prism awards 2014

PRISM AWARDS
2014
CAPE TOWN
CLIENT: NEWBORNS GROOTE SCHUUR
TRUST
CATEGORY: NGO CAMPAIGN
CAMPAIGN: PURPLE FOR PREEMIES
PRISM PRIZE-WORTHY PURPLE PR FOR PREEMIES
In a media world cluttered with good causes and deserving cries for help, OPR CT thrust the needs of
premature babies and the Groote Schuur Hospital Neonatal Unit right to the forefront of Cape
Town’s consciousness in November 2013 with a creative and brilliantly executed pro bono PR
campaign.
The OPR team took this brief to heart and turned the town purple in support of the ‘Wear Purple for
Preemies’ concept, gaining massive exposure in the Cape Argus and on major city radio stations like
GoodHope FM & Kfm. All achieved with zero budgets.
1) STATEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY/PROBLEM
The client - Groote Schuur Hospital Neonatal Unit which cares for premature babies in Cape Town
and the Newborns Trust created as a fund-raising vehicle.
The opportunity arose from the urgent need for refurbishment and upgrading of the unit. For that
work to be done, at a cost of R26m, major sponsors would have to come on board but big companies
are swamped with demands for their funding.
The cause of preemies, as premature babies are known, urgently needed to be advanced in the public
consciousness – greater awareness and exposure would make the funding terrain more fertile for
Groote Schuur.
Ogilvy’s sister agency Zoom created the concept of ‘Wearing Purple for Preemies’ and asked OPR CT
to drive it into local media on World Prematurity Day on 17 November 2013 without any budget.
This was a tough task because;
-
in Cape Town, the media space around babies/children’s health issues is dominated by the
admirable Red Cross Children’s Hospital
the preemies cause had no existing media presence
there was no novelty in the colour coding – red is for AIDS, pink for breast cancer etc
there is a fatigue around dedicated ‘Days Of ….’
The geographical area of the campaign was broader Cape Town.
2) RESEARCH
a) identifying issues around premature babies
b) identifying and analysing competing campaigns in the health/NGO space
c) finding appropriate ambassadors and relevant story-tellers including parents of preterm
babies.
d) identifying potential media partners.
3) PLANNING
Our objectives were to drive awareness of the problems facing preemies and to publicise the role
played by the Groote Schuur neonatal unit by aggressively promoting the concept of ‘Wear Purple for
Preemies’.
The criteria used to measure success were primarily defined in terms of significant & high impact
media exposure achieved without any expenditure. Sticker sales, web traffic and funds raised were
secondary criteria.
The general target market was across the greater Cape Town area but two specific markets were
identified as key;
-
potential donors (both corporate and individual)
expecting parents & potentially expecting parents.
The desired actions of the audience were to wear purple on World Premature Day, to become aware
of the needs of preemies and the role of the neonatal unit, and to be positively disposed towards
donating.
The messages to be communicated to the public were;
 preemies need help
 buy a Sticker and wear Purple
 Groote Schuur needs money to save premature babies.
The communication channels selected arose from a key strategic decision to establish media
partnerships rather than hope for widespread coverage across all media. We sought to dominate
particular spaces.
The Cape Argus and GoodHope FM were the prime targets, based on media analysis, and OPR
Account Director Samantha Pugh persuaded both Cape Argus editor Jermaine Craig and GoodHope’s
CSI Manager Kwezi Rapiya to come on board. We built an action plan to deliver a stream of stories,
photo ops and broadcast events for these partners.
We also identified the PSA (Public Service Announcement) space on Primedia’s radio stations – Kfm
and Cape Talk – as a valuable opportunity. This airtime is free as a CSI commitment but often the
material aired is poor. We knew that impactful, professional spots would get a higher rotation and
achieve greater awareness.
Activities/activations created were driven by the need to provide media with highly visual content
and ambassadors for the cause who could bring the story to life.
REC, Ogilvy’s internal photography and video production department, provided video and stills of
preemies free of charge.
Dan Skinstad, adventurer and brother of Bobby Skinstad who suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of
being born premature, was identified and promoted as a key ambassador. Professor Michael
Harrison, Springbok Rugby player Scarra Ntubeni and SA cricket legend Gary Kirsten were also used as
ambassadors.
OPR facilitated media tours of the unit.
Actions taken to secure support were routine with the client but there was constant engagement
with our media partners to sustain their commitment.
4. EXECUTION
Implementation Plan
Cape Argus photographed the switching on of the lights illuminating the hospital purple for the week.
GoodHope FM's breakfast team flicked the switch and did live broadcasts from the hospital.
We negotiated, scripted and performed PSA's for flighting on Good HopeFM.
We also negotiated substantial flightings on Primedia stations - Cape Talk and KFM - voiced pro bono
by OPR team member Dante Piras.
On the day of "Wear Purple for Preemies", OPR created the opportunity for the Cape Argus to
photograph the nurses and newborns of the GS Neonatal Unit wearing purple - the image was used
on the front page of both AM and PM editions.
For World Preemie Day, coverage was achieved from national TV show Hello Doctor as well as
regional radio such as Smile FM, print and online.
Adjustments to the plan during implementation were minimal as OPR rigorously delivered
everything expected from media partners on the previously agreed schedule.
The primary difficulty encountered came from the occasional unavailability for interviews of
spokespeople and ambassadors for the campaign. Adjustments were made on the run and
replacements organised.
5. EVALUATION
The job of the campaign was to drive awareness of the issues around preemies and the role played by
the Groote Schuur neonatal unit through the vehicle of “wearing purple for preemies’. The scale of
the exposure achieved was extraordinary.
We have not quantified AVE from this campaign to keep costs to a minimum but we believe the
outcome is clear.
No one reading the daily Cape Argus (ave daily readership of 606 000) could have missed this
campaign.
It also reached into the Weekend Argus and the New Age.
Radio exposure was equally impressive with considerable airtime on the GoodHope FM breakfast
show (ave daily reach 328 000) and PSA getting strong rotation on Kfm with an audience in excess of
1 million.
The Hello Doctor TV show on SABC2 featured the campaign and it reaches an audience of 749 921.
Website traffic on the Newborns Trust site increased by 400%
3700 stickers were sold in support of Newborns Trust.
Local companies and schools supported the campaign by wearing purple and raising funds.
Newborns Groote Schuur Trust also saw big corporates such as Pick n Pay and Kimberly Clark pledge
financial support.
Probably the most heart-warming success was how the awareness for premature babies changed
Chelsy Barthies’ life after he was featured in the Cape Argus. Trust manager Julie Gibson said;
“apparently he used to get bullied at school but his mom tells me that now everyone wants to be his
friend because he is famous”