CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE

TitleCHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
BrandEUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Product/ServiceEUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTION
Category A01. Fiction & Non-Fiction Films up to 5 minutes
Entrant &CO Copenhagen, DENMARK
Idea Creation &CO Copenhagen, DENMARK
Media Placement OGILVY & SOCIAL.LAB BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Production NEW LAND Copenhagen, DENMARK
Production 2 ACADEMY FILMS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Thomas Hoffmann &Co. / NoA Creative Director
Rune Petersen &Co. / NoA Art Director
Johan Køhler &Co. / NoA Copywriter
Frédéric Planchon new-land Director
Melodie Preel new-land Director Of Photography

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

Primarily driven by a long format film on social media, the campaign succeeded in being one of the factors behind the first ever rise in voter turnout since the first elections to the European parliament in 1979. The film turned culture into content and turned the content back into voting behavior. It connected with voters in a new way, and 44% of Europeans recall the campaign. Europeans who recall the campaign had a 24% higher voting turnout. The overall voting turnout in the European Elections increased by 19% to a 20-year high.

Background

Situation: Voter turnout had been declining since the very first European Elections in 1979 and hit a low point in 2014 with only 42,5 % showing up to vote. Brief: The role of this campaign was to make Europeans stand together and vote in the 2019 European Elections. With Brexit, the rise of fake news, populism, and nationalism, the European project felt fragile in the time leading up to the elections. Commissioned by the Parliament the brief was not to create a political campaign about who and what to vote for, but a democratic campaign about why we (should) vote. Objectives: Engage Europeans in the 2019 European Elections. The ambition was a 360º campaign with TV, social media and press, but taking the huge and diverse target group of 400 million eligible European voters into consideration, the means were limited. Most of the exposure had to be earned.

Describe the creative idea

From the second we come into this world, we’re in it together. Democracy should unite us, but politics often divide us. We tend to forget all the things we have in common. We needed a message of hope, and the biggest act of hope and will to believe in a better future is a child’s birth. So, we filmed the intense and raw beauty of new Europeans being born, across Europe, right before the elections. In total, 15 real births were filmed across four European countries. In a world where public breastfeeding is still an issue sometimes, live births in an official EU film is a big statement. The campaign consisted of radio, print, outdoor, press etc. But the main content was a long-format online-film, and with a huge and diverse target group of 400 million eligible European voters, the film had to be impactful. Exposure had to be earned.

Describe the strategy

A survey revealed that 80 % of Europeans believe that what unites Europe is more important than what separates us. But it also showed that many have worries or doubt regarding the future of Europe. Climate change, migration, terrorism and many more global issues makes the future feel uncertain. The strategy was to give a positive perspective for the future, even with the huge challenges we face globally, because the European Union is our hope for tackling these problems together. The target group was the 400 million eligible European voters, so most exposure had to be earned.

Describe the execution

Leading up to the 2019 elections, paid, owned and earned media amplified each other. With a target group of 400 million eligible voters it was vital to combine Television, Cinema, Print, press, and social media. An ambitious ground game with thousands of partners and volunteers were orchestrated to support the campaign across Europe. Within a matter of weeks, the campaign film generated more than 135 million views on social media alone and 600.000 interactions (shares, comments, likes). 1200 cinemas contributed and showed the film. 84 national tv-channels aired a tv-version more than 2500 times altogether (plus the coverage by regional channels). The biggest medias in Europe did editorial coverage on the campaign (Forbes, Guardian, Spiegel, Le Figaro, Bild, Politico, Le Monde and many, many more), and it became the object of news and panel discussions on many of Europe’s biggest tv-channels.

Describe the outcome

The campaign earned €9.466.667 in media exposure (OTS 3.44 billion) 44% of Europeans recall the campaign, and 27% specifically saw the campaign film prior to voting. And while voter turnout never comes down to one or even a few deciding factors, the campaign messages had a clear impact on voter turnout. Europeans who recall the campaign had a 24% higher voting turnout. Europeans who specifically saw the campaign film prior to voting had a 28% higher voting turnout. And the overall voting turnout in the European Elections increased for the first time since the very first elections in 1979. Voter turnout increased by 19% to a 20-year high. (An 8,5 points increase from 42,5% in 2014 to 51% in 2019).