WORK FOR ALS

Short List
TitleWORK FOR ALS
BrandALS LIGA BELGIUM
Product/ServiceHEALTHCARE SERVICE
Category B03. Fundraising & Advocacy
Entrant PUBLICIS BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Idea Creation PUBLICIS BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Media Placement ZENITH BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
PR BEBBLE Boortmeerbeek, BELGIUM
Production PRODIGIOUS Brussels, BELGIUM
Production 2 CAVIAR Brussels, BELGIUM
Production 3 DIGITAS Brussels, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Maxime Damo Publicis Brussels Creative
Jelle Van Garderen Gutzandglory Creative
Kwint De Meyer Publicis Brussels Creative Director
Willem De Wachter Publicis Brussels Creative Director
Maïté Camerman Publicis Brussels Account
Frederik Jonnaert Publicis Brussels Account
Fiona Boyle Publicis One Strategy
Virginie Lepère Publicis Brussels Strategy
Wim Corremans Publicis Brussels Creative
Maarten De-Maayer Publicis Brussels Creative
Ilse Lambrechts Bebble Public Relations
Christophe Vantricht Prodigious Designer
Marc Van Buggenhout Prodigious Producer
Daan Feytongs  Prodigious Producer
Tom Willems Caviar Director
Frederic Van Zandycke Caviar DOP
Julie Bosteels Caviar Producer
Ilse Joye Caviar Executive Producer
Bert De Keyzer & Carolien Den Hond Caviar Focus Puller
Patrick Haegeman Caviar Gaffer
Gerrit Callens & Aarom Meulemeester Caviar Grip
Hans De Wit Caviar Sound
Tom Garcia Prodigious Sound
Alain Guillaume Prodigious Sound Engineer
Najib De Brakenier Caviar Set Dresser
Lili Glavan & Daphné Zwanenberg Caviar Make up
Frédéric Uyttenhove Caviar Photographer
Khang Lam Digitas Digital Account Director
Melissa Locus Zenith SEA Manager
Stéphanie Van Geit Zenith Social Media Expert

Describe any restrictions or regulations regarding Healthcare/RX/Pharma communications in your country/region including

There are no restrictions because it’s fundraising, not a pharmaceutical communication.

Describe the target audience and why your work is relevant to them. Pharma audience types:

ALS research suffers from poor funding. Our approach shows how ALS patients are neglected by the pharmaceutical industry, and how badly in need of better funding and donations they are.

Background

ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is an incurable neuromuscular disease that paralyses one muscle after the other, leaving patients unable to move. Near the inevitable end, only the mind and eyes remain intact. ALS sufferers gradually have to give up on everything, their jobs, their hobbies, and in the end, their lives. One thing terminal ill patients and their families never give up on is the hope that one day their disease will be curable. To find a cure we need money first. Unfortunately, rare diseases don't get a lot of funding. It's of no interest to the pharmaceutical industry and people tend to not donate to causes that don't affect their own lives. The objectives of this campaign are to create awareness around ALS (make the public understand the disease, in order to feel empathy for ALS patients) and to gather donations to finance research for ALS treatment.

Describe the creative idea

What's your last resort when you can't get any fundings or donations but need money? You work for it, despite all limitations. During World ALS day, ALS patients were looking for a job in order to fund a cure, as no one else will. A job where moving can't be part of the job description. CEOs were directly contacted by ALS patients asking for a job, and the salary to be donated. People were encouraged to join the movement and also work for ALS for a day. Together we can work for ALS so one day there will be a cure.

Why is this work relevant for PR?

The surspising and unusual story of ALS patients asking for jobs and raise money to find a cure was picked up by the national news quickly. The campaign was spread by several national TV stations, radio channels and on social media. Many affluent CEOs were involved and we had coverage during the national lottery. The work for ALS campaign resulted in high national reach & strong engagement. This campaign allowed to shed some light on the fact that there still isn't enough interest in ALS to find a cure.

Describe the strategy

World ALS day is a good moment to shine a light on the many problems patients are faced with. But in order to find a cure, we needed action. We needed the perfect mix of showing devastating effects of a problem, yet still activating people to do something about it. First we had to raise awareness of the fact that for ALS patients there still is no cure in sight. Then we needed people to feel that there is something they can quite easily do to help. The targets were the CEOs and working people of Belgium. ALS patients aren't really able to work for a cure, but you still can.

Describe the execution

The campaign was built in phases: 1: Inform. “ALS patients are looking for jobs to fund research. Hire them.” This message was sent by personalised letters and emails to 120 CEOs of major companies, posted on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and online videos. A specific website, www.workforals.be, was created where CEOs could hire patients. 2: Engage. “Join them and donate your salary.” Patients were hired and Belgians were invited to participate by donating their salary too. On national TV and radio, online videos, PR (an ALS patient presented the national Lottery results on Eén TV; another one presented the weather forecast on the number one French speaking radio in Belgium, Bel RTL radio), Facebook PPL. 3: Affect. “Today, we are working together for ALS. Share your contribution.” Message on social media by influencers (journalists and TV presenters). CEOs and employees followed on social media.

List the results

People see campaigns on terrible problems in the world everyday, but it often leaves them with a feeling of 'ok terrible, but what can I do about it?'. We were able to change that by reminding people you can easily work for ALS for a day. Awareness was raised for the funding problem rare diseases like ALS face, thousands of work days generated that helped fund the research to find a cure. Every workday bringing us closer to that 'one day' where ALS will be curable. 120 companies were reached out on Twitter. More than 10 major CEOs hired ALS patients. +254% donations: ALS patients can’t move, but they were able to move a whole country. National PR coverage: TV Eén, Canvas TV, Bel RTV TV, Studio Brussel, Radio 1, Radio 2, Klara, Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen, ...