WARC Case Innovation Case Study

© Copyright Warc 2015. All rights reserved. Published: April, 2015
WARC TRENDS
THE INNOVATION
CASEBOOK 2015
>> Explore the world’s freshest communication ideas

Executive
summary >>
Chapter 1 >>
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2 >>
The power of utility
Chapter 3 >>
Social engagement
Chapter 4 >>
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5 >>
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Warc Trends >> Innovation Casebook 2015
© Copyright Warc 2015. All rights reserved. 2
Four ideas to take from this report
THINK LIKE A ‘CHALLENGER’
One way to drive innovation is to adopt a ‘challenger’ mindset. This can
be achieved by placing limitations or constraints on the resources avail-
able to tackle a problem. It may also involve collaboration with expert
partners who can bring fresh skills to bear on a problem.
BE FRUGAL
Most of the winning campaigns from the Warc Prize for Innovation had
very low media budgets and used social channels and earned media
to maximum effect. Again, this reflects the link between constrained
resources and innovative thinking.
BE USEFUL
‘Utility’ was a core theme in the Prize. Several campaigns focused
innovation on a brand’s product or service. Planners within agencies
increasingly require an understanding of product development to meet
client needs.
USE SOCIAL TO DRIVE A REAL-WORLD RESPONSE
Social media was the most-used media channel in the Prize. Several
winning cases used social to drive an offline response – for example, in-
store footfall or journeys on public transport. Tangible rewards for online
participation increased the effectiveness of social campaigns, both by
encouraging involvement and the related PR coverage this can generate.
1
2
3
4

Executive
summary >>
Chapter 1 >>
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2 >>
Chapter 3 >>
Social engagement
Chapter 4 >>
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5 >>
Changing channels
www.warc.com
26%
30%
16%
9%
15% 5%
Europe
Middle East & Africa
Asia
North America
Australia and New Zealand
Central & South America
This report summarises learnings
from the world’s most innovative
campaigns.
The winners of this year’s Warc Prize
for Innovation have been analysed
to identify key trends in innovative
marketing thinking. The conclusions
are drawn from a truly global set of
work. This year’s Prize had 97 entries
from 26 different countries including
the US, Brazil, China, United Arab
Emirates, New Zealand and Italy.
Innovation is top of the marketing
agenda as brands pursue growth.
But it is hard to define, beyond a
sense that it marks a break from
what went before. In the Prize,
entrants were asked to explain why
their strategies should be considered
innovative – they might use new
technology; or they might use old
technology in new ways; they might
rethink a brand’s products or ser-
vices, or they might bust a category’s
conventions. The key was to explain
why their ideas marked a break from
the norm, and link the innovations to
real business results.
Seventeen entries met this criteria,
and as well as the Grand Prix, other
special prizes were awarded for ex-
cellence in innovation in a product or
service, channel innovation, category
innovation, and technology-led in-
novation.
The Innovation Casebook organ-
ises these campaigns into major
themes identified from the entries to
the competition. Chapter 1 focuses
on the challenger mindset. One
characteristic of these innovative
campaigns is the way that agencies
approached a business problem in
collaboration with the client rather
than focusing purely on communica-
tions. These challengers used stra-
tegic partnerships to broaden their
expertise and reach and, rather than
being stymied by small budgets, they
made integrated, low-cost media
work harder.
A major theme across entries in
this year’s prize was utility – that is
looking beyond a communications
strategy to focus on the value of
the product itself. In Chapter 2 we
explore cases in which a new product
created for the campaign embod-
ied the brand values, or a practi-
cal insight was brought to life by
Executive summary
26
countries
were repre-
sented in the
entries to the
Warc Prize for
Innovation 2014
Where the Warc Prize for Innovation entries came from, by region

