2022 Winners & Shortlists

REACT FOR REAL

Short List
BrandICRC
Product/ServiceCHARITY
EntrantWUNDERMAN THOMPSON Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryData & Analytics & Insight
Idea Creation WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

While NGOs use educational messaging to reach a general audience, the urgency of the Afghan situation required a different approach. We knew that the ones most prone to act, are people who were already familiar and engaging online with the Afghan cause. Our strategy then revolved around pushing people to share more than a like. Focusing on a hard-hitting message, that real currency changes more than social currency, we showed just that. We turned the social reactions into monetary value and calculated how many Afghan needs could’ve been resolved, had the ICRC received a dollar instead of just a like.

Background

In August 2021, as terrorist group Taliban took over Kabul, newsfeeds were flooded with horrific images and videos of Afghans hanging from airplanes and handing out their children to foreign soldiers in hope their little ones would get to safer lands. And the world reacted, through hashtags and emojis. Only. But we all knew Afghanistan needed more than that. And the ICRC knew that better than anyone. With its mission to protect and provide help to victims of armed conflicts, it has been serving the people of Afghanistan for over 30 years, providing crucial help to a nation that has been suffering for decades. And even in Afghanistan’s darkest hours, the ICRC remained true to its mission. However, they needed urgent donations to keep their teams operational in Afghanistan and provide aid to a population in peril.

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

As terrorist group Taliban took over Afghanistan, the ICRC needed urgent donations to be able to remain true to its mission and operational across the nation. NGOs usually focus their messaging on educating a general audience on a particular situation in order to ask for help. But given the urgency of the Afghan situation we knew we needed a different and faster approach. So, our strategy focused on reaching people who were already familiar and moved by this crisis, as they were more likely to act. But we had another problem; their reactions lived only online. While social media support was needed to shed light on the heartbreaking situation of Afghans, on-ground donations were lacking and threatening the ability of the ICRC to provide aid to the population in peril. So how could ICRC push people to turn their social currency into real currency?

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

Initial data showed that 55% of people who interact with NGOs on social media take some action, and another 59% go onto donating money. In the face of this humanitarian crisis, these are the people we knew we should reach. Further data analysis showed that in only 3 months, millions of people interacted online with content about Afghanistan. While the number of online reactions was monumental, the ICRC wasn’t receiving many donations. Inspired by the popular saying ‘If I had a dollar every time […]’, we decided to show people the impact they could’ve had, had they given a dollar instead of only a like. We quantified these reactions and converted them into monetary value, and then calculated how many real-life needs this money could’ve resolved. We went a step further and created shorter edits targeting people who reacted with specific emojis to show them the value of their reactions.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

The heart of the idea is that if people put their money where their like is, greater change can happen. While online support is important, it is not enough. People in crisis need more. We wanted to remind people of this hard-hitting truth – real people need real support. Using an algorithm, we converted their online reactions into monetary value, and then used them to calculate how many real-life needs this money could’ve resolved. These results were shown in an emotional data-led film, that we launched right where people were supporting Afghanistan the most – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube. Based on previous findings, we targeted those who had engaged with Afghan content online, as they were more prone to act. We went a step further and created shorter edits targeting people who reacted with specific emojis to show them the value of their reactions.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

The campaign spread wide across the different platforms and countries. It reached +5,000,000, achieved a total of +2,614,251 impressions and 422,383 people engaged with the video. This led to + 200% increase on donations to help Afghanistan.

Credits

Name Company Role
Bas Korsten Wunderman Thompson Global Global CCO
Mona Hassanie Wunderman Thompson Head Of Strategy
Ghida Sater Wunderman Thompson Strategist
Daniel Bonner Wunderman Thompson Global Global CCO
Chafic Haddad Wunderman Thompson MENA Chief Creative Officer
João Braga Wunderman Thompson Sydney Chief Creative Officer
Jason Carmel Wunderman Thompson Seattle Chief Data Officer Seattle
Pablo Maldonado Wunderman Thompson Dubai Executive Creative Director
Hassan Bilgrami Wunderman Thompson Dubai Creative Director
Jericho Dizon Wunderman Thompson Dubai Senior Art Director
Valerie Pinto Wunderman Thompson Dubai Editor & Animator
Sanaz Khodabandeh Wunderman Thompson Dubai Project Manager
Irmak Aktas Wunderman Thompson Dubai Business Director
Irmak Aktas Wunderman Thompson Dubai Business Director
Haya i Jaoun Wunderman Thompson Dubai Senior Account Executive
Ghaleb Cabbabé International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Senior Campaigns Manager
Moritz Hansen International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Digital Marketing Officer
Melanie Heffinger International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Communication Officer
Nora Livet International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Social Media & Influencer Strategy Lead
Miles Raguin International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Strategy & Social Media
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