The Campaign

Tim Minchin and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra came together to create The Fading Symphony. Through the power of music they demonstrated the cruel degenerative effects of Motor Neurone Disease. Together they performed Crowded House’s ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, but not as we know it. The song is re-arranged so sections of the orchestra fade out one by one. Minchin is the only performer left but he is not immune. He stops playing, singing and then breathing. The screen goes black, a donate button appears. Those who donate are rewarded with the orchestra coming back to life.

Creative Execution

Implementation The Fading Symphony performance was housed on a variety of social media channels. Those who donated were sent to a microsite to complete the donation and enjoy the second video of the orchestra coming back to life. The reward of the second video was designed to give a sense of hope and also a twist that would encourage people to share the video. • Placement The video was placed on Tim Minchin’s Twitter and Facebook pages. The social channels of the SSO and Tim Finn from Crowded House also hosted the video. Additionally a microsite housed the videos and donation mechanic. • Scale The campaign leveraged some of Australia’s most high profile musicians Tim Minchin has 1.4 million followers, most of which are highly engaged. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra also has a highly engaged audience of 10k. The song is one of Australia’s most loved and well known.

Without any substantial budget for paid media, the awareness and donation objectives relied on social media influencers, organic shares and PR. The Fading Symphony became the most shared video in MND Australia’s history, and has and over 463,000 social media engagements with a social reach of 17 million. The campaign garnered 38 pieces of editorial coverage, including a 3 minute feature of free-to-air Channel 9 and coverage on TV network SBS, major radio station ABC 702, and the Huffington Post. But most importantly, we’ve helped raise over $70,000 (and counting) to help fight MND.

The Fading Symphony was a direct response campaign, created specifically to raise donations and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease Australia.

• Target audience (consumer demographic/individuals/organisations)  The target market was not limited to a specific demographic. It was targeted at music lovers across the globe and fans of Tim Minchin. • Approach The approach to use music was based on research that showed audiences would be more engaged with video content that is based around music. With no media or seeding budget it was critical to find a high profile musician with a large social media following. Tim Minchin has over 1.4 million highly engaged twitter followers, most of which are divided between our target audiences in Australia and the UK. • Call to action The call to action needed to be simple - donate now. However it needed to be integrated with the idea and offer an unexpected reward for those who did donate. Those who clicked though were rewarded with The Fading Symphony coming back to life.