Title	THE DISASTROUS PRESS CONFERENCE
Brand	RED CROSS BELGIUM
Product/Service	PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Category	A06. Events & Experiential (incl. stunts)
Entrant Company	DUVAL GUILLAUME Antwerp, BELGIUM
Advertising Agency	DUVAL GUILLAUME Antwerp, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Veronique Sels	Duval Guillaume	Executive Creative Director
Koenraad Lefever	Duval Guillaume	Executive Creative Director
Dries de Wilde	Duval Guillaume	Executive Creative Director
Niels sienaert	Duval Guillaume	Copywriter
Tim Schoenmaeckers	Duval Guillaume	Art Directort
Piet Wulleman	Duval Guillaume	Head of Strategy
Patrick Clymans	Duval Guillaume	Head of Account Management
Jet Vervenne/Jochen Van Lysebettens	Duval Guillaume	Account Manager
Lode Vochten	Duval Guillaume	Digital Creative
Kathy Van Looy	Duval Guillaume	PR Manager
Frederic De Vries	Duval Guillaume	Social Media
Laurens Kruijne/Wim Sels	Duval Guillaume	Lay-out
Nick Gorrebeeck	Duval Guillaume	Digital producer
The Parking Lot	The Parking Lot	Design/Digital Production
Miech Rolly	The Parking Lot	Production
Pieter Vandenbulcke	The Parking Lot	Production
Joris Ceuppens		Cameraman

The Campaign

In Belgium, the many volunteers of The Red Cross are always around. But over time, people started taking their efforts for granted. The consequence: a decreasing number of donations and volunteers. It was time for a wake up call. We invited journalists of all major media to a press conference. But we had to make sure they would actually cover our story. That’s why this press conference was not like anything they expected. Just before arriving at the given address, the journalists had to stop for a massive traffic accident. This accident was the press conference. On a blocked part of a highway we created a time freeze of an accident with multiple cars, wounded victims and of course Red Cross rescue workers. The journalists could literally step into the accident. Standing in the middle of this shocking event, a spokesman made clear that the Red Cross is unable to help anyone, without people volunteering, donating blood, taking first aid courses or giving money. Journalist were explicitly confronted up-close with the important tasks of the Red Cross, while photographers and cameramen could get spectacular pictures from angles they would otherwise never be able to shoot. This turned the disastrous press conference into a success. Not only all major media who were present covered the event, also those who couldn’t make it picked up the story. The coverage was worth 878.087,00 euros in media spend. Far more than a Belgian nonprofit organisation could ever spend. Reminding the Belgian people why they should keep supporting The Red Cross.

The Brief

The main objective of the campaign was to point out to the Flemish people that the Red Cross organisation still needs their help and donations of blood, time and money to be able to continue helping the people in need.

Execution

The journalists were invited to a press conference where they were suddenly confronted with a catastrophic pile up car crash. Of course this was a simulated car crash but it was an impactful way of taking the journalists on a tour through every useful activity of the Red Cross. This way the press could build a story on the essential role of the Red Cross within the Flemish society.

The PR campaign resulted in press coverage in the Flemish newspapers (Gazet Van Antwerpen, Het Nieuwsblad, Het Laatste Nieuws, De Morgen,...) and TV Stations (VTM and ATV) for an estimated value of 878.087,00 euros in media spend.

The Strategy

To draw attention and to give some context on the motives behind the repositioning of the Red Cross brand we invited the press to an usual press conference where they could actually discover themselves every aspect of the useful work the Red Cross does in Flandres on an everyday basis. This was the ideal way to explain why the organisation still needs help and donations. Because if the donations would stop, a lot of essential activities of the Red Cross would just disappear in the Flemish society.