% and it has brought a 65% higher return on actual new clients compared to traditional direct mail.

Agency: Ogilvy Frankfurt, Germany.

Cillit BANG "Clean Coin"

Create an impactful low budget sales promotion for the household cleaning product Cillit BANG. Communicate the product benefit in a relevant and convincing way. Success will only be measured in sales. It was a 1:1 realisation of the original concept. The promotion took place at the POS, via a very special „secondary placement“ nobody could escape: The supermarket’s cashier. Here a 5 Cent coin – half way cleaned by Cillit BANG and half way dirty – was given out as change to every consumer. The coin was branded with a little transparent sticker. Making use of the well established TVC key visual of the clean Cillit BANG-coin and taking it into real life at the POS worked as the living proof of the advertising promise „nothing cleans like Cillit BANG“. How can a sales promotion be more convincing? Small size, big effect. The results were amazing. The supermarkets of the REWE group, where the sales promotion was realized, showed a sales uplift across the entire Cillit BANG range of plus 337 % in comparison to the respective previous period. Because of the big success at a reasonable price and the highly positive involvement of the consumers a nationwide instore „Clean Coin“-sales promotion is planned for the second half of 2008.

Agency: Euro RSCG Dusseldorf, Germany.

Deutsche Bahn "Top Trumps"

Germany is a country that's crazy about cars. So how do you increase loyalty among users of German Rail's car transport train? The 32 largest German traffic jams had to be researched and respective photos had to be found. Actually distributing the card game via German staff definitely was the easier part. At the beginning of their journey users of German Rail's car transport train were given the 'Monster Congestion Top Trumps'. The game was a most engaging and entertaining way for their travellers (mostly families) to learn that the best way to travel by car is when you're on a train. According to client reports the promotion was a huge success, not only among travellers who were affirmed in their decision at the right point in time, but also within German Rail's organisation where the mocking of car travel substancially increased morale among German Rail staff.

Agency: Ogilvy Frankfurt, Germany.

Harley Davidson Handle.

To build awareness for the new Harley Collection 2008 and to get the Harley fans and potential clients to visit the showroom. The challenge was to find an unique way to get attention for the new Harley Models with a moderate budget. By approaching the target group in an unexpected environment. As most bikers use trams and buses during the winter, they started negotiating with the public transportation companies to use their platform in a way that was never seen before in Switzerland. There is no other biking style that is as typical as the one on a Harley. Bikers are passionate about this very unique style of riding. So they welcome every situation which reminds them of the riding pleasure that is waiting for them in spring. Talk of the tram – and full house during the «Harley Days» exhibition in March 2008.

Agency: Wirz/BBDO Zurich, Switserland.

Pattex Power Tape "Cages"

Clearly demonstrate that Pattex Power Tape is an extremely strong multi-purpose adhesive tape that not only sticks to virtually any surface but also resists extreme pressure. In order to demonstrate the product’s benefits, billboards throughout the country were turned into cages for wild animals. However, instead of using metal bars to protect their visitors they used Pattex Power Tape. Dozens of rolls of tape hanging at the bottom of the billboard often had to be replaced several times a day for those interested in trying the product themselves. With an average number of 525,000 contacts during the one-week campaign spectators were surprised by this clear example of how strong Pattex Power Tape actually is. Over 20,000 samples were taken by potential customers. Pattex Power Tape was one of the most successful brands in Henkel’s 2007 adhesive portfolio.

Agency: DDB Dusseldorf, Germany.

Bittburger Beer "Moving Box"

With an unseen idea Bitburger beer should be brought back in the beer drinkers mind. In cooperation with the big car rental company Sixt, they equipped their removal vans with their special moving boxes which look like Bitburger beer crates. When people rent a Sixt moving van with moving boxes, they got our „beer crates“ instead of normal boxes. So for Sixt clients every removal turned into a big beer delivery. With a budget under 40.000 Euros they equipped Sixt removal vans in german big cities like Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt with our „beer crates“. For Sixt clients every removal turned into a big beer delivery and Bitburger beer was brought back in the beer drinkers mind.

Agency: Jung von Matt Hamburg, Germany.

Norrlands Guld "Beer Label Jeans"

The core values of the Norrlands Guld Brand are about male bonding and friendship. Their task was to bring new vitality into to this successful concept, in order to reach a slightly younger target group and give them something to interact with and talk about. Together with Örjan Andersson (Cheap Monday) they created a premium quality jeans label called Norrlands Guld Jeans. The jeans were branded from buttons to labels. A beer opener were also sewn into the jeans. They were priced at $150.00 and sold in jeans stores all over Sweden. As Norrlands Guld Beer is the market leader in Sweden, the whole idea behind the Jeans campaign was to promote and launch the jeans label like an ordinary jeans label, and not to talk about the beer at all. Advertising in newspapers and fashion magazines. PR was sent out to newspapers and fashion magazines. Special press preview at the Copenhagen Fashion Week. A TV-commercial was aired during Stockholm Fashion Week, featuring the Norrlands Guld character “Ingemar” wearing the Jeans, stumbling in on a cat-walk by accident. The jeans were sold in stores all over Sweden and online. “When you want to be yourself for a moment has been the tag line for Sweden’s best selling beer NORRLANDS GULD for decades. The jeans culture is a perfect match. “When you want to be yourself”, relax and have a beer, you put on a pair of jeans. They got lots of press in all major newspapers. Blogs, specially fashion blogs, were commenting on the jeans, almost all comments were positive. They were all over the media. And on the day when the sales stated people were queueing outside the stores in the morning of the sales start. The online store caliroots.com went down at midnight when the sales started. The Jeans sold out in two days. Norrlands Guld Beer became the best selling beer at Systembolaget (the Swedish monopoly).

Agency: Akestam Holst Stockholm, Sweden.