Subsidio

Background

In Portugal, nearly all public and private sector employees receive an extra month’s salary in the summer and Christmas holidays. This is called subsídio. One of the first measures the government took when the economic crisis began to bite was to do away with these extra payments.

In the run-up to Christmas, when no-one would be getting a bonus this year, RFM Radio thought they would try to give people some glimmer of hope. They brought back the subsídio.

Idea

Taking advantage of the US Presidential election, RFM promoted the return of the subsídio in the manner of a political campaign. The different radio presenters were depicted as election candidates, declaring they would do what no politician could: keep their promises.

Each DJ/candidate was given his own radio airtime, poster and online advertising promising to bring back the subsídio and urging listeners to enter the competition.

Sadly, RFM could only provide 10 listeners with a subsídio for Christmas but participation levels were high.

Results

70,338 people entered the competition through Facebook but Facebook fans grew by 150,729 during the campaign period.

30 on-air calls were made to find 10 happy winners in Portugal. 

Our Thoughts

This is a fairly simple on-air promotion but at a time when most advertisers are trying to avoid talking about the financial crisis, this would have required a certain amount of courage at the client end. No-one wants to be reminded how grim the mood is. On the other hand, brands that understand what their customers are going through and can express empathy as well as sympathy will not only win friends now but will win market share later, as the economy recovers.