DONATE-A-TONE

TitleDONATE-A-TONE
BrandSTARHUB
Product / ServiceSAMARITANS OF SINGAPORE
CategoryA06. Best Use of Other Digital Platforms in a Direct Campaign
EntrantDDB GROUP SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Entrant Company DDB GROUP SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Advertising Agency DDB GROUP SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

Credits

Name Company Position
The Gunnery The Gunnery Audio Production House
Momentum Momentum Video Production House
Xindy Wang Ddb Group Singapore Account Manager
Rowena Bhagchandani Ddb Group Singapore Account Supervisor
Kimie Ong Ddb Group Singapore Producer
Leslie Goh Ddb Group Singapore Project Manager
Joey Yu Ddb Group Singapore Project Manager
Aaron Santos Ddb Group Singapore Server Administrator
Yishu See Ddb Group Singapore Web Developer
Mario Dinata Ddb Group Singapore Web Developer
Yeo Wee Lee Ddb Group Singapore Head Of Technology
Ngai Arh Chun Ddb Group Singapore Art Director
Adrian Yeap Ddb Group Singapore Copywriter
Lester Lee Ddb Group Singapore Associate Creative Director
Khalid Osman Ddb Group Singapore Creative Director
Thomas Yang Ddb Group Singapore Deputy Executive Creative Director/Head Of Art/Design
Joji Jacob Ddb Group Singapore Group Executive Creative Director
Neil Johnson Ddb Group Singapore Chief Creative Officer

The Brief

StarHub is one of Singapore's largest mobile carriers. Every year, StarHub does its part for society by raising money and calling for volunteers on behalf of its adopted charity, the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) – Singapore's only 24-hour suicide prevention hotline. Unfortunately, media space is limited and costly, and there is only so much time and money that StarHub can give. So what more can a mobile carrier do to help the Samaritans without spending more money?

Creative Execution

The average caller makes 6 calls a day and spends 6.2 seconds waiting for his call to be answered. So a population of 2.5 million mobile users will spend a total of 25,000 hours listening to ringback tones each day. With Donate-A-Tone, StarHub turned the ubiquitous ringback tone, something that all mobile users have but paid little attention to, into a new, cost-free donation platform that helps SOS spread their message.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

StarHub decided to turn to its biggest asset – 2.5 million mobile subscribers, and turn them into messengers of good. Introducing Donate-A-Tone: A non-profit innovation that lets you turn your ringback tone into a message by SOS. Utilizing a previously unused media channel that taps into Singapore's largest mobile network, StarHub users can now help SOS spread their message. On top of that, callers listening to the message can also adopt it and make it their own, thus helping to amplify SOS' call for volunteers and donations.

Results

With a 100% engagement rate, the message by the Samaritans reached out to everyone and anyone, making it far more effective than traditional media. In two months, a total of 141,840 tones became our message worth $1.4 million in media space – without spend a cent on media. The Samaritans raised 17 times the donations they received the same time last year and a 450% increase in the number of volunteer enquiries. For two consecutive months, SOS' message was the most downloaded tone of the month. With that, Donate-A-Tone proved that when the call to do good came, Singapore answered.