Talking about life
GO&M encourage people to think about organ transplantation
GO&M encourages people to think about organ transplantsBrun Bruno AmstutzThe agency Grendene Ogilvy & Mather (GO&M) is tackling a sensitive topic: On behalf of Zurich University Hospital, it is drawing attention to the problem of organ donation.
The acute shortage of donor organs in Switzerland gave rise to a campaign with an unusual theme. There are only fourteen organ donors for every million inhabitants, and the trend is falling. Donor cards are few and far between, and there is no central database of organ donors.
In order to clarify the willingness to donate, the relatives of the deceased must be consulted as a source of information. They, in turn, can only provide reliable information if a dialog on the subject has taken place beforehand. The campaign's message is that organ donation must be discussed during a person's lifetime, with relatives, friends and acquaintances.
The GO&M team threw themselves into the unusual task with enthusiasm and, according to copywriter Guillermo Garcia, developed around fifteen different campaigns of all kinds: "The spectrum ranged from informative to shocking, from gravestones and images of saints to children who need a new organ." The use of celebrities was also up for discussion. The model for this approach was provided by the USA, where basketball star Michael Jordan has been donating his famous name to transplant campaigns since 1996.
More communication with existential questions
"However, you reach your limits very quickly with a topic like this," says senior consultant Peter Roth, "the campaign should attract attention, but not offend anyone." The consequence was to avoid all distracting factors, not only shocking images of death, but also celebrities. What has remained is a very factual and simple campaign that clearly states what it wants: more communication on the subject of organ transplantation.
The first wave of teaser posters and advertisements have been on display in the Zurich area since mid-June, raising existential questions: Is there life after death? Can people still be saved? Does life make sense? A background of crumpled paper makes it clear that such questions often end up unprocessed in the mental wastepaper basket, especially among the younger generation.
The agency will provide a joint response in the following weeks, highlighting the life-saving qualities of organ donation. The timing of the campaign was chosen to coincide with European Organ Donation Day on June 22. In addition to the print and poster presence, GO&M has planned accompanying measures, from cards for free and cards with donor cards to its own website www.organtransplant.ch.
The acute shortage of donor organs in Switzerland gave rise to a campaign with an unusual theme. There are only fourteen organ donors for every million inhabitants, and the trend is falling. Donor cards are few and far between, and there is no central database of organ donors.
In order to clarify the willingness to donate, the relatives of the deceased must be consulted as a source of information. They, in turn, can only provide reliable information if a dialog on the subject has taken place beforehand. The campaign's message is that organ donation must be discussed during a person's lifetime, with relatives, friends and acquaintances.
The GO&M team threw themselves into the unusual task with enthusiasm and, according to copywriter Guillermo Garcia, developed around fifteen different campaigns of all kinds: "The spectrum ranged from informative to shocking, from gravestones and images of saints to children who need a new organ." The use of celebrities was also up for discussion. The model for this approach was provided by the USA, where basketball star Michael Jordan has been donating his famous name to transplant campaigns since 1996.
More communication with existential questions
"However, you reach your limits very quickly with a topic like this," says senior consultant Peter Roth, "the campaign should attract attention, but not offend anyone." The consequence was to avoid all distracting factors, not only shocking images of death, but also celebrities. What has remained is a very factual and simple campaign that clearly states what it wants: more communication on the subject of organ transplantation.
The first wave of teaser posters and advertisements have been on display in the Zurich area since mid-June, raising existential questions: Is there life after death? Can people still be saved? Does life make sense? A background of crumpled paper makes it clear that such questions often end up unprocessed in the mental wastepaper basket, especially among the younger generation.
The agency will provide a joint response in the following weeks, highlighting the life-saving qualities of organ donation. The timing of the campaign was chosen to coincide with European Organ Donation Day on June 22. In addition to the print and poster presence, GO&M has planned accompanying measures, from cards for free and cards with donor cards to its own website www.organtransplant.ch.
