Caritas and Serviceplan Suisse: No half measures for children
Playing alone is only half as much fun. By cutting playground equipment in half, Serviceplan Suisse, the Zurich-based agency, hopes to draw more attention to Caritas’s sponsorship program.
Caritas works for people affected by poverty in Switzerland: Single parents, the unemployed, the working poor, families. In this country, too, there are children, for example, who grow up in difficult circumstances and receive too little attention and support.
The reasons for this are manifold and range from a tight family budget to language difficulties and psychological stress on the parents. For these children, Caritas is looking for godparents who regularly spend time with them and accompany them on a stage of their lives, as well as donors who support this project.
Serviceplan draws attention to this concern by placing irritating playground equipment in the parks of community centers in cooperation with Caritas and Aroma. Equipment that can actually only be used with a playmate was cut in half. The idea was to make it possible to experience how a child feels who has to play alone because no one has time for him or her. Those who looked at the half seesaws and ping-pong tables up close could read the resolution on a plaque that links to more background information on the website.
Since Friday, Caritas has been sharing the dramatization of unmet children's needs in short clips on social media as well as in print ads. The campaign already generated attention on the day of installation, and the clips and ads are intended to lead to more sponsorships, donations and happy children.
Responsible at CaritasAndrea Früh (Head of "mit mir" Zurich); Roland Schuler (Communications Office German-speaking Switzerland in the Caritas network); Desirée Germann (Marketing Manager Caritas Switzerland); Isabelle Nold (Office "mit mir" Caritas Switzerland). Responsible at Serviceplan: Raul Serrat (Executive Creative Director); Michael Kathe, Nicolas Vontobel (CD); Moritz Lüth (AD); Jan Krohn, Jehmsei Keo (Text/Concept); Jonathan Heyer, Jasmine von Niederhäusern (Film and Photo); Dominic Häuptli (Consulting); Nathalie Jakober (Art Buying); Pam Hügli (Overall Responsibility). Production: All In Production. More: Aroma (playground equipment); GZ Schindlergut; Eulachpark Winterthur (location); Sam Bolleter with Eve Dutli (model).
