Pro Voting Campaign - "COME AND VOTE!"

Leo Burnett Bucharest

Leo Burnett Bucharest Bucharest, Romania

Awards

4282

Brand: Pro Voting Campaign
Country: Romania

Advertiser: Asociatia Pro Democratia

Title	COME AND VOTE!
Agency	Leo Burnett Bucharest
Campaign	Come and Vote
Advertiser	Asociatia Pro Democratia
Brand	Pro Voting Campaign
Date of First Broadcast/Publication	2015 / 1
Business Sector	Government Information & Services
Story	Two months before the Presidential Elections in Romania - a truly crucial moment for the country in 2014 - an overwhelming majority was too apathetic to care about politics anymore. We've started the pro-voting campaign with two videos, depicting two of our most beloved kings in history alone on the battle fields, learning that their brave men didn't show up due to ridiculous excuses - we used the actual quotes of contemporary people who declined going to vote. Thus conveying the idea - What if our ancestors didn't show up for the crucial moments in our history?
Philosophy	The Campaign Two months before the presidential elections in Romania an overwhelming majority was too apathetic to care about politics. 67,6% of the population declared it had no intention to vote. In our creative PR campaign we wanted to underline the importance of going to vote by showing what can happen if the faith of the nation is left to indifference. We started the PR campaign with strong video content placed online and pitched to a few key TV stations for pro-bono broadcasting. 'What if our ancestors didn't show up for the crucial moments in our history?' – this was the main message. The videos showed two of our most beloved kings alone on the battlefield, learning that their brave men didn't show up due to ridiculous excuses - we used actual quotes of contemporary people who decline going to vote. The videos went viral and more TV stations asked to broadcast them. We did an outdoor stunt, changing the names of a few main streets in Bucharest, from Romanian heroes' names to Ottoman rulers' names. We involved A-lister journalists and online influencers, pitching them the idea, leading to public debates and talk shows based on this topic. With 15 Romanian TV channels asking to broadcast the campaign (a total of 9 hours broadcast, all earned) and all the online actions, we've achieved 18 million impressions, which represents almost the entire population of Romania. But most of all, we helped overturn the percentage – 62% of the population showed up and voted! The Brief Our goal was to make people go and vote! All data showed that an overwhelming majority was too apathetic to care about politics. 67,6% of the population declared it had no intention to vote. Analyzing the target audience with in depth-interviews and more qualitative research, we discovered that the only time Romanians were proud of their leaders were in the history. Execution We started the campaign with strong video content placed online and pitched to a few key TV stations for pro-bono broadcasting. 'What if our ancestors didn't show up for the crucial moments in our history?' – this was the main message. We co-opted the most famous radio host and he started talking Turkish in his show, thus making a point about losing Romanian identity. We changed the names of a few main streets in Bucharest to the names of Ottoman rulers. We involved content creators, pitching them the idea and encourage spoof executions. We did Facebook profiles for the two kings and entered online debates. We reached out and convinced A-listers of the Romanian online to close their blogs and websites, promoting the message 'No excuses. I'm out voting'. On the voting day we prompted people to change their profile on Facebook with the proof of voting – the stamp. Facebook global headquarters chose this campaign as the first one ever to represent Romania in their Best Practices showcase; • Almost all Romanian TV channels asked to broadcast the campaign; • We've achieved 18 million impressions - a number as big as almost the entire population of Romania; • We've got a total of 9 hours of broadcasting for the videos (870 insertions) - all earned media and not paid; • But most of all, we helped overturn the percentage – 62% of the population showed up and voted! The Strategy Push the national pride button by depicting a different course of history for the country if the ancestors didn't show up in the crucial moments (like contemporary people do when it comes to voting). Bring back Romanian heroes of the past to maximize the impact and wake up the civil spirit of contemporary Romanians by using the figure of two of our most beloved kings, as if they were left alone on battlefields by their brave men – who'll use the ridiculous excuses fellow citizen use today when civic duty calls.
Media Type	Case Study
Length	38 seconds
Market	Romania
Director	Andrei Amarfoaie
Art Director	Cosmin Ezaru
Executive Creative Director	Razvan Capanescu
Account Director	Lorand Balint
Account Manager	Lorand Balint
Director of Photography (DOP)	Toma Velio
Media Manager	Alexandra Iavorchi
Copywriter	Razvan Capanaescu
Copywriter	Radu Olteanu
Digital Strategy	Mugur Patrascu
Production Company	Multimedia Est
Post Production	Ruxandra Stanescu