AWARD WINNING PR CAMPAIGNS

AWARD
WINNING
WORK
Learn from
Cannes Lions, CLIO and D&AD for your PR Work
Petra Sammer | 2017

1. CANNES
LIONS
Focus
on the idea
THE MOST
PRESTIGIOUS
AWARDS ON
CREATIVITY
WORLDWIDE
2. CLIO
AWARDS
Focus on a
unique brand
experience
3. D&AD
AWARDS
Focus on the beauty
and execution

1
Cannes
PR Lion Winners
2013 - 2017

DUMB WAYS
TO DIE
Grand Prix
Cannes PR Lion 2013
Client: Metro Trains Melbourne
Agency: McCann
Click for Case Video

Accidents and deaths among young people on Melbourne’s Metro
train system had been on the rise for years. But young people
don’t listen to public safety messages. We needed to make train
safety part of the conversation amongst 13-25 year olds.
The strategy was to throw a hand grenade into the world of PSA
messaging. To be so deliberately different to the norm, we
couldn’t help but create a conversation around the message.
We wrote a song called Dumb Ways to Die, created a music video
for it, and attributed it to an artist that didn’t exist: Tangerine Kitty.
We uploaded the video onto YouTube and the song onto iTunes.
Within a week it had been viewed 20 million times and covered on
every news service in Australia. Within a month, it had captured
the world’s attention so effectively, it made it into Google’s 2012
Zeitgeist.
CAMPAIGN
DESCRIPTION

Reduce train related accidents in key
accident areas by 10% over 12 months.
Generate campaign awareness of 25% within
12 months amongst the core target.
CLIENT BRIEF OR
OBJECTIVE

For the three months post-launch, Metro has experienced a 21%
reduction in accidents and deaths compared to the same time last
year. The goal was 10%. In post-testing, 39% of our core
audience said they would act safer around trains.
Campaign awareness amongst our core audience 46% after one
month. The goal was 25% after one year. The video has 44 million
YouTube views and rising. It also has huge levels of engagement,
with 450,000 likes and 11,000 dislikes.
Dumb Ways to Die is the most shared public service campaign in
history, with 3 million + Facebook shares and 2,000+ blog posts.
The song charted on iTunes in 28 countries and is still getting
airplay on radio stations worldwide. 155 days after launch, the
campaign is still being shared on Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram more than 2,500 times every day. Reported by over
750 global news sites. Earned media US $60m and rising.
EFFECTIVENESS

EXECUTION
We wrote a song called Dumb Ways to Die, created a
music video for it, and attributed it to an artist that didn’t
exist: Tangerine Kitty. We uploaded the video onto
YouTube and the song onto iTunes.
Within a week it had been viewed 20 million times and
covered on every news service in Australia. People
wanted to know who Tangerine Kitty was, but we
wouldn’t say. This added fuel to the fire. Even Billboard
was after us.
Over the next week we launched 21 animated gifs which
quickly became tens of thousands of memes and
avatars. We launched a karaoke version of the video to
encourage parodies and covers. Over 200 were made
inside of a month. Schools started using our campaign
material to educate their students, so we quickly
produced a 64 page book for use in the classroom. After
a month, we had far exceeded every goal we’d been set.

Accidents and deaths among young people on Melbourne’s Metro
train system had been on the rise for years. The problem is,
young people don’t listen to public safety messages – especially
when they come from authorities. Despite Metro’s best intentions,
all their safety messaging was effectively invisible. We needed to
make train safety part of the conversation amongst 13-25 year
olds, and a traditional approach clearly wouldn’t work.
RELEVANCY
STRATEGY
The strategy was to break every single rule of public safety
messaging we could find. To be so deliberately different to the
norm, it couldn't help but create a conversation around the
message. To engage teens and young adults, our message had to
have a strong WTF/OMG factor. It had to feel like it was coming
from a peer, not from an authority. It had to be content, not
advertising focused. And it had to be housed on social platforms
that encouraged peer-to-peer sharing. In short, our strategy was
to throw a hand grenade into the world of PSA messaging.

 Disruptive approach
 Music as key momentum for engagement
 360° integrated campaign
 Investment in creation of outstanding
content
 Sparking a real and relevant conversation
 Generating strong “business“ results
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

SCARECROW
Grand Prix
Cannes PR Lion 2014
Client: Chipotle
Agency: Edelman

Chipotle is known for its great tasting food, but few know that Chipotle
has radically impacted the fast food industry and the food system.
Believing that the more people know about the company, the more they
will become passionate and loyal customers, Chipotle wanted to tell this
story.
The result was a content-driven marketing platform, “Cultivate a Better
World," designed to emotionally engage customers in Chipotle's journey
to create a sustainable future. As a continuation of the Cultivate platform,
“The Scarecrow” is entertainment created to draw attention to food
issues while engaging consumers about these complex concepts in an
entertaining, memorable and shareable way.
“The Scarecrow,” is an arcade-style adventure game for iPhone, iPad
and iPod touch, with a companion animated short film of the same
name. Both the game and the film depict a scarecrow’s journey to bring
wholesome food back to the people by providing an alternative to the
processed food that dominates his world. The game is available for free
download in the Apple App Store.
Players of the game who completed one star in each of the worlds were
awarded with Chipotle food in the form of a mobile coupon delivered
immediately to their devices. The short is set to a remake of the song
“Pure Imagination” from the 1971 film classic “Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory,” performed by Grammy Award-winning artist, Fiona
Apple.
CAMPAIGN DESCRIPTION

• Raise awareness of The Scarecrow experience, generating
game downloads, video views, and game player retention,
proving consumer engagement was successful.
• Establish Chipotle as a thought leader around food issues and
raise awareness of the company’s sustainable, ethical business
practices, or their commitment to “Cultivate A Better World.”
• Audience: The campaign targets fans across a myriad of
categories – food, music, film, animation, gaming, technology,
marketing, design, etc.
CLIENT BRIEF OR
OBJECTIVE & GOALS

