Title	LIFEBOAT - THE EXPERIMENT
Brand	SEA-WATCH E.V.
Product/Service	HUMANITARIAN HELP
Category	G04. Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight
Entrant	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Idea Creation	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Media Placement	MEDIAPLUS Munich, GERMANY
PR	ACHTUNG! Hamburg, GERMANY
Production	MARKENFILM Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 2	NHB Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company	PLAN.NET Munich, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Alexander Schill	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Global Chief Creative Officer
Michael Wilk	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Executive Creative Director
Maximilian Florian Schoengen	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Global Creative Strategist
Dennis Fritz	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Head of Editing, Head of Motiondesign
Anton Reim	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Junior Motion Designer
Markus Maczey	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Creative Managing Director
Simone Herrmann	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Managing Assistant
Jochen Lenhardt	MEDIAPLUS	Managing Partner
Philipp von Mauch	Freelance	Developer, Screendesigner
Skye Fitzgerald	Spin Films	Director
Felix Tonnat	Freelance	Director Of Photography
Acki Heldens	Markenfilm Hamburg	Executive Producer
Daniel Farkas	Markenfilm Hamburg	Creative Producer/2nd unit Director
Ole Bernhardi	Markenfilm Hamburg	Assistant Producer
Adnen Abdallah	Markenfilm Hamburg	Setdesign
Steve Thompson	Markenfilm Hamburg	Lighting
Sabine Jankowski	Freelance	Camera Operator
Fabian Klein	Freelance	Camera Operator
Martina Di Lorenzo	Freelance	Camera Operator
Leonard Lokai	Freelance	Camera Operator
Mike Schmidt	Freelance	Sound Engineer Experiment
Thomas Keller	Freelance	Sound Engineer Interviews
Julien von Schultzendorff	nhbNEXT	Grading
Mike Friedland	nhbNEXT	Grading
Katharina Schoelzel	achtung!	Junior Account Manager
Katharina Bittner	achtung!	Account Director
Tina Vogt	Vogt Casting	Casting
Kathrin Heinemann	SPARK	Managing Director
Michael Seidler	Michael Seidler Photography	Photographer
Florian Zwinge	Freelance	Art Director

Why is this work relevant for Media?

“LIFEBOAT - the experiment” is a one of it’s kind experience. To regain awareness and media coverage for the refugee crisis on the Mediterranean Sea and rescue organization Sea-watch we invited journalists of Germanys biggest Newspaper and selected influencers to participate in a simulation to experience only a fragment of what it really takes to cross the Mediterranean. Later they were confronted with the real stories to understand the bigger picture. By putting media partners literally onto this journey they became catalysts for our message stressing the importance of our society to act.

Background

Sea-Watch is a non-profit organization conducting civil search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The organization acts politically and religiously independent. Since 2014 Sea-Watch participated in saving over 37.000 lives. While the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean along the world’s deadliest border continuous, its media coverage decreased heavily. The topic simply lost its „news-value“ and with it Sea-watch’s vision and ongoing efforts fall silent.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

To regain awareness for Sea-Watch and the ongoing refugee crisis we set up a one-of-it’s kind PR Stunt. Based on the emotional stories of five refugees we set up a simulation to let a group of Germans develop emotions of stress, anxiety and experiences that are somewhat similar but only a fragment of a real escape over the Mediterranean. 40 voluntary participants represented the German society in age, gender and profession. Psychologically this change of perspective created 40 new faces to feel empathy for and to identify with. All experiences were captured in the documentary-short of the simulation “LIFEBOAT- The experiment“. A holistic campaign including off- and online media touch points as well as selected influencer drove traffic to our campaign website www.lifeboatexperiment.org. Here we invite people to inform, understand and feel the torture of each individual journey renewing the public debate and sparking a mindshift in society.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The refugee crisis in the Mediterranean along the world’s deadliest border unfortunatly lost its news-value and with it, Sea-watch’s vision and ongoing efforts fall silent. When Sea-watch wanted the story to be heard again, the story need to be told by someone, the European society listens to. Likeminded and from the own cultural background and ethnicity. 5 Refugees who survived told their story of their induvidual escape. On the basis of their stories we let 40 Europeans experience in a simulation only a fragment of what it really feels like to cross the Mediterranean. Thereby the participants of the experiment told the story of the refugees. A German proxy for a refugee’s story. Further the participants represented the German society in age, gender and profession to maximize the potential for the viewers identification. A psychological trick: A change of perspective driving a mindshift in society.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

To make the refugee crisis a globally recognized problem again, we brought it closer; geographically and emotionally. Based on first hand experiences of five refugees who survived, we set up a simulation attempting to remodel all conditions of a real escape. Darkness, waves, stress, anxiety, uncertainty simulated in a wave-pool of a maritime training center in North Germany. All emotions and experiences were captured under very controlled circumstances by Oscar-nominated Director Skye Fitzgerald in the documentary-short “LIFEBOAT – The experiment”. The documentary was hosted on a mobile-optimized website, spread across all channels by selected political influencer and classical media. To guarantee an initial spark of the conversation we invited a journalist of the biggest German newspaper to participate in the experiment. Facebook and Instagram Stories made it a trending topic online so that the issue got picked up internationally across the globe.

List the results (30% of vote)

More than just a simulation „LIFEBOAT - The experiment“ is a game changer for a NGO reaching out for global awareness & regaining media coverage. The experiment instantly became world news. After being covered by all major German news-channels international press from China to Canada picked it up, reaching half a billion people, trippling traffic to website and increased Brand interaction by 310%. But most importantly, with +1100 articles published, we gave people who suffer a voice to be heard again. Facebook, Instagram and twitter made it a trending topic online sparking an ongoing dialogue. All without spending a single euro in media.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and / or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

The refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea was a largely discussed topic in 2014. It separated Germany into two main groups: one pro-refugees and the right ring party being absolutely against them. While the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean along the world’s deadliest border continuous, its media coverage decreased heavily. The topic simply lost its „news-value“ and with it Sea-watch’s vision and ongoing efforts fell silent. Language is revolution. If we were to turn the tide, the conversation must go on. “LIFEBOAT – The experiment” re-creates a momentum and stresses the fact that the ongoing refugee crisis is not a single countries problem, but one that concerns all of Europe. The campaign generated a mindshift in society by re-enabling access to the most human of our feelings: Empathy.