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Background

Fundación Vicente Ferrer is an NGO based in India and Spain, dedicated to the development of one of the poorest regions of India, Anantapur. This region is plagued by poor rains and a social structure that continues to discriminate against the 'untouchables'. The purpose of this campaign was to raise awareness of the plight of children in Anantapur and increase the number of child sponsors.

Idea

A simple email lets recipients feel what it's like to wait for food and water. When the email is opened, a message appears on the screen saying that an image is loading. Five, 10 and then 15 seconds go by; the message doesn't change and the recipient gets increasingly frustrated. At last, while the image is still loading, some words appear at the bottom of the screen: 'tired of waiting?' This is followed by a short piece of copy explaining that the frustration the recipient has just experienced at being made to wait is nothing compared to the agony of expectation experienced by millions of children every day in Anantapur. See the email here: http://www.tiempobbdo.com/press/eng/fvf/

Results

Within just a few days, more than 20% of recipients had clicked through to the website for more information about child sponsorship.

Our Thoughts

One way to create impact is by playing around with people’s expectations, which is exactly what this does. You expect the e-mail to open up quickly. After fifteen seconds, just as you’re about to click out of the whole thing, you get the reason why you’ve been kept waiting.