The Scarecrow franchise has created a conversation about food
in popular culture generating over 614 million media impressions,
from hundreds of stories including The New York Times and USA
Today. Columns in The New Yorker, LA Times, and others
featured educated arguments about food issues by influential
farmers, sustainability advocates, and consumers.
Since its launch, the film has generated over 12.5 million YouTube
views. Over 650,000 have downloaded the game, playing an
average session of 5 minutes. The song debuted #32 on
Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart and has been purchased over
13,000 times on iTunes.
In its first month, The Scarecrow franchise sparked 18.4 million
conversations across 17 social platforms with a 92.7 social
sentiment score and, for the first time, made Chipotle the top
social brand, replacing Taco Bell, on the Restaurant Social Media
Index Top 250 list. Twitter impressions totaled 126,782,322 in the
two months following the launch.
EFFECTIVENESS

The film became a trending video on
YouTube, as the game was featured as
an Editor’s Choice on the iOS App Store
at launch. The song was distributed on
iTunes and promoted by PR, social
media, mobile ads, and across
Chipotle’s owned assets (Chipotle.com,
etc.) The film was also the opening
cinematic for The Scarecrow mobile
game, which has been downloaded over
650,000 times in North America.
Later, in the rollout of the Scarecrow, a
multi-faceted digital campaign was
initiated to increase the viewership,
including targeted search, paid YouTube
views, and leveraging the YouTube
video in mobile games across iOS
devices.
EXECUTION
The Scarecrow film was launched on YouTube with no paid media for
its first four weeks. Solely promoted through PR, starting with a USA
Today exclusive and earned social media, the Scarecrow generated
over 7 million views.

Chipotle was started with the notion that food could be served fast
without becoming a typical fast food experience. Since its
inception more than 20 years ago, Chipotle has developed a deep
commitment to finding delicious ingredients that are raised
responsibly with respect to the farmers, the animals, and the
environment. As part of Chipotle's mission to change the way
people think about and eat fast food, they have focused much of
their marketing on helping consumers understand where food
comes from and how it's prepared, and encouraging conversation
about the food system.
RELEVANCY

STRATEGY
The Scarecrow was the lead asset of a PR campaign designed to
reach consumers across the nation with a message that forces
them to consider the source of their food.
The PR team sought to secure an exclusive story to build buzz
and drive further coverage. In media outreach, the team
showcased Chipotle’s decision to minimize branding, driving
maximum engagement in the video game’s educational content,
an evolution of the brand’s unique marketing through storytelling
strategy.
Communication also positioned the film as a catalyst for
conversation about food issues such as industrial farming and
food production, and encouraged people to be more curious about
where their food comes from.

 Strong Storytelling
 Gamification & Music
 Investment in creation of outstanding
content
 Sparking a real and relevant conversation
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

LIKE A GIRL
Grand Prix
Cannes PR Lion 2015
Client: Always
Agency: Leo Burnett

Despite a 30-year commitment to empowering girls through puberty
education, including a UN initiative, P&G's Always’ brand purpose wasn't
cutting through to a new consumer generation: the brand was still talking
about pads. While Always historically focused on confidence based on
superior product performance, the new path to relevancy was to build a
fresh understanding of confidence while remaining authentic to the
brand. The opportunity was to reinterpret confidence so that it would
become part of a girl's existing conversation.
Our insight was that at puberty, a girl’s confidence drops significantly:
more than half of women claimed they experienced this decline.
Empowering girls during puberty when their confidence is lowest would
give the brand the relevant and purposeful role it needed. Always
charged its agency partners with creating a global campaign to drive an
emotional brand connection.
Based on a powerful insight informed by research, the team centered on
a bold PR idea — a provocative social experiment. The resulting video
recording transformed "Like A Girl" from an insult to a meaningful
statement about confidence. The #LikeAGirl integrated campaign
launched in 20 different markets, achieved broad awareness in reaching
half the world's population. Earned media and influencer strategies
helped #LikeAGirl become the #1 viral video in the world. The campaign
lifted Always brand equity, scored 96% positive sentiment, and increased
purchase intent by 92%. It led to a monumental shift in the conversation
that turned "Like A Girl" into an inspiring statement and part of the
cultural lexicon around the world.

Objectives: Drive emotional brand connection and brand salience/purchase
intent.
Executional Goals: Achieve an impactful launch for the video with specific
reach/sharing goals of 2 million video views and 250 million media
impressions.
Research: Research Now was engaged to understand confidence at puberty
and help define an insight to shape the campaign:
• 56% of girls claimed drop in confidence at puberty.
• Lowest confidence moments — at start of puberty/first period — leave a
lasting effect.
• 89% of females (16-24) think words are harmful to girls. Insults like "like a
girl" cast lifelong doubt on how powerful a girl can be.
CLIENT BRIEF OR
OBJECTIVE

EFFECTIVENESS
Our social experiment not only far surpassed the business expectations but
sparked a monumental shift in the conversation:
Output/Awareness:
• 85MM video views on YouTube
• 4.58B media impressions/150 countries, reaching half the world's population
• 758.9MM social mentions for #LikeAGirl
• Top-tier online media coverage--BBC, Huffington Post, Mashable, BuzzFeed
• Spot: #1/AdWeek, #2/AdAge
• Trended on Facebook during launch
Knowledge/Consideration:
• 81% of women 16-24 support Always in reclaiming “like a girl” as an inspiring
statement
• 96% overall positive sentiment (emotional brand connection)
• 92% increase in purchase intent (salience)
• P&G/Always were lauded across all media; the campaign was popularly
supported/endorsed by celebrities around the world
Action/Business Impact:
• Twitter followers increased 195.3%
• 1.5MM+ video shares; 35,000 comments, 13% user-generated content
• With research showing broad campaign appeal, Always asked
girls/boys/women/men to join the movement at the Super Bowl. #LikeAGirl
dominated SB news cycle with 5.2B new impressions and 3.4MM additional
organic video views, trending nationally on Twitter/Facebook.

