2021 Social & Influencer

NOW'S THE TIME TO STARE

TitleNOW'S THE TIME TO STARE
BrandPARALYMPIC TEAM BELGIUM
Product/ServiceORGANISATION IN BELGIUM FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Category A06. Not-for-profit / Charity / Government
Entrant MUTANT Antwerp, BELGIUM
Idea Creation MUTANT Antwerp, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Odin Saillé Mutant Creative Director
Maarten De Cuyper Mutant Business Director
Johan Van Oeckel Mutant Art Director
Sven Van Hooydonck Mutant Copywriter
Olaf Meuleman Mutant Copywriter
Alex Noten Mutant Art Director
Auke Moonen Mutant Copywriter
Axelle Delboo Mutant Creation
Mona Demyttenaere Mutant Creation
Emilie Kino Mutant Account Director
Innie Tran Mutant Account Manager
Sophie M'Sallem Mutant Client Manager
Gijs Polspoel Roses are blue Director
Robbe Demuynck Roses are blue Executive Producer
Maximiliaan Dierickx Roses are blue DOP & colour correction
Allard Zoetman Roses are blue Editor
Birger Platteeuw Roses are blue VFX
Gregory Caron Roses are blue Sound
Catherine Vaes Roses are blue Head of production
Jeroen Van de Broek Roses are blue Producer
Camille Cieters Roses are blue Producer

Why is this work relevant for Social & Influencer?

This campaign has social & influencer thinking at the heart of it. It starts with our social video, featuring paralympic athletes (our influencers) being stared at in the streets. But, we claim, when they perform in sports, few people watch. For privacy reasons we had to hide the faces of the people who were staring. We did that with the googly emoji-eyes, which are found on every smartphone keyboard. Then, we turned these eyes into a symbol of support. A funny, supersimple, deadeasy and very visual way to show your support made it the perfect social tool.

Background

The Belgian Paralympian Team was in full preparation for the Paralympic Games which took place in the summer of 2021, in Tokyo. And while there was a lot of support for our Olympic athletes, there was much less anticipation for our Paralympic athletes. But these athletes deserve just as much support and encouragement. Our campaign had to draw attention to the fact that the Paralympic Games were coming, and that our athletes needed the public’s support during these games. That is why we launched 'Now is the time to stare', a call to stare at our athletes at their moment of glory, when they were trying to win gold.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Although there is a lot of respect and recognition for disabled people, many of us tend to stare at them. When we see someone with a prosthetic leg or one arm, we stare. This is a regrettable social issue that all people with disabilities are also confronted with. But when these same people perform in sports, even on the highest level, hardly anyone watches. We started with this simple, human insight and built our campaign around. With a thought-provoking social video where we showed how people stare at disabled people in the streets. To cover the faces of the staring people, we used the emoji eyes, which can be found on any smartphone. Then, we turned these eyes into a symbol of support. We invited everyone to stare along, and show their support using those same eyes on their own social media. And people did, massively.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Although the main goal of the campaign was to make people support and watch the Belgian Paralympic athletes in Tokyo 2021, we decided to take a broader starting point: a social issue that all people with disabilities are confronted with, not just athletes. The fact that they are often stared at in the streets. This way we made the campaign more socially relevant, since it’s a topic a very large audience can relate with. After we launched this statement, we wanted to give anyone a chance to show their support with a simple, social tool. We did that with the googly emoji-eyes, which are found on every smartphone keyboard. Then, we turned these eyes into a symbol of support. A funny, supersimple, deadeasy and very visual way to show your support made it the perfect social tool.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We started our campaign with a hidden camera video that was specifically designed to start a discussion: a film about a social issue that disabled people are confronted with every day: being stared at in the streets. It featured our paralympic athletes walking around in the streets. We seeded it to journalists and invited them to interview our disabled athletes. This was followed by a tv and print campaign. The third element was a digital activation: a call to action to stare along. We invited everyone to use the emoji eyes on their own pictures on social media, to show their support. Politicians, celebrities and other brands joined in massively.

List the results (30% of vote)

The hidden camera video was picked and discussed by almost all major news outlets in Belgium, generating more than €1.375.000 worth of media. Our athletes were invited to talk about the issue and the upcoming Paralympic games on 5 different national radio stations. As a result, the campaign was spontaneously supported by numerous influencers, politicians and Olympic athletes, generating millions of impressions on social media like Facebook, Instagram, twitter, Linkedin… The campaign tool, the emoji eyes, was also used by all sponsors of the Paralympic team in their own communication, giving it an enormous national visibility. Paralympic athletes claimed they have never felt so supported for a big tournament like for the 2021 Paralympic Games. This year’s Paralympic games became the most viewed edition ever. +174% unique viewers vs Rio Paralympics 2016. There was also 94% more press coverage about the Paralympics in general vs Rio Paralympics 2016.