GETTY IMAGES AND FIFTYFIFTY (MAGAZINE FROM HOMELESS PEOPLE)
Product/Service
REPICTURING HOMELESS
Category
B04. Business Citizenship / Corporate Responsibility & Environmental
Entrant
HAVAS GERMANY, GERMANY
Idea Creation
HAVAS GERMANY, GERMANY
Media Placement
HAVAS GERMANY, GERMANY
PR
HAVAS GERMANY, GERMANY
Production
CHAMAELEON DIGITAL VISION Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Production 2
STUDIO FUNK Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Additional Company
MONA DAVIS BEAT Berlin, GERMANY
Additional Company 2
NINA KLEIN ARTIST MANAGEMENT Berlin, GERMANY
Credits
Name
Company
Position
Eric Schoeffler
Havas Germany
Chief Creative Officer
Darren Richardson
Havas Düsseldorf
Chief Creative Officer
Juan Leguizamon
Havas Düsseldorf
Creative Director
Tiago Beltrame
Havas Düsseldorf
Art Director
Nian He
Havas Düsseldorf
Copywriter
Daniel Grube
Havas Düsseldorf
Management Supervisor
Anna Berg
Havas Düsseldorf
Senior Account Manager
Julian Dormis
Havas Düsseldorf, Studio6
Producer
Dominic Rutkowski
Havas Düsseldorf, Studio6
Junior Art Director Motion
Guido Eichhoff
Havas Düsseldorf
Digital Creative Director
Erik Teichert
Havas Düsseldorf
Digital Conceptor
Adrian Warren
Havas Düsseldorf
Digital Art Director
Peter Holzportz
Havas Düsseldorf
Head of Digital Print Service
David Ochsenknecht, Jonas Boamah
Havas Düsseldorf
Final Art Work
Frank Schemmann
Das Studio
Photographer
Oliver Rudolph
Chamaeleon Digital Vision
Managing Director
Kevin Krefta
Chamaeleon Digital Vision
Director
Christian Käutner
Chamaeleon Digital Vision
Producer
Nico Dupon, Rouben Pohl, Kai Wittkamp
Chamaeleon Digital Vision
Editor
Ronny Bülow, Hendrik Vosskamp
Chamaeleon Digital Vision
Motion Graphics
Arne Hottgenroth
Chamaeleon Digital Vision
Colorist
Tobias Grumbach
Studio Funk
Studio Manager
Michael Righetti
Studio Funk
Sound Engineer
Stefanie Schneider
Studio Funk
Project Manager
Stephen Hudson
Studio Funk
Voice Over
Barbara Lange, Tina Schmoll, Franziska Sonnabend
Nina Klein Artist Management
Hair & Make-up Artist
Nina Jasny, Christina Schuller
Nina Klein Artist Management
Styling
Franco Tortora, Woepf Lechenmayr, Tom Batoy, Raffael Karg
Mona Davis Beat GmbH
Composer
Why is this work relevant for PR?
The premise of the campaign is to shift the negative public perception of the homeless, and drive a narrative of hope and possibilities, while raising funds for this community in a meaningful way.
At the same time, the project also served to change people’s stereotypical impression of stock photos, and build Getty Images’ reputation as a brand striving to promote unlimited possibilities and move the world with powerful imagery.
Background
People always see homeless people as poor, desperate, and beyond help. Most existing homeless campaigns simply keep re-affirming such stereotypical images, and ask people to donate out of sympathy, which only marginalized this community even more.
Instead of following down the spiral of pity, this project is aimed to challenge the negative public perceptions of the homeless, and drive a narrative of hope and possibilities, while raising funds for this community in a meaningful way.
On the other hand, as most people criticize stock photos as “stereotypical”, this campaign also has the purpose of reshaping such impressions by showing how stock images can also break stereotypes, and thus shoring up Getty Images as a brand that strives to shift perceptions and spur changes with powerful imagery.
Describe the creative idea
Getty Images partnered with fiftyfifty (street magazine sold by homeless people), and worked with their homeless vendors as models for classic stock photography.
We filtered out the most in-demand motifs on Getty Images, and portrayed the homeless as common people in these different life and work situations. This way, we showed the possibilities of homeless people, and helped others to see the homeless as who they really are –– the same human beings as anyone of us.
The photos were uploaded to Getty Images and iStock. All profits from the downloads go directly to fiftyfifty to help purchase apartments and house the homeless.
More photographers worldwide are encouraged to join us, and create their own stock photo collection with their local homeless, which will also be integrated into the Getty Images database and generate donations for partnered local homeless NGOs. Like this, the project has turned into a global movement.
Describe the strategy
Unlike most homeless campaigns, this project didn’t try to make buzzes by selling tragedies. It touched people by stimulating their self-reflection of commonplace prejudices, and inspiring more faiths in our fellow human beings.
Stock photos are abundant with typical scenarios of common people. We took advantage of this feature of this medium, to help people “repicture” the homeless as the same human beings as anyone of us.
Meanwhile, this move also shows that stock photos not only create but also can break stereotypes, thus reshaping their impressions and enhancing the brand of Getty Images.
We planned to get the first PR splash with the launch of the image collection. Then, with each development of the project, such as photo exhibitions, or more shootings from other places, we kept gaining further coverage and discussions.
The target media ranges from news portals, to creativity media outlets, to word-of-mouth on social media.
Describe the execution
The launch of the photo collection at the end of January 2018, accompanied by online films telling the story of the project and our homeless models, brought on the first round of media attention. It began with nationwide PR, and soon spread to international media.
From traditional channels (TVC, print, cinema advertising), to social media posts, our promotions have helped the project to gain more public discussions.
The photo exhibition in April at Düsseldorf town center led to another round of wide press coverage. The exhibition has since been on tour around Germany, and created local buzzes each place it visited.
The project started as an initiative in Germany, but with more and more photographers and homeless NGOs worldwide joining us, it has turned into a global movement. More photos are being incorporated to the collection from US, Hong Kong, Brazil, etc., each time adding greater exposures to the project.
List the results
With over 155 million reach, and more than € 1.4 million equivalent of earned media, we are driving a narrative of hope and possibilities for the homeless community. The shift of public perceptions, and the change in the way people talk about the homeless, have been evidently reflected in the media coverage and people’s online discussion about our photos.
Up until now, the project has generated over € 50K donations in total for fiftyfifty. Brands such as Lufthansa Insurance started to purchase images from the collection for commercial uses. The number is still climbing, with stock photography as a constant fundraising tool over the long term.
On the other hand, the awareness of Getty Images as a brand striving to shape perceptions and move the world with powerful imagery has also remarkably gone up among the general public.