EXECUTION
Our strategic approach centered on tangible data and an
influencer/media strategy.
RESEARCH
Leveraged
insights/data from
research study to
bolster campaign
credibility, news value,
content and
messaging.
HASHTAG
Introduced a social
hashtag #LikeAGirl as
a rallying cry so girls
could let the world
know the inspiring
things they were doing
“Like A Girl."
VIDEO
LAUNCH
Seeded video with
influencers/bloggers/m
edia before it was
placed on YouTube to
help spark viral word-
of-mouth and fuel
launch media coverage.
An exclusive in AdAge
announced the video.
MEDIA
OUTREACH
Leveraged a surge of
female empowerment
movements in
outreach. Combined
with influencer seeding,
the approach ensured
robust coverage across
traditional/social
categories.
CELEBRITIES
Engaged Vanessa
Hudgens/Bella Thorne/
Jordin Sparks /Jasmine
V to post tweets on the
campaign. These
sparked additional
tweets from Sarah
Silverman/ Tyler
Oakley/ Maria
Shriver/Cher/ Kristen
Bell/ Chelsea Clinton/
Melinda Gates.
REAL-TIME
NEWS DESK
Monitored/engaged
with #LikeAGirl
conversations to
amplify social sharing.

In 2013, Always, the P&G feminine care brand was global
category leader, but its biggest competitor was gaining traction by
connecting with millennial girls in a more emotional way. Despite
a 30-year commitment to empowering girls through puberty
education, including a UN initiative, Always’ brand purpose wasn't
apparent to the new generation of consumers: the brand was still
talking about pads. To secure its future, Always needed to better
connect with the next generation of consumers. Historically,
Always focused on confidence based on superior product
performance; the opportunity was to build a more meaningful
understanding of confidence.
RELEVANCY

STRATEGY
Target Audience: To create a change in the social
understanding of girls at puberty, Always enlisted millennial
women (connected, could relate, want to make a
difference). Always sought to inspire a movement to change
"Like A Girl" from an insult to mean downright amazing
things.
This idea was brought to life through a social experiment to
show the impact the phrase had on society – especially on
girls pre- and post-puberty. The result was a video that
captured how people of all ages interpret the phrase
produced by award-winning documentarian/director Lauren
Greenfield.
The interviews showed that somewhere between puberty
and adulthood, women internalized the phrase to mean
weakness and vanity, but also how some encouragement
can help change girls’ perceptions of what it means to
proudly do things like a girl.

 Strong insight (based on long-term research)
 Compelling visualization of insight (“show, don´t
tell”)
 Investment in news engine and media/seeding
 PR in the lead of whole communications program:
“News Engine Approach”
 Sparked a real and relevant conversation
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

THE ORGANIC
EFFECT
Grand Prix
Cannes PR Lion 2016
Client: COOP Sweden
Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors

Several scientific studies had shown that if you
eat conventional food, you have a number of
different pesticides in your body – and that if
you switch to organic food, the pesticides
disappear within days. Very few consumers
knew about this.
(Who'd tell them? Almost all food companies,
and governments, are more or less invested in
the conventional model of farming.)
So Coop conducted their own study,
and filmed it.
CAMPAIGN
DESCRIPTION

EXECUTION
With the help of IVL, the Swedish Environmental
Research Institute, Coop conducted an experiment with
an ordinary family, the Palmbergs. The experiment was
documented in a scientific report and a more sharable
90 second film.
The report from IVL was important for credibility in
contacts with news media, and contributed to the
extensive coverage, beginning with the family appearing
as guests on Sweden's biggest morning TV show. But
the film was of course the centerpiece of the campaign.
And a massive international grass roots movement, built
by pinpointing individuals and organizations with a
passion for organic food, helped it go viral.
In Sweden, as expected, the campaign made many in
the food industry angry. But the criticism gave Coop an
opportunity to take a public stand for consumers' right to
know what they're eating.

The film has been viewed more than 40 million times
on YouTube and Facebook, generating news
coverage, blog articles and social media posts with a
total reach of more than 2 billion. 88 % of social media
mentions have been favourable. In Sweden a survey
showed that 57 % of those who had seen the film said
it would make them buy more organic. Sales of organic
food increased by 50 % over the period during which
the film was released. The share of consumers who
say they prefer shopping at Coop increased by 14 %.
And Coop had their best year financially in 23 years.
OUTCOME

The entire campaign was PR driven. From the recruiting of the
family to their appearance as guests on Sweden’s biggest TV
morning show. From the activation of a global grassroots
movement to Coop's response when, as expected, some in the
food industry attacked the campaign.
RELEVANCY

SYNOPSIS
Coop, once the biggest supermarket chain in Sweden, had
steadily lost market share for two decades. And now their
competitors were catching up in the one area where Coop had
dominated – organic food. They needed to re-establish their
leadership on organic food. And they needed to reignite their
brand.

