2017 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

In memory of thousands of refugees who died trying to cross the Mediterranean, we created a sea cemetery. The cemetery was constructed in the Mediterranean exactly where many refugees lost their lives. In order to enhance the effect of our storytelling, we searched and contacted actual refugees who have lost their loved ones in midst of their journey to freedom. In our work, we told the story through their individual stories.

Creative Execution

In memory of thousands of refugees who died trying to cross the Mediterranean, we created The Sea Cemetery installation, which consists of hundreds of tombstones. The cemetery was constructed in the Mediterranean exactly where the refugees lost their lives. The Sea Cemetery installation and various interviews with refugees was filmed. The video was aired on TV and spread on the Internet to reach as many people as possible. Simultaneously, theseacemetery.com, where people can learn more about the refugee crises and take action, has been launched to get the attention of millions.

Results

The work was successful in drawing public attention back to the Syrian refugee issue as it began to disappear. The increase in awareness was not merely about the social issue. Through this project, Support To Life managed to increase its brand awareness among the socially concerned audience. More importantly, this awareness showed a tendency to turn into action. Traffic to Support To Life website increased which led to a further increase in donations. In just a week, we had 450% increase in supporttolife.org's traffic, 180% increase in donations and 225 new contributors.

The sea cemetery succeeded in gaining public attention and influence people's behavior by inciting them to donate and contribute to the refugees cause.

Our goal was to get the attention of everyone around the world as the global discussions around refugees was starting to cool down and lose its relevance. So we had a wide target audience. In order to enhance the effect of our storytelling, we searched and contacted actual refugees who have lost their loved ones in midst of their journey to freedom. In the film, we told the story through their individual stories.