Safe Passage for Sea Creatures
Award Category
Public Sector, Utilities & Charities
Agency
Starcom
Client
WWF Australia
Collaborating Partners
Publicis Content
Objectives
With sharks dying in the Great Barrier Reef from unsustainable fishing with 1.2 km nets that catch up to 10,000 a year along with dugongs, turtles and dolphins, how do you save 48,000 endangered marine species with only $20,000? The challenge was to create awareness, grow WWF Australia’s donor base and raise $100,000 in four weeks to buy a net and fishing licence on the reef so it could be removed.
Campaign
By sending a message with a tangible goal about purchasing the licence and net to the audience, they knew their donation would directly contribute to a life saved – that was a really strong motivator to donate. A 1.5-minute video was developed for social with an emotional narrative that positioned the reef as a sanctuary to be protected. Footage was selected based on the narrative, using infant marine species over mature species to drive further engagement. Animated infographics were used to explain the enormous scale of the net, ending on a very clear call to action that linked to the web-based donation platform. The campaign was timed to launch in line with International Shark Awareness Day to leverage organic social engagement and the associated media attention. The creative was used on the campaign website, as a media package accompanying the news release, in eDM, and on social to elevate awareness, drive engagement and provide a call to action.
Results
Within 48 hours the four-week goal was reached and raised $100,000 in donations. The amount in donations enabled the purchase of two shark fishing licenses at $100,000 each and covered legal fees and marketing costs. Over 4000 donors contributed, including 1900 new, with an average gift of $67, an increase of $17. The video on WWF’s Facebook page reached 370,000 people, with more than 180,000+ engagements and more than 540,000 via the targeted FB ad campaign – for less than $10,000 spend. In the first 17 days, the WWF Australia page attracted 2000+ organic likes and the campaign web page received 26,000+ unique visitors, with referrals from email recording the highest conversion rate ever.
Judges Comments
"Described as strong, motivating and worthy, this campaign resonated with the judges. The innovative solution and great use of graphics captured people’s imaginations, resulting in KPIs being surpassed and this entry taking the Gold award."
