F01. Artist as a Ambassador for a Brand or a Cause
Entrant
DDB & TRIBAL AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation
DDB & TRIBAL AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Placement
MEC NETHERLANDS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
PR
HET PR BUREAU Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production
WEFILM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production 2
ROBOT KITTEN Hilversum, THE NETHERLANDS
Additional Company
MAAK Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name
Company
Position
Ed van Bennekom
DDB & Tribal Amsterdam
Creative Director
Jasper Diks
DDB & Tribal Amsterdam
Creative Director
Jesse Mons
DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam
Digital Director
Sophie van Pelt
DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam
Executive Producer
Esther te Pas
DDB & Tribal Amsterdam
Business Director
Ralf Hesen
DDB & Tribal Amsterdam
Strategy Director
Esmée Lechner
DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam
Designer
Joris Groot
DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam
UX Designer
Marco Kruk
DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam
Motion & Graphic Designer
Keith Kornson
DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam
Design Director
Erwan van Buuren
Erwan van Buuren
D.O.P.
Pelle Asselbergs
Pelle Asselbergs
Offline editor
Tim van Paassen
The Compound
Online editor
Reinder van Zalk
Earforce
Sound design
Cris Kos
Cris&Jeff Music
Music
Ali B
Ali B
Music
Xavi Feliu
Vodafone
Social Brand Manager
Joke van Griensven
Vodafone
Brand Engagement Specialist
Tijmen Mulder
Robot Kitten
Technical Director
Jorrit van Ditshuizen
Robot Kitten
Developer
Patrick van der Werf
Robot Kitten
Developer
Niels Filmer
Robot Kitten
Developer
Iris Schultheiss
Robot Kitten
Producer
WeFilm
WeFilm
Production Company
Het PR Bureau B.V.
Het PR Bureau B.V.
PR Company
Maak
Maak
Media Company
The Campaign
Various studies have shown that when people who stutter start rapping, their stutter disappears. Rapping makes it easier to control the speech movement from the brain. We created a free mobile app that uses rap to help children speak more fluently. Rap provides guidance and rhythm, which really helps people who stutter. Many stutter therapies lack fun speech exercises. The ‘Get The Flow’ app combines speech exercises with something kids do like: Dutch hip hop.
We collaborated with famous Dutch rappers, songwriters and the Dutch Stutter Federation. For every exercise they wrote special rap lyrics that make use of tongue twisters and alliterations that are hard to pronounce for children who stutter.
A custom-built timing system automatically recognizes if kids don’t stutter. Kids can see their improvements and share their tracks with other stuttering kids.
And they can connect to practice together, so they feel they’re not alone in this.
Creative Execution
We built the free app ‘Get The Flow’ that uses rap to help children who stutter speak more fluently. It has a playful design and consists of multiple levels of difficulty. Special rap/stutter exercises were written that make use of tongue twisters, vowel, consonants and alliterations that are hard to pronounce for children who stutter. Children could connect to practice together and share their progress. On their profile page they could see their improvements and share the results with their stutter coaches.
The app was launched together with the Dutch Stutter Federation, singer/stutter ambassador Miss Montreal and no. 1 rap artist Ali B., capturing national and international attention. The documentary we created was shared through Vodafone’s social channels, rap influencers and medical platforms. We supported the launch with a seeding budget and some paid media support, but over 90% of reach (online, newspapers, TV, radio) was generated through earned media.
67% of stuttering children used the app to practice speech (goal was 50%)! And it has helped thousands to improve their speech skills. The app was rated 4.1 star and is now an official stutter therapy, offered in 70 official stutter practices in the Netherlands. Social sentiment was 95% positive. The boy that starred in our documentary is now stutter free!
‘Get The Flow’ was featured in every major Dutch media title and picked up by many international media. We reached 66% of the Dutch population with an average contact frequency of 2.5 (target: 60% with contact frequency of 1). It got +89 million media impressions.
The media value we collected through earned media represented a
57% of the people we reached connected the campaign to the Vodafone brand. It raised the brand on the brand image statements Positive Feeling +36%, Trust +18%, Innovative +77%, Emotional Connection +53%.
The Get The Flow app is downloaded 13.453 times. The number of children in the age group 6 to 12 years who suffer from stuttering in The Netherlands, is around 13.200 (sources: CBS, NFS/National Stutter Federation). The number of downloads exceeds the number of children in our target group that suffer from stuttering because a) stuttering children younger or older than our target group have downloaded the app, b) friends of the stuttering children that do not stutter have downloaded the app to do ‘rap battles’ with their stuttering friend. Based on input we received from the NFS (National Stutter Federation), we confidently estimated 2/3 (or 67%) of the stuttering children in our target group used the app.
We created a mobile app for children aged 8-14 who stutter, to practice their speech via rap exercises. For this we worked together with a) a Dutch singer that stutters and b) the most popular rapper in the Netherlands. Both played a pivotal role in the production, the roll-out and success of the campaign. The campaign raised awareness of the fact that in the Netherlands there are few or no appealing stutter exercises available for children, and it showed that Vodafone makes mobile technology work for good, by connecting people and changing their lives for the better.
In the Netherlands 5% of all children stutter: about one kid in every classroom. Many become victims of bullying, which causes low self-esteem. Insight: instead of practicing their speech by talking in public, children choose the easy alternative to communicate: their mobile phones. We tapped into this issue, because we saw mobile technology could make a real difference. We created an app for children aged 8-14 (at this age stuttering hinders them the most), to help them speak more fluently and connect with others.
In addition to the app itself, we created a documentary about a boy overcoming his stutter problem by using the app, to generate maximum impact and reach. His story became an example for other stuttering children. Video views, editorial pieces and social reached over 66% of the Dutch population. All linked to Vodafone’s Powerful Connections platform, displaying more ‘mobile technology for good’ projects from Vodafone NL.