Reality Xmas
Doctors of the World
Issue 43 | June 2017
Agency
McCann London
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officers Laurence Thomson, Rob Doubal Creative Director Mike Oughton Art Director Olly Wood Copywriter Matt Searle Head of Art Dan Howarth
Production Team
Retoucher Rob MacDonald Studio Manager Ellis Faint Print Producer Liam White Artworker Muhammad Qasim Producer Michelle Prinsloo Art Buying Pam Oskam Head of Integrated Production Sergio Lopez
Other Credits
Marketing Executive Rami Noumann Account Director Francois d’Espagnac Account Manager Tom Baines Planner Charlotte Walters Business Director AJ Coyne Director of Communications Louise Ringrose
Date
December 2016
Background
From Aleppo and Yemen, to the refugee crises and beyond, conflict across the Middle East in 2016, and its many repercussions, had presented a bleak outlook going into the festive period. Humanitarian charity Doctors of The World, whose fearless volunteers provided vital medical aid across the region, needed to raise awareness and donations at this critical time.
Idea
Every Christmas, romanticised images of the ‘Holy Land’ are posted out as greetings cards. Everything looks calm and peaceful. Yet today, the Middle East is ravaged by war. Doctors of the World sought to remind people of this inconvenient truth with #RealityXmas, a set of Christmas cards designed to spark debate, provoke outrage, get petition signatures and increase donations. Combining traditional nativity scenes with 2016 editorial war images, the cards went global, gaining an unprecedented response.
Results
The cards created 1.78 billion online impressions, a 1853% increase in website traffic, acting as a catalyst for 152,468 ‘Free Aleppo’ petition signatures, and helping donations soar 336% above the initial target, enabling Doctors of The World volunteers to continue to provide medical aid across the Middle East.
Our Thoughts
Regular readers of Directory will know what great fans we are of direct mail because it is tangible. When you can turn something over in your hands, it tends to stick longer in the mind. These cards and their disturbing images will linger for quite some time.
At Cannes Lions, a piece of DM hasn’t won Gold in ten years. This must be in with a shout, not just because it is a brilliantly simple idea but because it was so successful in drumming up donations. I’d love to know what the actual ROI was. I would expect it to be around £750 raised for every £1 spent.