The key insight was that most people aren't willing to pay more for
a product because it's better for the environment. (Although many
of them are willing to pay more for a product that they perceive to
be of higher quality, or healthier.) And surveys showed that
organic food was still associated more with "good for the
environment" than with "good for me".
So Coop decided to communicate something that no other food
company had dared talk about: The fact that if you eat
conventional food, you have a number of different pesticides in
your body – and that if you switch to organic food, the pesticides
disappear within days. This is important information, especially for
Coop's target audience, families with kids, considering more and
more research indicates health risks for growing children.
STRATEGY

 Changing and challenging the agenda of a
recent conversation
 Simple and clear visualization
 Generating strong business results
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

Cannes
PR Lion entry
principles 2017
The PR Lions celebrate
creative work which success-
fully builds trust and cultivates
relationships with credible third-
parties, utilising mainly earned-media
tactics or channels to influence public
dialogue and ultimately change perceptions
and behaviours in ways that protect and enhance
the reputation and business of an organisation or brand
with its target audiences.
OUTLOOK

2
CLIO PR Award
Winners
2013 - 2017

BRIDGE
OF LIFE
CLIO PR 2013
Client: Samsung Life Insurance
Agency: Cheil Worldwide Seoul

South Korea has recorded the highest suicide rate in the OECD
for the eighth year running (OECD Health Data 2012). Over
15,000 commit suicide in just one year, which is an average of
43.5 deaths per day (2011 National Statistics Office). Suicides are
especially frequent near the bridges over the Han River in Seoul
and among the 23 bridges, the ‘Mapo Bridge’ has the highest
number of suicides. (Out of the 1090 suicides committed on a Han
River bridge, 17.2% - or 188 suicides - happened on the Mapo
Bridge)
In order to decrease the suicide rate on the Mapo Bridge, we
installed an innovative system on the railing. Because the widely
used infrared sensor system would react to wind, the vibrations of
passing cars, as well as heat from exhaust fumes, an art director
and a technical director collaborated to develop a sensor that
combined the infrared system with the ultrasonic sensor system,
with a $530,000 budget. This new type of sensor only reacts to
people walking on the bridge, and then lights up the railing. It has
been installed on the Mapo Bridge for over 6 months now, and the
City of Seoul and Samsung Life Insurance are planning to install it
on other bridges as well.

CLIENT BRIEF OR
OBJECTIVE
Our idea to stop and prevent the suicides on the Mapo Bridge was
not installing a physical device to hinder the suicides, but to create
an interactive bridge that would change the people’s minds through
communication and a human touch. Our intention was to have the
pedestrians keep reading the messages that were shown throughout
the 2.2km of the Mapo Bridge through the ‘Bridge of Life’ installation,
and eventually walk all the way to the other end without realizing it.

Currently, we are planning for additional installations on other
bridges over the Han river, in hopes that it will help decrease the
suicide rate in Seoul, as well as in the nation of Korea in the long
run. We hope that this technology can be applied to bridges with a
high suicide rate around the world. But primarily, this innovative
technology has helped decrease the suicide rate on the Mapo
Bridge by 77%, and if even just one life can be saved through this
campaign, we believe in its meaning and value more than
anything. The Bridge of Life has received widespread national
coverage on TV and in newspapers with 177 reports, as well as
global coverage in 8 different media (Reuters, Voice of America,
China TV The Tokyo Times, etc.). About 11,000 posts about the
Mapo Bridge have been shared on social networks, of which 92%
are positive.
EFFECTIVENESS

EXECUTION
06/17/2011 Project start
12/19/2011 Developed first prototype
12/23/2011 Idea pitched to Samsung Life Insurance,
but turned down
01/29/2012 Contacted other clients
03/16/2012 Another pitch to Samsung Life Insurance,
infraded + ultrasonic sensor developed
04~06/2012 Consultations with the Seoul Citizens,
the Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster
Headquarters, the Seoul HQ for Security,
Management of Bridges Department,
the Hangang Project HQ, and the Ministry
of Culture, Tourism & Design
07/17/2012 Confirmed by Mayor of Seoul
08/2012 City of Seoul and Samsung Life Insurance
sign MOU
09/26/2012 Opening of ' Bridge of Life'

Prior to the installation, the annual death benefit through suicide
paid out by Samsung Life Insurance reached approximately 40
billion KRW (or 37 million USD), and was the No.1 reason for
payment, with over 10% of the total insurance amount. Since the
opening of the Bridge of Life on Sep 26th, 2012, until today (Mar
26th, 2013), the suicide rate has dropped by 77%.
RELEVANCY
STRATEGY
First, we installed sensors on the guardrails, so that when people
walked by, lights turned on according to their movements. On the
lighted rails appeared short messages, making it seem as if the
bridge was speaking to the passers-by. The 20 or so messages
that were shown were not warnings or teachings, but rather kind
words, comforting song lyrics, funny jokes, and other phrases that
would speak to the anxious and confused minds of those
attempting to end their lives..

 Cause related PR
 UBX (Useful brand experience)
 Great result
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

CLEVER BUOY
CLIO PR 2015
Client: Optus
Agency: Fuel Communications

Optus, Australia’s second largest telecommunications provider,
briefed us to find a new way to communicate the strength of their
network with the objective to improve consumer awareness and
brand perception. In response we saw an opportunity to solve a
genuine and topical issue surrounding Australia’s coastline
connecting the Optus network to something our audience were
passionate about.
Australia has four times more shark attacks than any other
country in the world and current methods to deter sharks hadn’t
changed in over 60 years. At the heart of Optus’ values is their
desirability to “improve people’s lives through technology” as they
position themselves to be the “ultimate wingmen” for Australians.
So we asked ourselves, could we use the Optus network to help
protect our beach goers and our sharks?
Clever Buoy is a smart ocean buoy that detects sharks and sends
instant alerts to lifeguards via the Optus digital network. By
providing a culturally relevant solution with the Optus Network at
its core, we created more than a marketing response, we created
a transformational utility that disrupted the traditional Telco
industry and received an overwhelming response towards the
brand. As we were launching a rapid prototype, earned media was
the most relevant channel to start the conversation and generate
awareness.

CLIENT BRIEF OR
OBJECTIVE
The goal was to shift the focus from the size of the Optus network, to
its amazing capabilities. Research revealed that the growing reliance
on data has led Australians to consider their mobile network as a
utility, ie. something that should just work. Couple this with the fact
that it was common knowledge the leader brand’s network coverage
was larger. But the perception was that it was much larger, even
though the difference was less than one percent. 85% of Australians
live within 50km of the coast. So this seemed like a logical place to
begin our start.

