| Title | BEFRIEND |
| Brand | NIKA, A CHARITABLE FUND FOR HOMELESS ANIMALS ASSISTANCE |
| Product/Service | SOCIAL ADVERTISING PROJECT FOR SHELTER DOGS SUPPORT |
| Category |
E04. Real-time Response |
|
Entrant
|
DPG Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Idea Creation
|
DPG Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
PR
|
DPG Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Production
|
VERSUS PICTURES Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Production 2
|
DPG Moscow, RUSSIA
|
Credits
| Alena Kremer |
DPG |
Managing Partner |
| Alexandra Shokina |
DPG |
Creative Director |
| Andrey Maltsev |
DPG |
Associate Creative Director |
| Ekaterina Savrasova |
DPG |
Associate Creative Director |
| Alexander Belanovsky |
DPG |
PR Director |
| Anastassia Urchukova |
DPG |
Head of Strategy |
| Oksana Shibanova |
DPG |
Client Service Director |
| Larissa Pshenichnikova |
DPG |
Project Manager |
| Tatiana Khina |
DPG |
Designer |
| Anastassia Zaitseva |
DPG |
Junior Copywriter |
| Irina Botvinieva |
DPG |
SMM Manager |
| Dmitry Shchavleev |
DPG |
Digital Artwork |
| Alexey Chernavsky |
DPG |
Animation/CG Designer |
| Ksenia Tavrina |
DPG |
Photographer |
| Alexandra Podporinova |
DPG |
Photoshoot Producer |
| Ilya Naishuller |
Versus Pictures |
Director |
| Ruben Adamyan |
Versus Pictures |
Producer |
| Ekaterina Kononenko |
Versus Pictures |
Producer |
| Andrey Krauzov |
Versus Pictures |
DOP |
| Dasha Charusha |
Versus Pictures |
Composer |
Background
“Thousands of stray animals are being culled in preparation for the football tournament, activists say”. / The Moscow Times, April 2018 /
“There are approximately two million strays in Russia’s 11 World Cup host cities and it has been estimated that local authorities will spend up to £119 million on catching, caging, sterilising and euthanising animals this year”. / The Guardian, May 2018 /
“Russia 'slaughters HUNDREDS of stray dogs' close to World Cup venues” / Express, June 2018 /
On the eve of the World Cup 2018 in Russia the lives of a large number of stay dogs taken to shelters got to be on the line. Together with NIKA, a charitable fund which works every day to save lives and find new owners for shelter dogs, we decided to address the global audience of the World Cup and save as many shelter dogs as possible.
Describe the strategy
Catching the World Cup moment to save Russian shelter dogs.
With a zero media budget we were targeting a worldwide audience: those who were in Russia during the World Cup or followed it online.
Two weeks before the championshion we made a global announcement of the problem in the World Cup context (media lead 1) to ensure the coverage by the world’s largest media.
A national campaign started on June 1 with the viral video. This second lead was intended to draw attention to the problem and evoke sympathy inside the country.
The next lead was the #BeFriend challenge (from June 18). Russian celebrities inspired each other and millions of followers to support the project on befriendrussia.com. The activation echoed on the streets of Moscow with engaging billboards.
The story of a shelter dog who found a new home in Canada (lead 4) concluded the campaign.
Describe the execution
The campaign started with a heartfelt video shot by famous director Ilya Naishuller and starring well-known actor Sasha Pal. This story of a wandering dog, cornered by dog hunters to be taken to a shelter, went viral and inspired other stars to support the project on their social media and Moscow billboards.
The campaign continued at the height of the championship with the #befriend challenge, featuring Russian celebrities as dogs in their photos. Actors, presenters, athletes, bloggers published their dog-inspired visuals to their social media profiles and encouraged everyone to join and help shelter dogs on the project's website.
The website, www.befriendrussia.com, offered a variety of simple ways to help and presented profiles of around 150 dogs in World Cup host cities. All dogs listed their interests, including "swimming," "being faithful," or "watching Soviet movies." Just like a Facebook for dogs – except you can become friends in real life.
List the results
The campaign instantly gained national and global coverage by such media as BBC, FTBL, Buro 24/7, Cosmo, Harper’s Bazaar, Big Picture, OK! Tatler and many others. They described the project and provided a link to www.befriendrussia.com
KEY NUMBERS:
Online video views: 1 421 257 in 2 weeks
Media impressions: 541 241 394
Social media interactions: 1 509 226
Media budget: $ 0
Earned media: $ 3 550 313
+200% increase number of adopted dogs (vs the same period last year).
In a few weeks with a zero media budget we earned global media coverage and changed the future of more than 70 doomed dogs who found their homes and owners thanks to the BeFriend project.