The Campaign

ANZAC Day is the day Australians pay their respects to the brave men and women who served their country. They take a minute of silence to remember the fallen and make a donation to help those who came home. PROBLEM: To raise funds, the ANZAC Appeal has always relied on veterans selling badges on the street. But with more people paying for things on card, fewer carry cash. We needed to find a new way for them to donate. The ANZAC Appeal receives a lot of support from the older generation, but needed to be reinvigorated to make it relevant to a younger audience. SOLUTION: Fewer people carry cash but everyone carries a mobile phone. We devised a simple and powerful way people could use their phones to donate and pay their respects. We set up a phone line, where people could pay to listen to a minute of silence.

Success of the Campaign

Paying to listen to a minute of silence on your phone - such an innovative approach from a charity certainly got fingers dialling and tongues wagging. Especially among our younger target. Results included: o 10,000 website hits on the first night o National and International news coverage o Three days after launch our campaign went ‘global’ as the 3rd highest trending topic in the world on Twitter o Massive PR coverage with over $2 million of earned media o But most importantly, this year’s appeal raised over $3 million for veterans and their families.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

We set up a phone line where people could call and pay to listen to a Minute of Silence. Over 80 servicemen and women recorded our minute of silence. This was filmed and shown in our TV commercial. The TVC was part of a national campaign including cinema, print, outdoor, radio and social media, all encouraging people to phone the number. You simply called the number, listened to the recorded silence and money from the call went to help veterans and their families. No credit cards, no apps, no downloads, the donation went straight onto your phone bill. After hanging up, people received an SMS containing a video ‘thank you’ message from a veteran. Donors were also encouraged to the share the campaign via social media and visit the website. The website featured a series of very emotional films were real veterans reflected on their own personal Minute of Silence.