Beyond a traditional PR campaign, we created an ongoing
product, service and platform for our client – one that has not only
propelled the Optus brand into the mindset of consumers, but
could change beach safety forever.
(1) Combined Social & PR reach of over 40 million – with an 84%
positive sentiment towards the Optus brand.
(2) Featured in over 800 global news stories (200+ Broadcast),
including every commercial channel in Australia.
(3) Earned PR/Advertising value of over $7 million.
(4) Optus earned a 92% share of voice in relation to #innovation
and #technology compared to other Australian telcos on
social media during campaign launch.
(5) Launch film had over 3 million impressions.
(6) The commercial Clever Buoys are now in development, with
public rollout currently planned for 2015.•NSW Government
have pledged $100,000 to public trials.
EFFECTIVENESS

EXECUTION
We developed a clear roadmap to build Clever Buoy, which
we launched through earned channels, and amplified
through owned and paid media channels. We hosted a
media launch event with a live broadcast on Australia’s
most watched morning show in Sydney featuring key
spokespersons from the project. We focused on an
influencer outreach program and a social newsroom
shortlisting key influencers from technology, lifestyle &
environment, innovation, beach and marine safety space
which allowed us to build genuine credibility for the brand
and have a reason to converse with these specialised
communities. We delivered real time relevant content to
engage the audience and educate them about Clever Buoy.
Once people were introduced to the buoy we took them
along the journey of production, detailing the different
elements of the buoy anatomy and some of the
technological feats we achieved along the way.

Optus has the second largest
telecommunications network.
Our brief was to improve
consumer awareness and
brand perception by shifting
the focus, from the size of the
Optus Network, to the
amazing things it can do.
After another shark fatality
the Western Australian
government sanctioned the
culling of all large sharks,
sparking a nation wide
debate over the ethics of
killing endangered sharks to
save humans. Not only did
we tap into the most hotly
debated conversation in the
country, we offered a new
solution using our client’s
core service, one that
appeased both sides of the
debate.
RELEVANCY

STRATEGY
But more than this, the beach is something close to the
heart of all Australians, synonymous with our laid back
lifestyle and a clear part of the national identity. Having
developed the buoy, we needed to develop a relevant
strategy that allowed us to engage the right influencers
to kickstart the conversation and generate widespread
national and international media coverage, positive
WOM and social media traction to: •Create excitement,
•Leverage experts for credibility, •Showcase the
strength of the Optus network, •Position Optus as an
innovator. Our strategy was to pitch and secure a
series of exclusive 1:1 interviews prior to launch to
ensure we maintained control on the conversation both
locally and internationally. We developed a collection
of assets for launch, including a video news release,
photography, info-graphic, animation video and social
content visual branding for Optus where verbal
branding may have been excluded.

 Cause related PR / hijacking a relevant
public topic
 UBX (Useful brand experience)
 Great result
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

#OPTOUTSIDE
CLIO PR 2016
Client: REI
Agency: Edelman

Instead of offering discounts to lure shoppers
inside on Black Friday, REI announced that
they would be doing something
unprecedented: shutting all 143 of their stores,
ceasing to process orders on their website and
paying 12,000 employees to spend the day
outside. Employees, members and the public
were encouraged to use this day to reconnect
with the outdoors and each other. We created
an integrated campaign to invite the public
outside with us, building a movement around
the hashtag #OptOutside.
CAMPAIGN
DESCRIPTION

EXECUTION
We first shared the closure with REI’s 12,000 employees
and 5.5 million members. The news broke a month before
Black Friday with embargoed stories on USA Today, CNN,
and NBC. Timing of the news ensured REI was included in
nearly all media trend stories throughout November tied to
Black Friday. Ensuing coverage was designed to be social-
by-design, connected to the local community, and driven
through dozens of face-to-face interviews. This coincided
with an integrated campaign to spread the #OptOutside
movement across TV, print, out of home, digital, influencer
and social outreach. A publication was created on
Medium.com to discuss the benefits of a life outdoors, with
stories by REI employees, outdoors influencers and
advocates. A paid content partnership with .Mic created
original articles to expand the reach of #OptOutside with
millennials. A partnership with Meetup.com saw over 400
group outings hosted across the country.

#OptOutside became a widespread cultural movement. 1.4 million
people chose to spend Black Friday outside with REI. Over 170
organizations showed support for REI with some even closing
their doors in solidarity. Hundreds of parks opened their gates for
free.
The campaign earned 33 straight days of media coverage with
3,423 placements leading to 6.7 billion media impressions.
#OptOutside generated 1.2 billion social impressions, becoming a
trending topic on Twitter for three separate days and Instagram for
two separate days. #OptOutside was #11 of Brandwatch’s top 15
Twitter trends of 2015. The hashtag entered the larger social
vernacular - six months later, it was still being used thousands of
times per day.
While #OptOutside was designed for long term community
engagement, not to drive short-term Black Friday conversations,
but it sparked a dialogue that brought together friends and
families, non-profit organizations, businesses, and national and
state parks. 1.4 million declared to their social communities that
they were choosing the outdoors over shopping chaos, and this
boldness left a lasting impression of who REI is and what they
stand for.
OUTCOME

Research confirmed that interest in the outdoors was up
and the health benefits of spending more time outside was
gaining traction. Tangentially, enthusiasm for Black Friday
shopping was decreasing. The time was right for REI to
take a stand against the chaos of Black Friday. REI had the
opportunity to leverage this moment to build and connect
communities around the outdoors, while sharing its purpose
and unique values. It was a people-first strategy. This
meant using a cross-channel approach to reach employees,
co-op members, outdoor enthusiasts and the outdoor
industry to generate a national conversation about the
benefits of a life outdoors as well as crafting inspiring
content to invite people to #OptOutside. With REI’s social
communities at the heart of the effort, we built connection
points and engagement through other online communities
and efforts including Medium, Meetup, influencer
engagement, and organizations, parks and businesses who
pledged to #OptOutside.
STRATEGY

SYNOPSIS
Outdoor retailer REI believes that a life outside is a life well lived.
Black Friday, America’s biggest shopping day, stood in stark
contrast to this belief. Held the day after Thanksgiving, this holiday
had come to represent shoppers leaving their families to go buy
things, spending days lining up at stores, or even fighting one
another amongst the aisles. That’s why on Black Friday 2015, REI
took an unprecedented stand. The co-op closed all 143 of their
stores and invited the entire country to spend the day differently -
by heading outside.

