Done and Dusted!!!!
Hitting our clients campaign target is always such a great feeling, but blowing them out of the water is something else.
We recently completed work on the #35SmilesIn35Days fundraising campaign for our client Operation Smile South Africa where we managed to help raise a total of R350,000, totally 63 smiles over the 35-day period which means 63 children can now receive life-changing surgery
The campaign was launched on the Expresso Morning Show on World Smile Day – Friday, 6 October with Operation Smile ambassadors David Grier, Liezel van der Westhuizen and Operation Smile volunteer, Dr Clare Nesser.
View the Expresso Morning Show insert below:
The aim of the #35SmilesIn35Days campaign was to raise a minimum of R5,500 per day, the cost of a smile surgery; a total of R192,000 over the 35 days, where all funds donated will help fund either or both cleft lip and palate care for children and adults from under-resourced areas across South Africa.
What did we conceptualise and create?
What we created was a multi channel campaign that ticked the TV, Radio, social media and PR boxes. Our main strategy was to create engaging content featuring various high profile Operation Smile ambassadors and local personalities Braam Malherbe, Catherine Grenfell, Chris Bertish, David Greer, Irma G, Liezel van der Westhuizen, Mamello ‘Mumz’ Mokoena and Sibongile Mafu. The campaign video also featured various existing corporate donors, the idea here to tie them into the content using their staff to create more engagement in the office and hopefully more social credibility amongst them.
Using existing content to keep costs down was the key with very little frills and shooting new content with a small team was all that was needed. The concept was simply lets create a challenge to South Africans everywhere and ask the question what could they do in 35 days?
Video was key to the success of the campaign, to help drive awareness and engage with potential and existing donors.
Watch the #35SmilesIn35Days campaign video:
Smaller bite sized versions of the campaign video were then used featuring each ambassador on their own which they could then share with their online communities so in affect have their own campaign branded content to put out to the world.
Thank you videos were also created using ambassadors, thanking backers or donors for their support, in essence rewarding them with some pretty high profile content with the idea of giving them bragging rights amongst peers.
Video testimonials was another angle that we pushed very hard. These came in the form of past patients, mothers in particular sharing their story of how their life had changed and how their child’s life was transform due to the work that Operation Smile does.
We also explored the angle of using nurse and doctor testimonials, talking about their experience and why they do what they do. In essence both of these strategies were developed to create emotional responses and the question; “What if that was my child?”
The main donation platform used was Thundafund. A crowd funding site that rewards donors for supporting a cause. In this case donors were rewarded for contributing with coffee vouchers, social media shouts to name a few.
Where does the number 35 come from?
This year is the 35th year that Operation Smile have been providing cleft lip and palette surgery to patients around the world. To celebrate this achievement Operation Smile launched their Until We Heal campaign globally, uniting like-minded advocates with global health and world leaders to advance access to safe surgery for all people with cleft conditions.
To support this campaign Operation Smile South Africa launched their #35SmilesIn35Days campaign, a challenge to every South African to get out there and make a difference to a child’s life forever.
To follow the campaign you can visit any of the following links:
#35SmilesIn35Days
www.untilweheal.org
www.facebook.com/operationsmileZA
www.instagram.com/opsmilesa
www.twitter.com/OpSmileSA