The small coin made to make a difference
The Royal Australian Mint
Issue 58 | March 2021
Agency
Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Mike Spirkovski Executive Creative Director Simon Bagnasco Creative Director Lee Sunter Senior Creative/Copywriter Adam Ferrie Senior Creative/Art Director Peter Cvetkovski
Production Team
Head of Design Matt Alpass Production Company Revolver
Other Credits
Managing Director Mark Cochrane Group Account Director Leah Williams Executive Strategy Director Alex Speakman Strategist Jack Gilbert
Date
September 2020, ongoing
Background
The digital revolution has changed currency forever. Unfortunately, carrying fewer coins has had unintended consequences which the pandemic has made worse. Out-ofpocket, impulse donations to worthy causes have decreased.
Idea
The Donation Dollar was launched on the International Day of Charity 2020, across PR, TV, Press, OOH, Online, and Social. It is an innovative way to prompt Australians to give regularly to charity.
Over time, the Royal Australian Mint aims to produce twenty-five million of the coins, which are legal tender and now in circulation.
It can be spent like any other $1 coin but is a daily reminder to Australians they can make a positive impact on the lives of others in need.
It is the first coin in the world designed with a call-to-action. It is also the first Australian coin with an interactive design. The green centre wears down the more the coin is donated, revealing golden ripples which symbolise its continuing impact in the lives of those in need.
If every Australian donated just one Donation Dollar each month, they’d raise an additional $300 million for charity each year and $9 billion over the coin’s lifecycle.
Results
The Donation Dollar has been embraced by the Australian public. 88.9%+ of the Australian population has been reached with 99.9% positive sentiment Within the first two months, 53% of Donation Dollars found were donated.
Other countries are interested in the innovative idea.
Our Thoughts
By the time the Mint has finished, they could be responsible for the largest OOH campaign in history, with 25 million little ads out there. And the longest lasting.
Each dollar has a lifespan of 30 years. One Australian newspaper was outraged that Saatchi & Saatchi got paid for the idea and for promoting it. Tcha! My bet is that hundreds, possibly thousands, of charities will be grateful to the agency for making it easy for people to give, even those who don’t normally support charities. Hell, it’s only a dollar!