Caritas - "Singaporeans Against Poverty"

Goodfellas

Goodfellas Singapore, Singapore

6015

This ad is part of the ACT Responsible Collection

Brand: Caritas
Country: Singapore

Advertiser: Caritas

Title	Singaporeans Against Poverty
Agency	Goodfellas
Campaign	Singaporeans Against Poverty
Advertiser	Caritas
Brand	Caritas
Date of First Broadcast/Publication	2014
Business Sector	Charities, Foundations, Volunteers
Story	Despite Singapore having the highest average per capita income of $52,305 a year, 387,000 Singaporeans earn an average income of $1,320, which is barely enough to cover basic necessities. The objective of the campaign is to convince affluent Singaporeans that there is a large number of individuals struggling to make ends meet. By juxtaposing first world problems faced by most Singaporeans with the aspirations of the poor, we created a thought-provoking campaign to publicize the presence of poverty in Singapore.
Philosophy	THE OBJECTIVE The objective of the campaign is to convince affluent Singaporeans that there is a large number of individuals struggling to make ends meet. It was important that Singaporeans were first convinced that the issue of poverty was real before they could even think of addressing the problem. THE BIG IDEA “Most Singaporeans’ problems are actually a boon to 387,000 Impoverished citizens.” Like most first world citizens, Singaporeans complain frequently about things they face daily. Even the seemingly trivial. So, by juxtaposing these first world problems with situations our target audience could relate to, we created a thought-provoking campaign to publicize the presence of poverty in Singapore. STRATEGY Considering that “Singaporeans Against Poverty” was largely a pro-bono campaign with subsidized media budgets , a strategic media plan was formulated to optimize the campaign’s media spend – to achieve the highest reach with the relevant target audience at the lowest cost. The media platforms that the ads ran on included Newspaper Ads (5 TODAY Half-Page ads), Radio spots, Cinema and Online banners (Facebook post ads). The media spend lasted from September 2013 to November 2013. In addition, MediaCorp deejays from 98.7FM and 90.5FM were roped in to participate in “The $5 challenge”, whereby each DJ attempted to live on $5 a day. Listeners were then invited to participate in the challenge and share their experiences online. Given the budget constraint, the campaign banked on utilizing the various social media platforms the respective radio stations owned in order to expand its reach beyond what the original media expenditure allowed for.
Problem	Despite the country having the highest average per capita income of $52,305 a year, 387,000 Singaporeans earn an average monthly income of $1,320, which is barely enough to cover basic necessities. There is a growing inequality in Singapore - it ranks 26th out of 136 countries for income inequality - and has a high cost of living: In 2012, Singapore was the world's sixth most expensive country to live in, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2013. However, Singapore does not have as high a percentage of impoverished residents as those in the less developed world, and the poor tends to go unnoticed amid the country's steel-and-glass opulence. To compound the problem, Singapore's poor are largely hidden, in part because affordable public housing typically means a roof over the heads of the working poor and elderly poor. This helps to create an overall impression that poverty and homelessness may exist only negligibly, if at all.
Result	Since its launch, the issue of poverty became a hot topic for discussion in the local press and was debated in parliament. It even got written about on BBC. On a micro level, many bloggers took the debate online which spurred many fellow Singaporeans to participate in the discussion as well.
Media Type	Case Study
Length	212 seconds
Production Company	Salt TV
Executive Creative Director	Patrick Low
Media Agency	UM Singapore
Audio	Yellowbox Studios
Art Director	CK Guay
Art Director	Stefany Donthavesurname
Copywriter	Brendon Low
Account Manager	Kevin Seah
Communication Manager	Lim Xueting
Executive Producer	Koh Say Chong
Director	Elgin Ho
Producer	Siew Shu Hui
Sound Engineer	Rennie Gomes