The Children’s Mobile ‘Sofia Model’

Background

In Bulgaria, thousands of abandoned children live on the streets of the capital city of Sofia without a roof over their head or the protection of a family. The newly founded charity Prijateli (Friends) endeavours to give these children a stable home in a network of foster families. Prijateli urgently needs financial support to do this.

Idea

The donation market today is stagnant and organisations are becoming more professional in their fundraising activities. It has never been more difficult for newcomers to acquire donations. Because of this overall fundraising saturation, OgilvyOne worldwide concentrated on a small but promising segment of German companies - those that were already active in Bulgaria. To achieve maximum impact, they decided to take a hard-hitting, heartbreaking and involving approach. In the first step, the addressee received a box masquerading as a cute mobile for children. On the outside of the box were product statements such as ‘now even more realistic!’ and ‘Influences development from as early as two years old’. The content, however, was far from child-friendly, including elements from the street such as broken glass, a condom, glue, a syringe and an empty cigarette packet. The letter described the fact that this ‘mobile’ reflects the everyday life of abandoned children in Sofia. A few days later the Bulgarian consulate introduced itself as a co-partner of the charity. A detailed brochure as well as a money transfer form for donations was included with the letter.

Results

Within three weeks of mailing, 11% of the contacted companies had sent a donation.

Target Audience

German companies already active in Bulgaria

Size

420 packs

Our Thoughts

I have a particular bug-bear, which is how many 3D mailings send items which make an immediate point, yes, but which are of no intrinsic value, and, so, get binned. I had this down as one of those – no one in their right mind would ever get the mobile out of the box, let alone hang it. But it’s so unpleasant that the point it makes is likely to linger long in the memory.