GOLD: The Tourette Syndrome Foundation’s random documentary
Also won: Bronze AToMiC Idea
The Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada (TSFC) needed to make Canadians aware of what Tourette Syndrome (TS) really is. Many people think that it’s simply the “swearing disease,” but TS is many things: physical tics, vocal outbursts, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety attacks, sometimes all at once.
It is a remarkably difficult and complex disorder to understand and explain. And that became the brief: explain the unexplainable.
The TSFC decided to tell as many real TS stories as they could, in a way that mimics the unpredictable nature of the disorder. The result was the @Random documentary project, launched in April 2011.
They worked with filmmakers and TS families across Canada to create dozens of films about real people with TS. Then, to evoke the disorder’s unpredictable nature, these shorter films were randomly arranged online to make up larger documentaries. Every time someone visits Atrandom.ca, they see a new collection of stories, making each viewing totally different and unique, just like TS.
This project took two years and the collaboration of hundreds of people. The TSFC connected with families living with TS across Canada to allow their stories to be told.
Working with a tiny honorarium of about $1,000 each, two dozen filmmakers inserted themselves into the lives of Canadians living with TS. The individual films have been selections at festivals like Hot Docs, TIFF and the Palm Springs Shortfest, where one of the films won Best Short Documentary.
This collaboration has been remarkably successful for the TSFC. In just six weeks,
@Random attracted 17,000+ viewers who immersed themselves in TS via the website and films. The project was featured on the CTV Evening News, generating valuable PR and an estimated earned media value of $45,000. The site was featured on dozens of influential marketing blogs from Creativity and Ads of the World, to the San Francisco Egotist and the Inspiration Room. Most importantly, many people with TS thanked the team for portraying the disorder as it really is.
Credits:
Client: The Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Canada
ECDs: Helen Pak, Brian Sheppard, Brett Channer
Art director: Helen Pak
Copywriter: Brian Sheppard
Design & Development: Pixelpusher
Production Company: Lunch
Agency Producer: Matt Shipp
Digital Creative Direction: Andrew Harris
Design: Steven Lo
Programming: Jonathan Coe
Interactive Producer: Venicia Wood
Producer: Lily-Ann Lee
Executive Producer: Amy Miranda
BRONZE: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism’s quick contest
To generate awareness and interest in the province, and to celebrate its unique time zone, NL Tourism developed the 48 Half Hours Contest – a slightly off-kilter travel giveaway held entirely online. Working with Target, on June 22, NL Tourism paired with WestJet to launch one of the biggest travel contests in the province’s history. In just 48 half hours, entrants were given chances to win a free round-trip flight to NL – one every half hour. People could enter as many times as they liked, and winners were announced live every half hour.
The contest framework was developed with Strutta, one of three Facebook-preferred vendors in Canada. The custom-built engagement console, developed with Radian6, allowed Target to monitor chatter, and evolved the contest from “just another giveaway” into an active, engaged online community.
During the contest, 1,400 audience posts were made on NL Tourism’s wall, and its posts accumulated 1.3 million views. The contest received 900,000 entries or 620 per minute.
Credits:
Client: Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism
Agency: Target
CD: Tom Murphy
Creative Group Head: Jenny Smith
Copywriter : Terri Roberts
Art Director: Jeff McLean
Digital Account Manager: Matt Tucker
Account Director: Ernie Brake
Group Account Director: Catherine Kelly
Web/Flash Developer : Chris Da Sie
Public Relations Manager: Clare-Marie Grigg
Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism:
Director of Marketing: Carmela Murphy
Manager of Advertising and Communications: Andrea Peddle
Advertising Officer: Denise Seach
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