Background

In 2018 New Zealand’s suicide rate was the worst it had ever been, with the highest youth suicide rate in the OCED. New Zealand's leading Crisis helpline, Lifeline was founded on the belief that listening saves lives. But following a devastating funding cut, a quarter of the calls were going unanswered. Lifeline needed a lifeline. A campaign that would motivate Kiwis to donate to keep this critical service open. We needed to raise $300,000, enough to fund Lifeline’s free helpline for another year helping them to save more Kiwi lives.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

Instead of talking about the tragedy of death we flipped the conversation by turning our appeal into a celebration of life. The 27 Club is made up of celebrated musicians (including Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin), who all died at the age of 27. To raise awareness and donations for Lifeline, we turned the 27 Club on its head, by re-recording their songs with musicians who have lived to be old. The 72 Club's first single, a rerecording of Janis Joplin's 'Piece of my Heart' was launched online as a song and music video. We treated the launch like any other song release. And what song release would be complete without merchandise? The purpose of the merchandise was to both gain extra revenue and awareness for Lifeline and create a movement that people could join to show they wanted to live to 72 and beyond.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

Instead of treating the release of the song as a traditional fundraising or advertising campaign, we treated it like any other song release with a launch party, street posters, PR and a music video – all intended to generate substantial hype and talkability around The 72 Club. Every piece of communication directed New Zealanders to the 72 Club website where anyone could join the 72 Club by donating or buying 72 Club merchandise. The merchandise which included 72 club t-shirts, tote bags and a limited edition LP were also sent out to news presenters, music bloggers, radio DJs and social media influencers as part of a PR kit.

List the results (20% of vote)

The track appeared in the NZ iTunes charts, the campaign flooded social media and was talked about on the country’s biggest TV news shows and radio stations resulting in it reaching the equivalent of the entire New Zealand population several times over. This campaign needed to gain Lifeline $300,000 in donations. We reached and then nearly doubled that goal, far surpassing previous fundraising efforts for Lifeline and setting a new precedent for the organisation. And we generated a pipeline of higher value repeat donors, ensuring less canvassing work would need to be done for future appeals. But most importantly our campaign is now ensuring that Lifeline is not missing any critical calls, so more NZers can live to be old.