Title	CAMPAIGN AGAINST ILLEGAL FIREWORKS
Brand	DUTCH CONSUMER SAFETY INSTITUTE
Product/Service	CONSUMER SAFETY INSTITUTE
Category	A07. USE OF SOCIAL IN A DIRECT MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Entrant Company	TBWA\NEBOKO Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Advertising Agency	TBWA\NEBOKO Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Matthijs Schoo	TBWA/NEBOKO	Copywriter
Rogier Verbeek	TBWA/NEBOKO	Art Director
Bob Hartsink	TBWA/NEBOKO	Intern
Martijn Pots	TBWA/NEBOKO	Account Manager
Valerie Dekeuwer	TBWA/NEBOKO	Client Services Director
Bente Van Der Ark	Eg/Worldwide	Producer
Mario Piepenbrink	TBWA/NEBOKO	Technical Director
Paul Theunis	TBWA/NEBOKO	Photographer
Desmont De Kousemaeker	TBWA/NEBOKO	Designer
Jan Jesse Bakker	TBWA/NEBOKO	Designer

The Brief

Problem: Every year, dangerous illegal fireworks cause more and more damage, injuries and even fatalities in the Netherlands. As a result of the emergence of webshops operating out of Eastern Europe, ordering illegal fireworks has never been easier. Border security and the police aren't doing anything about this problem. That’s why perpetrators think they have nothing to fear. Strategy: Eliminate the perception that people can safely and anonymously order illegal fireworks online.

Creative Execution

By making smart use of social media and imitating the modus operandi of real webshops, we managed to mislead our target audience. Using the data acquired, we were then able to give the target audience a very personal warning (by e-mail/post). This personal approach went on to cause such a stir that many people no longer dared to order fireworks online.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We wanted to create the perception that everyone who orders illegal fireworks will get caught by the Task Force Investigation Firework Bombmakers To achieve this, we created fake webshops purporting to sell illegal fireworks. We then infiltrated the target audience using a number of YouTube accounts promoting our webshops with fake unboxing videos. People who ordered via our webshops gave us their name, address and e-mail address. We then used this information to send them personal warnings stating that their parcel had been intercepted by the Task Force Investigation Firework Bombmakers.

Results

During the period of the campaign, we succeeded in unmasking more than 500 potential buyers – but the spin-off was much bigger than that. As a result of the extensive media coverage at the beginning of the campaign, about how the police had been able to get hold of buyers' details, many people no longer dared make orders. The commotion led a number of real Eastern European fireworks webshops to cease delivering to the Netherlands. The campaign also put this problem squarely onto the political agenda, as a result of which real action is finally being taken.