 Disruptive and strong business decision
 Living from inside out: the idea came
original from a staff member … soon the
whole company stood behind the idea
 Hitting a nerve: a strong insight & zeitgeist
topic
 Great result
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

3
D&AD PR Award
Winners
2016
(first year with PR category)

MCWHOPPER
D&AD Yellow 2016
Best Integrated Campaign
Client: Burger King
Agency: Y&A NZ

Insights:
1) People are curious for new flavour combinations
and willing to trample across brand conventions to
experience them.
2) There’s no longer an inside / outside of a company –
thanks to social media, corporations are now held
accountable for their actions.
Creative idea:
To raise awareness of United Nations Peace Day,
Burger King made a highly visible proposal to
McDonald’s, inviting them to collaborate on a truly one-
of-a-kind product: The McWhopper. The proposed
mash-up burger would combine key ingredients from
each restaurant’s signature product, The Big Mac and
The Whopper, to be prepared and served on one day
only, Peace Day, 21st September 2015.

EXECUTION
BK published an open letter in traditional and social,
inviting McD’s to collaborate in creating and serving
the McWhopper on Peace Day. The proposal was
supported by tactical outdoor and spearheaded by
mcwhopper.com, a multimedia toolkit of co-branded
assets: staff apparel, signage, and a pop-up
restaurant. Every asset was designed to be visually
iconic and translate into multiple languages, for ease
of share-ability. The proposal was met by frenzied
public support, so McDonald’s drew criticism when
they turned down the offer. Inspired by BK’s online
Burger Build film, tens of thousands of people took
matters into their own hands by creating and sharing
do-it-yourself McWhoppers on YouTube, Instagram,
Twitter, Vine, Facebook, and mainstream media
channels - integrating the competitor’s product with
our own.

• 8.9 billion media impressions
• Earned media value $US138m (Source: ABPR, Personally Inside,
Llorente y Cuenca, Ketchurn, Evercom, Weber Shandwick, Emanate and
Cison)
• ROI: Every $1 spent returned $88 in earned media
• #1 trending topic, Facebook and Twitter
• 10,000+ DIY McWhopper reviews on YouTube PEACE ONE
DAY
• +40% increase in Peace Day awareness (from 30% to 43% of
the U.S pop) (Source: Toluna Research)
• +16% increase in Peace Day awareness worldwide (Source:
McKinsey and Company “The McWhopper campaign is the single highest
contributor ever towards Peace Day awareness” - McKinsey and Company –
Research partner)
BURGER KING BRAND METRICS (ALL PEOPLE)
• +75% - Positive brand buzz from 20% to 35%
/ +60% millennials
• +25% - Purchase consideration from 32% to 40%
/ +76% millennials
• +48% - Likelihood to recommend brand from 21% to 31%
/+84% millennials (Source: YouGov Brand Index)
OUTCOME

The McWhopper proposal was an audacious idea
designed to ignite conversation, curiosity, and
engagement amongst the public and media. It was
diligently engineered so that regardless of how
McDonald’s responded, the power of McWhopper
production (both the burger and the ongoing comms)
would be embraced and activated by the people. Sure
enough, the ubiquitous campaign fueled frenzied
discussion, and the creation of ‘do-it-yourself
McWhoppers’ became an instant cultural phenomenon
and an integral chapter in the McWhopper story. So
much so, that over 9-months since the official
campaign concluded, McWhopper content is still being
shared organically on every major social platform.
RELEVANCY

STRATEGY
The McWhopper campaign wasn’t made social, it was born
social. We were confident that had we approached
McDonald’s behind closed doors, they would have said no
behind closed doors. By making the proposal so very public
on so many platforms, we knew McD’s would be pushed to
respond.
The proposal was planned with painstaking diligence, to
ensure success didn’t hinge on a yes or a no. We invested
a significant amount of time and resource into scenario
planning, resulting in an extensive set of responses to cater
for every conceivable scenario.
More importantly, we created a comprehensive suite of
campaign assets to inspire consumer engagement no
matter what. It was a completely integrated approach
designed to empower the public and media to create and
share do-it-yourself McWhoppers, further spreading
awareness. It was all very well for the world to take notice,
but we also wanted the world to take action.

In the fiercely competitive fast food category, Burger
King faced declining consideration in the all-important
18-34 year old millennial demographic. A new breed of
competitors such as Chipotle was connecting with
youth via a shared sense of purpose and social good,
positioning BK as old fashioned. Peace One Day is a
global non-profit organization whose goal is to make
United Nations Peace Day, on 21st September, an
annual day of non-violence and global unity. Each year
they campaign tirelessly to raise awareness of Peace
Day under the theme ‘Who Will You Make Peace
With?’ Our objectives were twofold: Increase brand
consideration for Burger King and raise awareness of
Peace Day 2015.
SYNOPSIS

 Great sense of humor
 Brilliant executed
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

HOLOGRAM OF
FREEDOM
D&AD Yellow 2016
Best Public Affairs
Client: No somos delito
Agency: DDB Spain

Since last year, Spanish government, backed up by an absolute
majority in Congress and Senate, has been designing a group of
measures and law reforms, commonly known by the population as
“The Gag Law”. Ultimately, Spanish Congress passed this law on
March 26th. A panel of human rights experts from the United
Nations said they were concerned about the Public Security Law
and the Penal Code initiatives, which they say will violate Spanish
people’s human rights. One of the objectives of NoSomosDelito
(WeAreNotCrime) platform against the Gag Law is public
awareness of their message, especially outside Spain. To that
end we created the Holographic Protest, the first of its kind in
History and also a PR event initiative which through creativity,
innovation, and symbolism would attract the attention of worldwide
media. On March 26th, the same day the Gag Law was approved,
we launched a teaser website which encouraged users to
participate in the demonstration in a virtual way: uploading their
pictures, recording their shouts and sending their protest
messages. At that time we did not revealed the location where the
protest would take place, in order to avoid confrontation with the
Spanish authorities. On April 10th, we projected the protest on a
7x4 meters screen in front of the Parliament building, taking
advantage of a filming permit. Media covered the event all around
the world, while we documented it in a short film and print ads that
were distributed some days later.

