Sos Atlantic Rainforest Foundation: "PEE IN THE SHOWER" Promo / PR Ad by F/nazca Saatchi&saatchi

Type of entry: Sectors & Services
Category: Environmental PR
Advertiser: SOS ATLANTIC FOREST FOUNDATION
Product/Service: INSTITUTIONAL
Agency: F/NAZCA SAATCHI & SAATCHI São Paulo, BRAZIL

Creative Director: Fabio Fernandes (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Creative Director: Eduardo Lima (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Creative Director: Alexandre Soares (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Copywriter: Eduardo Lima (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Art Director: João Linneu (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Public Relations Manager: Maria Clara Cacaia Jorge (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Account Manager: Daniela Keller (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Planning Director: Fernand Alphen (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)
Planning Manager: Dorian Dack (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi)

Describe the campaign/entry:
The SOS Mata Atlantica Foundation is a Brazilian non-profit organization, founded in 1986, working towards the protection of the Atlantic Rain Forest (Mata Atlantica), one of the richest ecosystems in terms of biodiversity, and also one of the most threatened with extinction on the planet.
Describe the brief from the client:
To make responsible water consumption the topic of conversation within Brazilian households. Brazilian Teens 16- 24 years old, who up till then where not seen as catalysts for change. 52% of those between the ages of 16-24 believe that individuals are responsible for developing the country’s environmental solutions; while 60% of those aged 60+ believe this responsibility belongs to the State. So, instead of educating the mum’s and dad’s of every household, SOS decided to reach out to their kids and have them take the lead in educating the family on how they could save water.
Results:
The campaign was originally aimed to the Brazilian public only but it generated buzz all over the world in more than 66 countries, in 5 continents. The campaign website had more than 450,000 unique visitors from May 2009 to march 2010. Since the video launch on YouTube it has had almost 1 million views. In Brazil, the campaign appeared, as spontaneous media, in all major news shows in open and cable TV. There was also a great buzz in newspapers, magazines and blogs and news related sites.
Internationally, major newspapers, TV news shows and websites discussed the campaign: Le Monde, The New York Times, AOL, The Guardian and China Daily. The investment in media and promotion was literally zero and the estimated return, in spontaneous media was US$700.767,73 in print, US$4.494.120,53 in TV and US$15.447.189,10 in digital. Total estimated media return: US$20.642.189,36.
Execution:
In April, 09 print ads and a 30’ spot were launched as an invitation to the Foundation’s annual event ‘Viva a Mata’ to learn about how peeing in the shower could help protect the environment. The campaign officially launched in May during ‘Viva a Mata’ where a large number of teens were expected to attend through academic field trips. Local TV channels were invited to cover the event, further helping reveal the campaign. A special strategy with bloggers and news sites was made:the content of the campaign is highly viral so digital was a key element of the PR approach. Influential bloggers were granted advance access to the campaign content. Digital was a key elemento of the PR strategy: Twitter, Youtube and approach with bloggers. The campaign ran according to plan however the repercussion was much greater than expected. The plan took account of Brazilian media outlets only but the buzz went international.
The Situation:
We found that environmental campaigns often generated a strong sense of rejection, guilt and hopelessness on the part of the public. SOS Mata Atlantica was in great need of a new approach to get its message not only heard, but also shared. As a non-profit organization, SOS has no media budget at all so we can’t count on traditional media exposition. All its campaigns must have a strong PR effort to make it truly heard and seen by the population.
The Strategy:
We knew that teens are more opinionated, passionate and adamant in their beliefs, thus more likely to publicize them. To enter in dialogue with a younger target audience, S.O.S. needed to adopt a transparent, fun and innovative language, one that would catch their attention and make them rally for its cause. Also, at an age where the DON’TS often outweigh the DO’S, a fun and polemic natured message that places no strain on its audience was in order. Teens also often feel like they live in a ‘parallel universe’ in relation to the rest of the world and often hold adverse reactions to everything traditional. Everything from our core message, to the methods we used to get people involved was geared to put them in the driver’s seat in ways never been done before.In this context, working with blogs, and fomenting spontaneous media was essential to the success of the campaign to mobilize people and generate awareness to the cause.