THANKS TONY

TitleTHANKS TONY
BrandMAKE-A-WISH
Product/ServiceMAKE-A-WISH IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO MAKE EVERY ELIGIBLE CHILD’
Category A03. Online: Fiction & Non-Fiction
Entrant SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Levallois-Perret, FRANCE
Idea Creation SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Levallois-Perret, FRANCE
Production TRINITY FILMS Levallois-Perret, FRANCE
Credits
Name Company Position
POUPON Hervé SERVICEPLAN Creative Director
PEREZ Daniel SERVICEPLAN Creative Director
DELCOURT Steven SERVICEPLAN Chief Innovation Officer 
COCHE Benjamin SERVICEPLAN Copywriter
CHABERT Renaud TRINITY FILMS Producer
BERZERKER BEN CLOSED ON SUNDAY Film maker
PETIT Victor SERVICEPLAN Copywriter
DELANOY Robin SERVICEPLAN Copywriter
SCHAAF Nicola SERVICEPLAN Art Director

The Campaign

Four times NBA champion and leader of the French National Team, Tony Parker is one of the greatest basketball players of his time. For more than ten years, he has been the first ambassador of Make-A-Wish France, which realises the most precious dreams of sick children. The creative idea we had was to say thank you to Tony Parker for having realised thousands of children’s dreams. We gave Tony a surprise meeting with the very first boy for whom he made the dream come true:... HIMSELF. We created an animated hologram of young Tony who thanked the real Tony for having achieved all the dreams he wished for (like being one of the world’s greatest basketball players) and for giving joy to the kids. The video of this emotional moment was deployed through social media.

Creative Execution

Eight months before D-day, we started to get secretly in touch with Tony Parker’s family and childhood friends. We collected archives (photos, VHS tapes, voice recordings) which helped us « rebuild » a virtual young Tony Parker, based on a real little boy, aged 9. 26.06.16: Next to the basketball stadium he was about to play his last match in France on 28.06.16, we built a huge optical theatre dedicated to showing the hologram. 27.06.16: The day before the match, Tony thought he was joining friends for dinner after training, then he found himself unexpectedly amongst 40 children from Make-A-Wish who came to express their gratitude. The kids surprised him with the first little boy for whom Tony Parker made dreams come true, namely ... HIMSELF. Little holographic Tony Parker started to talk to the champion, saluting his talent and tenacity that took him to the peak of his game.

Through social networks and TV channels, our little surprise spread all over the world and touched thousands of people. • More than 2 million organic views • 7 million global impressions • + 37,816 % engagement on Make-A-Wish France fan-page • + 1,200 % online donations • + 8% Fans of Make-A-Wish France fan-page Famous French TV channels relayed the event during their programmes: Canal + / Infosport +, BeIN Sports, Ma Chaîne Sport, and more). With such exposure and additional donations received, Make-A-Wish France will be able to help more children to realise their dreams…

REAL SURPRISE = REAL EMOTION The success of the whole operation is largely linked to the fact that a great sportsman - Famous French NBA player Tony Parker- has been "a victim" really taken by surprise. This fact makes it a relevant submission for entertainment, as the surprise could have failed. Imagine if the champion had cancelled the dinner or if the surprise had been spoiled by accident? Eventually, we « hijacked » Tony who became deeply moved by the situation. Then the story turned into a great emotional highlight, a story with a strong power of entertainment.

In order to get amazing results, we decided to leverage one of the most famous celebrities of Make-A-Wish to take advantage of his fame: Tony Parker, who is one of the favourite French and American personalities. We also took advantage of the strong media coverage he was going to obtain : he was about to play his last game in France with the French national team for the Olympic Games qualification (France-Japan / 28.06.2016), We wanted to get in touch with the largest audience possible, with an emotional video centered on a great personality and famous sportsman linked to the Make-A-Wish foundation. At the end of the video, people were directed to the official Make-A-Wish France’s website, where they were given more details on the Foundation, and could make a donation.