Executive
summary >>
Chapter 1 >>
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2 >>
Chapter 3 >>
Social engagement
Chapter 4 >>
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5 >>
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Optus used innovative technology to create buzz among potential customers
focusing on the product’s purpose.
Agencies are now required to have
expertise in all disciplines ranging
from awareness to product develop-
ment, and product specialists are
becoming an increasingly important
part of internal agency teams.
Many entries in the Warc Prize for
Innovation made good use of social
participation and social channels. In
Chapter 3 we see how these entries
extended social participation from
online to the real world and in so
doing created both greater customer
engagement and more PR buzz.
Chapter 4 focuses on the use of
the latest technology in winning
campaigns. Expertise in tech far
outside the realm of marketing was
employed to bring a message to life,
with Grand Prix winner Clever Buoy
calling on mechatronic engineers,
satellite experts and marine biolo-
gists. Many successfully innovative
campaigns in the competition were
decidedly low tech, but technology
can be synonymous with innovation
and the campaigns featured in this
chapter showcase how a bold use of
technology by marketers can lead to
strong business results.
Chapter 5 looks at how these in-
novative campaigns used media. A
reliance on social and earned media
was a feature of these low budget
campaigns, but winning entries also
used more media channels on aver-
age. The winners were more likely to
amplify their social messaging with
public relations and word of mouth
as well as use out of home and televi-
sion. Innovative media usage did not
always involve the latest digital tech-
nology, campaigns also impressed
by using existing media in new ways.
The campaigns featured in the
Innovation Casebook highlight the
newest marketing practices from
around the world, including case
studies from Brazil, Australia, the
United Kingdom, the United Arab
Emirates, and India. As well as
featuring innovative strategies to
inspire and educate, the case studies
also all demonstrate how these new
approaches produced powerful busi-
ness results.
Executive summary (contd)
The key
was to
explain why
campaign
ideas
marked a
break from
the norm,
and link the
innovations
to real
business
results

Executive
summary >>
Chapter 1 >>
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2 >>
Chapter 3 >>
Social engagement
Chapter 4 >>
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5 >>
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Brands featured in this report
FEATURED CASE STUDIES
Chapter 1
Optus, ‘Clever Buoy’, Australia
Lifebuoy, ‘Help a child reach 5’,
India
Coca-Cola, ‘Two worlds. One song’,
Middle East
Chapter 2
UTEC, ‘Potable water generator’, Peru
Depaul UK, ‘Don’t raise money, make
money’, UK
Colgate Equity, ‘Grinners are win-
ners’, Australia
Chapter 3
SmartLife, ‘SAPNA – how 17,793
nails changed the future of genera-
tions to come’, UAE
Virgin Mobile Australia, ‘Game of
Phones’, Australia
Ponle Corazón, ‘Searching for
hearts’, Peru
SmartLife, ‘Adopt-A-Labourer pre-
sents Hello Education’, UAE
Antarctica, ‘Beer ticket’, Brazil
Chapter 4
Audi, ‘Instant valuation billboard’,
Brazil
UTEC, ‘1200 trees-like purifying bill-
board’, Peru
Mercedes-Benz, ‘Sound with power’,
UK
Chapter 5
Kan Khajura Station, ‘From the dark
to connectivity’, India
Mercedes A-Class, ‘#YouDrive’, UK
Vodafone, ‘Ghita the social shep-
herd’, Romania
All case studies were winners in the
Warc Prize for Innovation 2014
Optus (top left),
UTEC (bottom
left), Virgin
Mobile (middle),
Coca-Cola (top-
right), Mercedes-
Benz (near-right),
SmartLife (far-
right)

Executive
summary >>
Chapter 1 >>
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2 >>
Chapter 3 >>
Social engagement
Chapter 4 >>
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5 >>
Changing channels
www.warc.com © Copyright Warc 2015. All rights reserved. 6
CHAPTER 1
THE INNOVATION
MINDSET
>> How a challenger mentality can deliver breakthrough results

Executive
summary >>
Chapter 1 >>
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2 >>
Chapter 3 >>
Social engagement
Chapter 4 >>
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5 >>
Changing channels
www.warc.com
At a glance The innovation mindset
1 One way to drive innovative thinking is to adopt a ‘challenger’
mindset. Innovation requires bringing fresh thinking to a problem;
sometimes this can be achieved by placing limitations or con-
straints on the resources available to tackle a problem – a chal-
lenger should have ambitions larger than their resources.
2 Winning campaigns in the Warc Prize for Innovation certainly did
more with less. These campaigns were constrained by small budg-
ets with, more than 60% having a media budget of less than $500k.
Leveraging social channels and generating significant buzz, these
ambitious campaigns translated innovation into impressive results.
3 One way to respond to constrained resources is to seek collabo-
ration. Innovative brands in the Warc Prize for Innovation used
partnerships in various ways to boost their campaigns – to broaden
the reach of the communications, to bring to life a key insight or to
make the most of limited resources.
4 A challenger mindset was demonstrated by the Grand Prix winner,
Optus. The Clever Buoy campaign addressed a brand problem by
creating a new product, which physically demonstrated the mobile
network’s strength, and in so doing rewrote a brand conversation
formerly focused on its second-in-category status.
KEY INSIGHTS