One of the objectives of NoSomosDelito is public awareness of
their message, so they can mobilize people and collect
signatures against this law, and also get support from media and
governments outside Spain, in order to prevent its entry into
force. That’s why our main target audience were media
worldwide.
CLIENT BRIEF OR
OBJECTIVE

The campaign was a global hit in media all around the
world, with an estimated earned media (at the time of
writing) of 16 million euros, and a global audience of over
800 million. It was covered by the main national and
international press, TV and online media, and made into the
front page and editorials of some of them, such as the
French newspaper Le Monde, The New York Times and
The Boston Globe. It also appeared in countless local and
specialized media. 17,857 people participated in the
demonstration via the website, although after that moment,
participations kept rising over 20,000. The online petition for
the withdrawal of the law was signed by more than 330,000
people.Our protest gathered over 50,000 tweets and about
400 million Twitter impressions. Ultimately, the protest was
debated in a session of the Spanish Congress.
EFFECTIVENESS

EXECUTION
On March 26th, we launched a teaser website which
encouraged users to sign the online petition against the
law reform and to participate in the demonstration in a
virtual way. On April 10th, we projected the Holographic
Protest on a 7x4 meters screen in front of the Parliament,
taking advantage of a filming permit because real
demonstrations have been banned there. The projected
video was produced from previously filmed and the
website user-contributed material. All people were post
produced as ghost-like blueish figures to enhance the
visual impact. Technical difficulties included illumination
(darkness was required) and fitting of the produced video
in the geography where it was projected. All distances,
and camera angles had to be taken into consideration.
Media from all over the world were present to bear
witness. We also had a special cabin for NoSomosDelito
spokespeople to be interview by media as real-time
holograms.

The right of assembly is being undermined by the
Spanish government, in an attempt to reduce the
number and the magnitude of the protests against their
policies. In fact, demonstrations around Parliament
building have been banned for months. The platform
NoSomosDelito (WeAreNotCrime), formed by over a
hundred citizens’ organizations, activists, and jurists,
has the intention of informing citizens about the
meaning of these reforms, which restrict fundamental
rights such as freedom of expression and assembly in
the name of “citizens’ security”, and to pressure the
government into withdrawing them immediately.
RELEVANCY

STRATEGY
Without a paid media budget, we had to create
something that would make into the news all around
the world. Something that had a powerful visual and
significance, so it would be interesting for TV, press
and online media, as well as viral in social platforms.
Audience were greatly drawn to the Holographic
Protest, for several reasons. First of all, it was a
creative way of protest which has never been done
before. Secondly, it defied the banning of
demonstrations in front of Parliament. We chose the
most difficult place, but also the most symbolic. And
finally, it also reflected in a relevant way the abolition of
rights the law has introduced: flesh and blood protest
will not be tolerated.
Media found the story interesting not only for its
political and social content, but also from a
technological point of view, and as a historical
milestone in activism.

 Innovative use of technology
 Strong PR tactics
 Perfect timing
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

COLOR FOR
THE COLORBLIND
D&AD Yellow 2016
Creative B2C – Low Budget
Client: Valspar
Agency: FCB Chicago

The Valspar paint company believes everyone should experience
color to the fullest. Even the colorblind. By bringing color to the
colorblind, Valspar brought a greater appreciation of color to
everyone. Over 300 million people in the world are colorblind.
Valspar worked with EnChroma, an innovative optical lab, to bring
color to everyone.
Special glasses were created to enable the colorblind to see the
full spectrum of color for the first time in their lives. We started
with the documentary film “Color for the Colorblind” as the
centerpiece of a multi-channel PR campaign. The film, launched
via social media, shares the emotive story of colorblind
individuals reacting to the full spectrum of color for the first time in
their life. We also brought the glasses to locations like museums
and arboretums. And, of course, the glasses were included in
point-of-sale displays in paint aisles, so that the colorblind could
pick out paint for their homes for the first time.
The glasses sold out in just one month. The campaign had over
800 million media impressions in just one month, and thousands
of colorblind stories were shared by consumers. But, more
importantly, 300 million colorblind people now have the
opportunity to see color for the first time.

The objective of the campaign was to create a global
conversation around colorblindness and in the process, create a
greater appreciation for the role that color plays in our lives –
establishing Valspar as not just a paint company, but a brand
that believes everyone should experience color to the fullest.
CLIENT BRIEF OR
OBJECTIVE

Output/Awareness: The campaign had over 800 million
media impressions in just one month. Thousands of
colorblind stories were shared by consumers, and we
created the first global colorblind community. 300 million
colorblind people now have the opportunity to see color for
the first time. By bringing color to the colorblind, Valspar
brought a greater appreciation of color to everyone.
Knowledge/Consideration: We launched the program one
month ago so not all data is in – but the response thus far is
exceptional. 94% of social sentiment was positive/neutral.
And thousands of stories have been shared.
Action/Business Impact: We launched the program one
month ago so not all data is in – but the response thus far is
exceptional. More than 20,000 likes were generated,
increasing brand sentiment for Valspar by more than 10
points.
EFFECTIVENESS

EXECUTION
On March 16, we targeted colorblind celebrities with a
custom-designed kit for them to experience color for the
first time. The influencers included Bill Clinton, Mark
Zuckerberg, and Chris Nolan. The kit included a pair of our
glasses and a book that exposed the recipient to hundreds
of Valspar colors. A similar kit was sent to technology and
design publications and blogs.
On March 18, we launched our press campaign to
mainstream and trade publications. As viewers began
experiencing the film and sharing their stories, our PR and
social teams responded and engaged consumers to fuel
the conversation about colorblindness and the appreciation
of color for everyone. In coordination with the launch of the
film, we installed special displays in-store with the glasses
to allow the colorblind to pick out paint for their homes for
the first time. We also brought the glasses to locations like
museums and arboretums.

