[Shortlist @ Premiile FIBRA] The Meaning of Christian Fasting / Hope & Homes for Children Romania / Cohn & Jansen JWT

Nominalizarile obtinute la FIBRA #2:

  • Non-Profit

 

PRESENTING THE CASE

Campaign / Execution Summary

This is the story of “The Meaning of Fasting”: a fund-raising campaign that created A NEW DONATION TOOL for children in need by leveraging the habit of religious fasting.

INTRODUCING: the VIRTUAL RESTAURANT that LETS YOU DONATE THE MEALS YOU SKIPPED, while telling a compelling visual story about the real meaning of fasting.

CONTEXT: 

39% Romanian kids live on less than 5lei/day (≈1EUR), money that should cover food, clothes & other necessities.

OPPORTUNITY:
For about a month before Christmas, Romanians abstain from all or some kinds of food & drinks. It’s called RELIGIOUS FASTING & 2/3 ROMANIANS PRACTICE IT.
But many forget that fasting is not dieting, but a spiritual growth tool.

That’s why HHC, the NGO supporting poverty-stricken children, decided to convince Romanians to help them by raising awareness about the real meaning of fasting: DOING GOOD DEEDS, NOT JUST A FORM OF ABSTENTION.

IDEA: TURNING RELIGIOUS FASTING INTO A DONATION TOOL
During the Christmas fasting period, we launched a new donation tool: a VIRTUAL RESTAURANT with a unique concept - since WHEN YOU FAST, YOU SAVE MONEY, we asked people to donate this disposable money.

You choose the dishes you skipped from an interactive menu. Everything from omelettes to burgers & cakes, at the average prices practiced in restaurants. But, instead of “ordering” them, you donate the value of these meals to kids in need.

THE VISUAL STYLE TRANSLATED OUR CREATIVE CONCEPT
We built a compelling visual story around the real meaning of fasting & the kids you help.
How? By combining two types of illustrations: the Byzantine iconography style similar to the icons in churches (translating the biblical meaning of fasting); and a naive style, similar to kids’ drawings (translating the real meaning of fasting).

MEDIA:
A consistent pro-bono online amplification was generated: 10 celebrities joined the cause creating videos about the real meaning of fasting that immediately spread across social media, encouraging Romanians to visit our virtual restaurant and donate.

RESULTS:
We started this campaign setting an OBJECTIVE of raising 12850lei. That’s how much HHC raised through its online donations platform throughout 2016 (up until the start of our campaign).
But many celebrities pitched in and, in just a few weeks, with NO BUDGET, we more than doubled our objective: 32410lei raised, the equivalent of 1455 main courses, 126 drinks & 645 desserts.
And we’re just getting started! Because, luckily, Romania has 120days of fasting/year.

Context / Problem / Opportunity / Insight
CONTEXT:
39% of Romanian children live with less than 5 lei a day (under 1 Euro)*. This situation often determines their parents to leave them into the care of the child protection system. (*source: National Strategy on social inclusion and poverty reduction)

PROBLEM:
Hope and Homes for Children (HHC) is an NGO fighting to replace the institutional child protection system with one based on a family concept. For this, HHC offers financial aid to children and their families so that they stay together. But for this, it needed financial support too.

HOW COULD WE GAIN INTEREST IN OUR CAUSE AND HELP THESE KIDS LIVING WITH LESS THAN 5 LEI/DAY?

STRATEGY:
We addressed those 2/3 Romanians that practice the habit of fasting every year and challenged their traditional belief about it: FASTING MEANS ALSO DOING GOOD DEEDS, NOT JUST A FORM OF ABSTENTION.

APPROACH:
Our approach was based on a very simple observation: WHEN YOU FAST, YOU SAVE MONEY - a financial resource that can be donated to kids in need as long as fasting relies on a spiritual behavior.

Target Group

2/3 of Romanians practice the habit of fasting every year (source: IRES, 2015) as a form of religious abstention and spiritual growth. But it also comes with doing good deeds, helping others and being a better person.

We decided to leverage this behavior to determine them to help kids in need.

Results

Apart from the 10 celebrities we initially selected to support our cause, over 30 other celebrities, KOLs and Marcom specialists joined our campaign to share our story and make donations.

And, in just a couple of weeks, with NO BUDGET at all, 32410 lei got donated: the equivalent of 1455 main courses, 126 drinks, and 645 desserts. That’s 152% more than we originally expected – we raised 2,5 times more than HHC raised during 2016 through its online donations platform (32.410 lei vs. 12.854 lei in 2016).

More than 10.000 people followed us on Facebook and we doubled the fan base Engagement rate 637% (no, we didn’t miss any comma). At the end of the campaign, the page reached more than 1 million people.

During the campaign, our website registered 13.000 unique visitors that generated more than 15 300 sessions. Moreover, our website generated a conversion rate of 4% (more than 3 times higher than the industry average – 1,1%). That’s how 500 donors helped support children in need.

And we’re just getting started! Because, luckily, Romania has over 120 days of fasting every year. Moreover, the campaign was implemented in the Republic of Moldova.

 

 

INFO

Agency/Company: Cohn & Jansen JWT
Entry Case Title: The Meaning of Christian Fasting
Brand: Hope & Homes for Children Romania
Client: Hope & Homes for Children Romania

 

CREDITS

Managing Partner & Creative Director, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Andrei Cohn
Art Director, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Octavian Budai
Copywriter, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Alexandra Popa
Copywriter, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Adina Stanescu
Digital Project Manager, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Raluca Diaconu
Account Manager, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Ruxandra Popescu
Account Director, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Miriam Ivanescu
Junior Strategic Planner, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Mihaela Craciunescu
Junior Strategic Planner, Cohn & Jansen JWT: Cristina Abdel
Director de Dezvoltare, HHC Romania: Dragos Bucurenci
Manager comunicare, HHC Romania: Anamaria Bogdan

 

OTHER CONTRIBUTING COMPANIES

Digital Agency: ATELIERU DE INTERNET
Freelancer / Individual: Vali Petridean



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