Jewish Council For Education & Research: "The Great Schlep" Ambient Advert by Droga5

Type of Entry: Use of Media
Category: Direct Response Digital: e-commerce, online advertising & brand awareness
Title: THE GREAT SCHLEP
Advertiser/Client: JEWISH COUNCIL FOR EDUCATION & RESEARCH
Product/Service: THE GREAT SCHLEP
Entrant Company: DROGA5 New York, USA
DM/Advertising Agency: DROGA5 New York, USA
Creative Credits
Name Company Position
David Droga Droga5 Creative Chairman
Andrew Essex Droga5 CEO
Ted Royer/Duncan Marshall Droga5 Executive Creative Director
Jeff Anderson Droga5 Art Director
Isaac Silverglate Droga5 Copywriter
Craig Batzofin Droga5 Director Of Digital Services
Scott Witt Droga5 Creative Director Of Digital Media
Kenny Kim Droga5 Designer
Sarah Silverman Writer
Wayne Mcclammy Oil Factory Director
Heidi Herzon Oil Factory Executive Producer
Rhet Bear Oil Factory Director Of Photography
Josh Reynolds Editor
Gabriel Connoly Liberty Concepts Producer
Pascal Rettig Liberty Concepts Programmer
Oil Factory Oil Factory Production Company
Details
Describe the brief from the client:
Our assignment was to help Barack Obama win the Presidency of the United States by targeting voters in any key battleground state. Florida was such a key battleground state, and in 08’, it was up for grabs. An important voting group in Florida is its elderly Jews, but they were skeptical about Obama due to misinformation. So, in order to get elderly Jews to vote for Obama, we targeted the one group they’d listen to: Their grandchildren, and encouraged them to visit their grandparents in Florida to educate them about Obama. This intergenerational conversation was the key to our campaign: The Great Schlep.
Creative Execution:
There are 400,000 elderly Jewish Voters in Florida, and like most elderly voters, the vast majority of them vote. This makes them a powerful voting block in Florida, and if Obama were to win a large percentage of them (despite their initial reservations) he’d win the election. In addition, since the majority of young Jews, like most young people in general, were Obama supporters, targeting them directly figured to be most effective. And besides, what Jewish grandparent wouldn’t want a visit form their beloved grandchild?
Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.
We launched the campaign with a website aimed at inspiring, educating and connecting young Jewish people about the Great Schlep. The website consisted of Obama information/videos for viewing and sharing, a Great Schlep Facebook community component, talking points for engaging Jewish grandparents about Obama, and an online store with Schlep merchandise. In order to drive traffic to the website, we created a viral video about the Great Schlep. This video was seeded on a few video-sharing website sites, such as YouTube, and on the Great Schlep homepage. Our goal was to drive enough traffic to the website/Facebook group so as to create a movement with real political impact.
Describe the results in as much detail as possible.
Within a few weeks, The Great Schlep Facebook group had 25,000 members, and the Great Schlep talking points had been downloaded 1.2 million times. The Great Schlep was featured in every major American newspaper and on all major television stations. Networks such as CNN and ABC followed “Schleppers” to Florida from all over the country. The Great Schlep video featuring Sarah Silverman was hosted on thousands of blogs gaining more than 4 million views. The Great Schlep campaign received 342 million media impressions. On Election Day, Obama received the highest percentage of Florida’s Jewish voters in 30 years, and won Florida by 3 points. (Source: Optimedia)