Akanksha Message Barter

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"What do you do when you don't have money for advertising? You 'force' the country's biggest celebrities to campaign for you"

Video

Awards

- Cannes Lions, 2014 CYBER LIONS Web Campaign: Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages BRONZE
- Cannes Lions, 2014 MEDIA LIONS Media: Digital & Social: Use of Social Platforms BRONZE
- Cannes Lions, 2014 PR LIONS PR: Digital & Social: Influencer Communications BRONZE

- Cristal Awards, 2014 DIGITAL & MOBILE BEST USE OF BLOGGER, INFLUENCER,

CELEBRITY SAPPHIRE

- London International Awards 2014 Non-Traditional Public Service/Social Welfare SILVER
- Spikes Asia, 2014 Digital SOCIAL SILVER
- Spikes Asia, 2014 Direct USE OF DIRECT MARKETING: USE OF SOCIAL IN A DIRECT

CAMPAIGN SILVER

- Spikes Asia, 2014 PR DIGITAL & SOCIAL: USE OF SOCIAL IN A PR CAMPAIGN SILVER

- Young Guns Awards AUSTRALIA 2013 Digital Digital Solutions - Something Else SILVER

- 2 kyoorius award for message barter BLUE ELEPHANTS

Breif from client:

Akanksha, an NGO, provides free education to over 5000 underprivileged children. They didn't have enough funds for advertising their need for teachers. Since our target audience was the upwardly mobile educated youth, we focused on social media. And who better to spread our message on social media in India than celebrities. Points researched to shortlist celebrities- 1. Celebrities active on social media with most fans/followers 2. Who would be in the news during the recruitment drive. 3. Matching celebrities' values/perception to that of Akanksha to avoid improper associations. 4. A list of major bloggers/influencers to help RT the tweets.

Results:

- Almost all the celebrities responded - Over 18 million people were reached - Coverage worth almost 1 Mn USD at no cost - Traffic to Akanksha's website went up 4 times - Teacher applications went up 2.5 times 2 of the celebrities - namely Hrithik Roshan and Chetan Bhagat, have pledged to support future campaigns by Akanksha too!

Execution:

The campaign started on 5th September - India's Teacher's day. The first barter was conducted during Farhan Akhtar's biopic 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'. The second barter was conducted during superhero actor Hrithik Roshan's Krissh 3. The third during the new book release of India's best selling author Chetan Bhagat. The next barter was just before Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan's TV show, KBC - India's 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' The next was with top actor Shahrukh Khan, and his movie 'Chennai Express'. The last barter was with cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar - while he was promoting his league team Mumbai Indians. The campaign lasted for 3 months - started just before and then overlapped with Akanksha's recruitment phase.

The Situation:

Akanksha, an NGO, didn't have enough funds for advertising their need for teachers. Since our target audience was the upwardly mobile educated youth, we decided focus on social media. And who better to spread our message on social media than celebrities, in a celebrity-worshiping country like India. Hence PR.

The Strategy:

We planned the activity depending on which celebrity would be in the news at what time during the recruitment drive. For example, we did the barter with India's most loved superhero actor Hrithik Roshan, just when his new movie was releasing. This ensured each of the barters got amplified due to the buzz around those celebrities, both online and offline.

Credits

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy and Mather, Mumbai, India
Sr. Creative Directors: Kiran Antony, Shahrukh Irani
Copywriters: Jigar Fernandes, Parth Gadhia

Art Directors: Ritwik Pareek, Rakesh Jha, Shashank Jha,