REALITY XMAS

Short List
TitleREALITY XMAS
BrandDOCTORS OF THE WORLD
Product/ServiceINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CHARITY
Category B08. Calendars, Invitations & Greetings Cards
Entrant McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation McCANN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement UM MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM
PR PERSUASION COMMUNICATIONS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production CRAFT WORLDWIDE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Rob Doubal McCann London Chief Creative Officer
Laurence Thomson McCann London Chief Creative Officer
Mike Oughton McCann London Creative Director
Olly Wood McCann London Creative
Matt Searle McCann London Creative
Rob McDonald Craft Worldwide, London Retoucher
Pam Oskam Craft Worldwide, London Art Buyer
Jon Marshall McCann London Project Manager
Dan Howarth McCann London Head of Art
Sergio Lopez Craft Worldwide, London Head of Integrated Production
Sophie Chapman-Andrews Craft Worldwide, London Executive Producer
Ellis Faint Craft Worldwide, London Studio Manager
Liam White Craft Worldwide, London Print Producer
Muhammad Qasim Craft Worldwide, London Artworker
Francois d'Espagnac McCann London Account Director
AJ Coyne McCann London Business Director
Tom Baines McCann London Account Manager
Charlotte Walters McCann London Planner
Nick O'Quinn McCann London Planner
Louise Ringrose McCann London Director of Communications
Rami Noumaan McCann London Marketing Executive
Molly Deaville UM Manchester Media Account Manager
Sanjiv Mistry McCann London EMEA Creative Director
Jamie Mietz McCann London EMEA Creative Director
Dan Good Craft Worldwide, London Editor
Blake Dixon Craft Worldwide, London Editor
Romina Contepomi Craft Worldwide, London Agency Producer
Chris Gilbert Craft Worldwide, London Sound Engineer
Michelle Prinsloo Craft Worldwide, London Agency Producer

The Campaign

Every Christmas, we see romanticised images of the ‘Holy Land’. Everything looks calm and peaceful. Yet today, the Middle East is ravaged by war. For charity Doctors of the World, we brought this inconvenient irony to the fore with #RealityXmas - a set of Christmas cards designed to spark debate, provoke outrage, get petition signatures and increase donations. Combining traditional nativity scenes, synonymous with the festive season, with genuine 2016 editorial war images, they become a set of unique, and powerful visuals went global, gaining an unprecedented response.

Creative Execution

Each card merged real, editorial war images from 2016 with traditional nativity scenes. Hours upon hours were spent, scouring libraries, the Press Association and contacting authentic nativity artists, to find visuals that compositionally would fit together in a square format. Images were also chosen so that each card had its own unique story, that re-imagined key nativity stories in contextually relevant ways. The cards needed to feel like those synonymous with Christmas. And so the editorial, photographic images needed to be meticulously crafted, to ensure that texturally, the overall image felt like one seamless whole. With warmth, grain, and the rich colours of classic cards. Stock was critical in ensuring this end result. And so when held, they felt authentic. Copy was also written and designed specifically to ensure they worked not only as a piece of informative and provocative communication, but also retained the feeling of genuine Christmas cards.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Overall the cards had 1.78 billion online impressions, causing a 1853% increase in site traffic, acting as a catalyst for 152,468 ‘Free Aleppo’ petition signatures (7,623% above our objective), a key KPI, along with donations that soared at 336% above our initial target, enabling DOTW volunteers to continue to provide critical medical aid across the Middle East.  Despite DOTW being UK based, it was an international success. Coverage on CNN news, BBC Online, Time magazine and International Business Times, spurred huge interest worldwide. Further publications covered the campaign globally, including the US, Australia, Israel, Indonesia, Netherlands, Korea, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, and South Africa to name but a few. And it was even embraced by religious leaders. Subsequently, orders for Christmas cards rolled in, and we successfully delivered the concerns of the world to the UK government. The value of people engaging with the brand on this scale was unprecedented.

Our strategy was to achieve maximum impact within a small seasonal window: advent. Focusing on our provocative Christmas Cards as our core campaign element, surrounded by print, radio, social media and OOH. Our target audience – to ensure the message spread, and people signed the petition – were international, professionals and retirees, those interested in humanitarian issues, as well as the mid-market and encouraging action from beyond the usual third sector supporters in media. But most significantly, we targeted politicians through this coverage, and the cards themselves, to apply pressure at this critical time. The call to action was simple: purchase the cards and by doing so spread the word, and sign the petition – to bring the Aleppo crises to the fore.