Title	SISTERNA TAVERNA: THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO CAFÉ
Brand	THE NORWEGIAN DIRECTORATE FOR CIVIL PROTECTION (DSB)
Product/Service	ADVICE ON SELF-PREPAREDNESS
Category	D02. Use of Events & Stunts
Entrant	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY
Idea Creation	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY
Media Placement	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY
PR	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY
Production	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY
Post Production	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY
Additional Company	THE NORWEGIAN DIRECTORATE FOR CIVIL PROTECTION (DSB) Tønsberg, NORWAY

Name	Company	Position
Ole Henrik Stubberud	Geelmuyden Kiese	Creative Director
Trygve Andreas Tønnessen	Geelmuyden Kiese	Senior Creative
Ingvild Selliaas	Geelmuyden Kiese	Art Director
Katinka Grundseth	Geelmuyden Kiese	Account Executive
Trine Bøe Jakobsen	Geelmuyden Kiese	Account Manager
Anette Sandbu	Geelmuyden Kiese	Agency Producer
Sigbjørn Holte	Geelmuyden Kiese	Director
Stine Hope	Geelmuyden Kiese	Production Manager
Paal Nygård	Geelmuyden Kiese	Digital Advisor
Julian Bach	Geelmuyden Kiese	Production Assistant
Pål Rønnevik	Geelmuyden Kiese	Director Of Photography
Simen Fornes	Geelmuyden Kiese	Scenographer

Why is this work relevant for PR?

The Norwegian authorities have for long been urging the population to improve their self-preparedness and especially the need to store 9 litres of water per person. Still, many have no emergency water at home. Through the Sisterna Taverna we created attention and highlighted this issue, succeeding particularly in reaching out through PR. Among others, the second largest radio show, “Norgesglasset”, devoted an entire broadcast to the theme and sent directly from the café – and one of the largest newspapers in Norway, Dagbladet, had both a webTV-segment from this café, as well as feature articles for online and print.

Background

The Norwegian directorate for civil protection (DSB) is responsible for a complete overview of risks and vulnerability in Norway. In2019, they were to communicate the need for self-preparedness in the population, focusing particularly on water. The authorities have for long been urging everyone to store 9 litres of water per person. This is enough for three days of drinking and cooking if the water in the tap is lost or contaminated. Still, many people have no emergency water at home. We were challenged to come up with an idea/campaign that highlighted this issue – and get more people to reflect and ultimately store water. So, what at worst are the consequences of a lack of self-preparedness – and lack of water in particular? And how could we talk about it without scaring people? Because the last thing the client wants, is to contribute to creating fear or mass-hysteria.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We decided to expose people to the worst-case-scenario: If you fail to store any emergency water at all, you're stuck with whatever you have at home at that given time. But one of the few places where there will always be at least some water, is in the toilet cistern. So, to create awareness and to get people to reflect on water storage, we developed the coffee shop “Sisterna Taverna” – a café looking like a 1990's bathroom. At this café all was made and brewed by water tapped directly from on-site toilet cisterns. The water was boiled and therefore safe – but was this something people would like to drink?

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Having a limited media budget, and the whole Norwegian population (with a focus on the ones being responsible for a household) as our target group, we knew that we could not rely on reaching out through paid advertising. We needed to create an idea that got the media interested in the topic, and presented in a new and exciting way. Being long before the pandemic, everyone had a feeling that living in Norway was safe and protected – and this was the overall impression through media as well. But even in Norway we should be prepared for rough weather, major incidents and attacks to hit us. By presenting people, and the media, with a worst-case scenario in a way that wasn't scare mongering, we wanted to come across with our main message: If you fail to store water and a crisis occurs, you're stuck with whatever you have at home.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

The Sisterna Taverna was constructed on site and was an actual functioning pop-up café at one of Oslo's largest shopping centers for almost a week. We created a visual profile for the shop, complete with custom cups, stickers and uniforms. The café even had custom-made bar-stools constructed from old toilet seats. We hired and trained staff to be – first and foremost – café workers, but also trustworthy bearers of the message, being able to answer all questions the audience might have around water storage and self-preparedness. Being the main element of the campaign, we of course documented the Sisterna Taverna on film so that we could spread the content to the rest of the population. And of course, we invited the media to visit this worst-case scenario café.

List the results (30% of vote)

The Sisterna Taverna attracted the attention we were hoping for, particularly in the media. Among others, the second largest radio show, “Norgesglasset”, devoted an entire broadcast to the theme and sent directly from the café – and one of the largest newspapers in Norway, Dagbladet, had both a webTV-segment from the café, as well as feature articles for online and print. And this was just a few of the media outputs the event created. The café in itself was visited by hundreds of people during the days it was present, and the film from the event was seen by more than 1 million people (1 018 000). Also, the informational content films experienced very good traction among the population, being exposed to over 1,8 million and almost 950 000 people watched at least one of the films – and more than 2000 people actually stored a video for later – even after watching it once. The campaign lead to a significant increase in how the amount of people in the population that are aware of the Governmental advice for self-preparedness, from 65% % to 71%. Also, post-tests show that as much as 51% of the population had read, seen or heard recommendations for self-preparedness during the campaign period.

Describe the effectiveness of the PR campaign

The campaign lead to a significant increase in how the amount of people in the population that are aware of the Governmental advice for self-preparedness, from 65% % to 71%. Also, post-tests show that as much as 51% of the population had read, seen or heard recommendations for self-preparedness during the campaign period, far better than what the client had experienced on similar campaigns.