Win a breast reconstruction
Benetiet
Issue 38 | March 2016
Agency
LDV United
Creative Team
Art Direction Thomas Thysens Copy Frederik Clarysse Creative Director Kristof Snels
Production Team
Account Julie Oostvogels Digital Producer Eli Hermans
Other Credits
Head of strategy Kristof Janssens Strategic Planner Eline Goethals
Date
June 2015
Background
Every year, fashion store ZEB ran a campaign designed to stir up controversy. In 2015, they drew attention to themselves by running a competition with €5,000-worth of cosmetic surgery as the prize. To win, Belgians were invited to go to zebcutsthecrap.be.
Idea
The day after ZEB launched their campaign, Benetiet hijacked it by creating a new website, benetietcutsthecrap. be, where the charity's founder, Yamina Krossa, uploaded her letter to ZEB claiming the prize.
Yamina had suffered from breast cancer herself but had discovered that health insurance did not cover the costs of breast reconstruction. Apparently it was considered as cosmetic surgery.
ZEB's prize money, she said, could mean so much more than a flatter stomach or slightly fuller lips. It could mean the recovery of a damaged identity.
Results
In reconstructing a bad campaign to serve a good cause, Yamina got on radio and major news channels. The result: a donation of €5,000 almost immediately from ZEB and the beginnings of a partnership between the two organisations. More importantly, though, one outcome was a broader knowledge of Benetiet and a place on the political agenda.
Our Thoughts
A lot of marketers think that as brand owners they can start a conversation. Then they find no-one is at all interested in what they have to say. Much better to butt in on a conversation that has already started and which has got people going. Congratulations to both agency and client for seizing the moment and inserting Benetiet into the discussion. It ended up being good news for ZEB as well. Starting out with a tasteless promotion, they ended up getting a load of likes for doing the right thing. They too seized the moment and responded immediately to Benetiet.
Truly, marketing is now a 24/7 occupation.