Title	THE POWER OF SWIMMING (CAN VR HELP KIDS CONQUER FEAR OF SWIMMING?)
Brand	SWEDISH SWIMMING FEDERATION / E.ON
Product/Service	SPONSORSHIP
Category	E02. Virtual Reality (VR)
Entrant	M&C SAATCHI STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Idea Creation	M&C SAATCHI STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
M&C Saatchi Stockholm	M&C Saatchi Stockholm	M&C Saatchi Stockholm
Apartment5	Apartment5	Apartment5
Lygrell&Silver	Lygrell&Silver	Lygrell&Silver
Rippler PR	Rippler PR	Rippler PR

The Campaign

E.On sponsor the Swedish swimming team. But when one in five Swedish kids cannot swim, a logo on a swim suit isn’t enough. Instead, we used VR to strengthen the brand, take our sponsorship deeper and crucially, help thousands of children take their first swimming strokes. A fear of water is one of the main reasons children aren’t learning to swim. Sponsorship opportunities are typically un-engaging. But swimming is so much more than just a sport. Swimming saves lives. Yet still, one in five Swedish children can’t swim. And a fear of putting their heads under water is the main reason why. To create engagement and in doing so, increase E.ON’s likability by 5%, compared to previous activities. But most important of all, the campaign had to find a simple solution to a very real problem – and encourage more children to get in the water.

Creative Execution

Stockholm University discovered you can use virtual reality to cure phobias by gradually exposing subjects to the source of their fear. This sparked the idea of creating a VR experience, hosted by Sweden’s top swimming stars, where children could experiment with putting their heads under water without getting wet. Using VR goggles ordered for free at eon.se, children could enter the VR swimming experience on YouTube. We also invited a group of water-fearing children to test the VR experience before getting into a pool for real. Everything was documented and the film was spread to create awareness and encourage kids to order their VR goggles and take their first virtual strokes.