Title	BREASTFEEDING EXTRAS
Brand	KIND EN GEZIN
Product/Service	PUBLIC AWARENESS OF BREASTFEEDING
Category	B03. Use of Broadcast
Entrant	LDV UNITED Antwerp, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	LDV UNITED Antwerp, BELGIUM
PR	LEWIS Antwerp, BELGIUM
Production	NOORTJE PALMERS Antwerp, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Kristof Snels	LDV United	Creative Director
Jasper Declercq	LDV United	Copywriter
Julie Vanderbeck	LDV United	Art Director
Jeffrey Uten	LDV United	Design director
Marieken Maes	LDV United	Account Director
Evi Messagie	LDV United	Account Executive
Tomas Sweertvaegher	LDV United	Strategic Director
Noortje Palmers	Noortje Palmers GCV	Photographer
Jasper Léonard	Noortje Palmers GCV	Videographer

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

To convince Belgians that breastfeeding in public is totally normal, we launched a new concept to infiltrate in television programs: Breastfeeding Extras. They are just like ordinary extras in the background, except that they breastfeed their baby while acting. To launch the idea, we created an online casting agency where volunteer moms could subscribe to become a breastfeeding extra and where production houses could book an extra for their busy film sets. In the end, Breastfeeding Extras were booked by several production houses, appearing in some of Belgium’s biggest TV-shows. Proving that breastfeeding is truly part of everyday life.

Background

Breastfeeding has always been one of the most beautiful and natural things in the world. But times have changed. More and more breastfeeding mothers receive complaints for their “indecent behaviour” and are being sent away from restaurants, parks or shops. Forced to breastfeed their babies behind closed doors or even in toilets. ‘Child & Family’, a Belgian governmental organisation that supports young parents and nurseries, wanted to make breastfeeding normal again.

Describe the creative idea

But how to change the vision of an entire nation? By bringing it back into popular culture. Because the more you see breastfeeding, the more normal it becomes. So, we came up with something quite unusual: Breastfeeding Extras. They are just like normal extras that appear in the background of television shows, movies, video clips or talk shows. The only difference is that Breastfeeding Extras are breastfeeding their baby while acting.

Describe the strategy

To make the campaign work, we first had to convince both volunteers to become a Breastfeeding Extra and production houses to book our special extras for their shooting days. Only then, we could get Breastfeeding Extras in real TV-shows and series. So, to launch the idea, we created a very special online casting agency for Breastfeeding Extras. This way, moms could feasibly volunteer on our online platform to become an extra themselves. But most importantly, production houses could easily book extras for their film set online. By using a smart PR-approach, we got the attention of the press and motivated both target groups on contributing to our Breastfeeding Extras-agency.

Describe the execution

We’ve used the power and reach of influencers on social media to inspire volunteers to register on our casting agency-website. The press loved the surprise and reported about Breastfeeding Extras on online news sites, radio and even television. This way, they encouraged production agencies to hire a Breastfeeding Extra for their recordings. The agencies were charmed by the idea and soon, some of Belgians biggest TV-shows booked a Breastfeeding Extra. This resulted in a second and third wave of both on- and offline PR when our extra’s appeared on television again.

List the results

It was an unusual approach and it worked. After only one week, 10.000 people have visited our casting website. What’s even better, 497 of our visitors subscribed to become a Breastfeeding Extra. That’s a conversion rate of 5%. Besides, with zero euro media budget, we managed to already get a reach of 20 million and received over €686.000 in ad value. Our first Extras have already made their debut in big shows like ‘Familie’, ‘De zonen van Van As’ and ‘De Buurtpolitie’. The Flemish Audio-visual Fund even decided to become a supporting partner. Moreover, Breastfeeding Extras are even going off-screen, appearing in two famous Belgian comic books, ‘Kiekeboe’ and ‘De Buurtpolitie’. This way, we’re reaching an even bigger and more diverse audience. And so, episode by episode, our Breastfeeding Extras are changing the way Belgians think about breastfeeding. Proving that breastfeeding is truly part of everyday life.