Brief
As a charity, UNHCR were granted the use of Trafalgar Square for a fundraising event for World Refugee Day. With a low budget that would barely cover the cost of information materials our agency was invited to help the charity find a way to stand out using some of the assets of a previous award-winning exhibition we had created for them.
Approach
Our plan was to bring the harsh reality of being a refugee to life by creating a refugee camp populated with UNHCR’s own resources. Our amplification strategy involved using the budget to cover material costs alone, appealing to existing sponsors, suppliers and others to join us in an important humanitarian cause while gaining publicity from their involvement.
Communicating our plan to others we were able to project manage an overall experience that centred around a Darfuri burning hut strewn with the possessions of a fleeing family. The windscreens of two Toyota Landcruisers were converted to projection displays using materials provided by Rosco and inFocus. Paramount a leading theme production company created our burning hut prop while we provided the overall concept, graphics, technology and branding.
Outcomes
- £5000 investment generated an estimated £2m return from media coverage.
- Significantly contributed to fundraising and brand awareness.
- Raised audience empathy with Refugee causes.
- Raised awareness of UNHCRs work
- Viral social media effect
- Covered by 350 global TV channels
- Organisations involved created own publicity
- Burning Hut prop re-used for subsequent conference gaining additional news coverage.