| Title | FREE GOLD |
| Brand | PUBLIC EYE (FORMERLY KNOWN AS BERNE DECLARATION) |
| Product/Service | CHARITY |
| Category |
B02. Microsites |
|
Entrant
|
FREUNDLICHE GRüSSE Zürich, SWITZERLAND
|
|
Idea Creation
|
FREUNDLICHE GRüSSE Zürich, SWITZERLAND
|
Credits
| Samuel Textor |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Creative Direction |
| Res Matthys |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Copywriter |
| David Elmiger |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Copywriter |
| Nadine Mojado |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Art Direction |
| Pascal Deville |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Creative Direction |
| Pascal Deville |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Creative Direction |
| Max Benrath |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Copywriter |
| Christian Haueter |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Consultant |
| Christian Haueter |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Strategic Planner |
| Erwan Eydt |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Pragramming |
| Alain Aebersold |
Freundliche Grüsse |
Design |
The Campaign
Gold is a popular gift at Christmas time in Switzerland. What many people do not (want to) know: where the gold actually comes from. In order to raise public awareness of the origin of the gold, banners advertising free gold appeared on websites in the run-up to Christmas. But first the user was shown a brief film about the origins of the gold being offered. It was not possible to skip the one-minute film. At the end of the shocking film, the viewer had to make a decision: taking the offered free gold. Or making a donation to the Public Eye . The few people who still opted for the free gold were sent a mailing with dirty gold leaf free of charge, including a credit slip for a donation.
Creative Execution
The banners with the free gold offer were placed on popular sites and networks just one week before Christmas (e.g. youtube.com, scout24.ch, likes.com, ebay.fr, msn.com, spotify.com, ebay.de etc.). In addition, the campaign was launched via a media cooperation on Storyfilter.com (a popular online-magazine in Switzerland,
comparable to BuzzFeed). The banners were linked to a landingpage containing the disturbing film about the dirty gold. The campaign was executed with a simple and clear usability that stimulated the participation and sustained acts. After the shocking film, the users could easely gather more information about the dirty gold, give a donation to the Public Eye or sign up for a membership.
The campaign achieved with 10 million impressions over 10’000 clicks . No fewer than 97% of the website visitors decided against the free gold. 40% of them showed further interest through donation or membership.
The commitment of the Public Eye and the campaign about the dirty gold had an impact at the highest level: In December 2015, the Swiss Federal Council decided to take a closer look to the gold refineries to find out how Swiss companies are involved in human rights violations in gold mining. ( Source: publiceye.ch)
The campaign was aimed at the general Swiss population. Our strategy: we wanted to capture people’s attention with a highly attractive offer (free gold) to confront them in a second step with the grievances in the gold mining business. At the end people were faced with a moral conflict: Taking the free gold or becoming active and doing something against the grievances, for example by donating to the PUBLIC EYE, becoming a member or simply by stop buying dirty gold.