Consumers think all paint brands are the same. As a
global leader in the coatings industry, we want to show
that Valpsar is not just a paint company, but a brand
that believes everyone should experience color to the
fullest. To inspire as many people as possible, we
focused on the people who can’t experience the full
spectrum of color – the nearly 300 million in the world
who are colorblind.
Our idea is that by helping the colorblind experience
the full spectrum of color for the first time in their lives,
we reawaken everyone’s appreciation to experience
color to the fullest.
RELEVANCY

STRATEGY
Our idea is that by helping the colorblind, we reawaken
and re-inspire everyone’s appreciation to experience
color to the fullest. Colors play a vital role in our daily
lives and it has been proven that our activities and
responses are influenced by them. Kenneth Fehrman,
co-author of the book, Color: The Secret Influence,
states that, “Most people are unaware of the profound
effect color has on their behavior.” No one was
addressing the vital part of their lives that the 300
million people in the world were missing. What is more
powerful than seeing color for the first time? From the
top down we identified colorblind influencers and
media personalities in order to get people to
experience seeing color for the first time. From a
grassroots level, we responded directly to provocative
#ColorForAll stories with a gift of the glasses. Both of
these strategies received “air cover” from a press
outreach to mainstream and trade publications.

 UBX (Useful brand experience) & great
usage of technology
 Great storytelling
 Strong user engagement
WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?

PARADISE HILL
D&AD Yellow 2016
Creative Use of Medai
Client: NGO
Agency: FCB NZ

Confront high-income communities, (and in doing so,
New Zealand) with the disturbing reality that violence
is occurring even where we least expect it.

EXECUTION
Within the magazine, we created an article showcasing a
new architecturally designed home in an upmarket
Auckland suburb, along with the seemingly regular family
who lived there.
Featured on the cover and contents, the story ran as eight
consecutive pages, which looked and read just like regular
content. Almost. In the words and pictures we placed
disturbing tell-tale signs that violence was occurring. Some
of these were subtle only giving themselves away on a
second read. Others were more obvious. Only on the final
page did we reveal the truth – violence can happen in any
home, even homes like this.
Also available on the magazine’s website (along with the
regular articles), and on their Facebook page, we
encouraged sharing and commenting on the article to
increase its reach. HOME Magazine readership: 110,000.
However, the campaign reached well beyond this as our
target shared the article through social media and PR.

Starting from a reader base of 107,000, the campaign
reached ¼ of the whole New Zealand population (over
10X the magazine’s readership). Over 12% of readers
either sought help or offered it as a direct result of the
campaign – Bauer Research. Visits to the family
violence site increased 15%. The campaign was
covered by both of New Zealand’s news channels,
received 280,000 Facebook engagements and over
1000 Twitter shares. The magazine was the most
talked about edition in the publication’s 79-year history
and has been celebrated as a much-needed first step
by both the NZ Police and Ministry of Social
Development.
OUTCOME

This campaign challenged the conventions of
traditional print and what it can achieve both within a
publication creatively, and how far a single execution
can extend its reach, within its primary target, and
beyond. The campaign was born and developed
through a unique partnership between the agency and
publisher, with both parties contributing to the art and
copy in the order that it appeared not as an ‘ad’ but as
genuine editorial, seamlessly buried within the
magazine’s pages.
RELEVANCY

STRATEGY
Show violence occurring even where we least expect it,
even in the most seemingly perfect of homes. We partnered
with NZ’s premium home and lifestyle magazine – HOME –
and showed violence happening in one of its ‘perfect’
homes.
This magazine, with its high-income readership of 107,000
(25% subscribers), enabled us to reach victims and
communities where the violence was actually happening.
We also needed to create a wider conversation with the
New Zealand public, which spread our message beyond the
doors of high-income communities and to the masses. The
more people on the ground equipped with the truth, the
better.
Media and high profile social-media personalities were also
sent the magazine directly, and encouraged to share. The
campaign asked readers to take action should they suspect
violence is occurring and visit the government website for
more on how to help.

A new study revealed one quarter of women from all high-
income homes in New Zealand were domestically abused –
much higher than most Kiwis realised. In fact, research
suggested 65% of Kiwis believed family violence was more
likely to occur in low socio-economic homes rather than
high. And only 40% believed it could be happening to
someone they know. Far from reality. This lack of
awareness, along with long-standing media
misrepresentation, was identified as a key factor
perpetuating the problem. Meaning victims from high-socio
economic areas often remained isolated and un-helped,
compared to their less well off neighbours. The Ministry of
Social Development needed to change this. They needed
these high-income victims to know they were not alone and
their communities to be aware of the problem. Only if
people knew could they help.
SYNOPSIS

WHY DID THIS
CAMPAIGN
WIN?
 Smart and beautiful
 Creative use of media
 Highly visual
 Best use of visual storytelling

Petra Sammer
Partner | Chief Creative Officer Ketchum
https://twitter.com/PetraSammer?lang=de

AWARD WINNING PR CAMPAIGNS

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to AWARD WINNING PR CAMPAIGNS

Similar to AWARD WINNING PR CAMPAIGNS (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

AWARD WINNING PR CAMPAIGNS