OPEN BOOK

Short List
TitleOPEN BOOK
BrandTHE REACH FOUNDATION
Product / ServiceCHARITY
CategoryA03. Best Use of Live Events, Stunt and/or Celebrity Endorsement
EntrantDDB GROUP MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company:DDB GROUP MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
PR/Advertising Agency:DDB GROUP MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
GRANT RUTHERFORD DDB GROUP MELBOURNE EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
NICK CUMMINS DDB GROUP MELBOURNE GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR
DANIEL GRECH DDB GROUP MELBOURNE ART DIRECTOR
STEFANIE DIAGIANVINCENZO DDB GROUP MELBOURNE COPYWRITER
JONATHAN YUEN DDB GROUP MELBOURNE DIGITAL HEAD OF ART
DANIEL HEWITT DDB GROUP MELBOURNE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
LINA CABAI DDB GROUP MELBOURNE ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
JESS BROPHY DDB GROUP MELBOURNE ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

The Campaign

Reach is a youth Charity that believes every teenager deserves support, regardless of their situation. We wanted to raise awareness of Reach and show teenagers that everyone – even the most famous people in Australia – went through exactly the same stuff once. So we created The Open Book Project. The first phase was a call for entries to celebrities, TV and radio personalities, politicians, actors, sports stars, musicians and comedians asking to submit their own intimate diary confessions online at the openbookproject.com.au. This in turn encouraged visitors to the site to submit their own teenage diary entries to our site and their Facebook page. As our celebrity’s stories spread through the media, the public became captivated. The Project generated 59,944 page views, over $1.2 million of editorial coverage, and spread Reach’s message to over 9 million Australians in the month long campaign. And all for a total cost of $30,000.

The Brief

Our goal was primarily one of awareness with the broader Australian public, specifically adults, about what Reach does as an organization. We wanted these adults to upload their own diary pages that in turn would stimulate and create conversations online, specifically on Facebook. Allowing people to physically and emotionally engage with Reach was the ideal goal, and social media seemed the perfect vehicle for topics rarely spoken about in the real world.

Results

Digital Results (one month campaign): - Number of Page Views: 59,944 - Average time spent on site: 5 minutes - $1.2 million of Earned Media - Reached 9 million people - $30.000 budget

Execution

1. Created an online campaign, known as the Open Book Project, which called on people over the age of 18 to upload pages of their teenage diaries to the website, theopenbookproject.com or Open Book Project Facebook application 2. Engaged well-known Australians to contribute their teenage diary entries to the Project 3. Launched the Open Book Project campaign at a media call on 17th March 2011. 4. Ongoing media relations 5. Produced advertising for press and online, as well as radio, where key talent were engaged as voiceovers

The Situation

Reach is an Australian charity that runs workshops in over 500 Australian schools reaching more than 57,000 young Australians a year. The problem they face is many Australians are not aware of them and what they do. Reach approached us to come up with an inexpensive awareness campaign that highlighted the fact that they encourage young people to develop trust and openness, feel comfortable enough to express their concerns, discuss their aspirations and recognize that they’re not alone.

The Strategy

Our strategy was to get Australian celebrities to share pages from their teenage diaries. After all, there’s probably nobody better than the rich and famous, with their seemingly glamorous and perfect lives, to demonstrate first hand that they went through exactly the same stuff as teenagers today. The celebrity diary entries were shared on facebook and acted as a device to prompt everyday Australians to share their teenage experiences online as well. We also used these real celebrity entries in outdoor, radio, magazine and direct marketing to great effect. The Australian media loved the campaign, generating $1.2 million of editorial coverage. Prompting conversations about the struggles that all teenagers go through made the public aware of Reach and their commitment in helping Australian teenagers through their struggles.