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Warc Trends Innovation Casebook 2015
Comment What is innovation?
“It’s a state of mind; it’s about doing new things.
Innovation is simply about seeing the world in a different
way.”
Christian Purser, Chief Digital Officer, MC Saatchi
(winning agency of Warc Prize for Innovation 2014)
“Innovation for me is about physically making something
happen. It’s quite easy to have an idea, particularly in the
creative industry, but then not act upon it.”
Lawrence Weber, Managing Partner Innovation, Karmarama
(Judge, Warc Prize for Innovation)
“Innovation is finding new and better ways to solve
business problems as well as opening up new
opportunities.”
Daniele Fiandaca, founder of Innovation Social

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Think like a challenger...
Winning entries from the Warc Prize
for Innovation used a challenger
mindset to create ambitious and
effective campaigns.
All marketing communications have
an element of the new, so defin-
ing innovation in marketing is not
straightforward. Innovation can be
synonymous with technology, but a
truly innovative campaign always
involves looking at the problem with
a fresh approach. The Warc Prize for
Innovation entries demonstrate not
only interesting new marketing tech-
niques, but also new ways to work
with a client to solve their business
problems. The innovation mindset
may be more important than the type
of execution – the campaigns in this
report range from satellite technol-
ogy to reviving a hundred-year-old
brand ethos.
A winning formula
Taking a fresh approach to a com-
munications challenge was a key
feature of the Grand Prix-winning
campaign, ‘Clever Buoy’ from Optus.
By combining innovative technolo-
gies and the Optus mobile network,
the agency created a smart ocean
buoy that detects sharks and sends
real-time alerts to lifeguards. Clever
Buoy communicated the brand mes-
sage of network size and strength
through creating an entirely new
product, and addressed a real-world
problem. This collaboration required
both boldness on the part of the
agency, and bravery from the client.
As well as developing the new tech,
the innovation celebrated in this cam-
paign was as much for the strategy
behind the work as the result itself.
Pushing the boundaries
The recent book A Beautiful Con-
straint, by brand experts Adam
Morgan and Mark Baden, is about
how to transform limitations into ad-
vantages. That seems to be a feature
of the Prize-winning campaigns. Mor-
gan explains how constraints can be
“fertile, enabling, desirable” and can
stimulate exciting new approaches
and possibilities. He praises the
challenger mindset because “Chal-
lengers always have ambitions
larger than their resources”.
Many of the entries to the Warc
Optus created a
shark detection
system to high-
light the size and
strength of its
network

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
22
15
20
25
10
12
Advocacy Emotion Education/
Informative
Partnerships Storytelling User-generat-
ed content
...and build the right partnerships
Prize for Innovation had a low media
budget, demonstrating why a fresh
creative approach may be required.
They lend strength to Morgan’s
argument that constraint can lead
to greater creative achievements. Of
the 92 entries that provided budget
information, 61% had media budgets
under $500k, and a further 18% had
budgets between $500k and $1m.
Two entries had no budget at all.
It takes two
The campaigns in this report also
achieved innovation through work-
ing with others to reach their goals.
Partnerships were the most popular
creative strategy for both overall
entries to the prize and the winners.
The need to partner may reflect the
low budgets of winning campaigns.
And the use of partnerships seems to
support the ‘innovation mindset’ – a
deep collaboration between agency
and client where all skills and op-
tions are considered for contribution
to the strategy.
Partnerships were used by a
quarter of entries, including 29% of
winners. Sometimes the partnership
was to demonstrate a key insight,
such as for the life-saving property
of washing hands with Lifebuoy
soap. For the ‘Help a Child Reach
5’ campaign, Lifebuoy adopted the
village of Thesgora, and committed
to reducing diarrhoea among its chil-
dren. The campaign reached 358,000
children through direct donations
and delivered a 74% reduction in the
incidence of diarrhoea in Thesgora,
saving the lives of around 20 chil-
dren. The simple insight behind the
name ‘Lifebuoy’ inspired the agency
to demonstrate how hand-washing
can still save lives in India today and
reinvigorated a stale brand.
In Coca-Cola’s campaign, ‘Two
worlds. One Song’, partnership al-
lowed the brand to connect with a
new audience. It was falling behind
competitors among youth across
the Middle East. Music was a great
way to reach teens interested in both
traditional and western influences.
By partnering with Universal Mu-
sic, Coca-Cola secured the input of
popular local and international art-
ists. The activity strengthened Coca-
Cola’s association with music and
youth, and Coke Studio’s innovative
fusion songs became regional and
international hits.
The partnerships used by many
campaigns in this report demonstrate
a new way to tackle the business
problem or bring to life an important
insight, and a commitment to doing
more with less. Leveraging partners
allowed brands and agencies to
achieve more than they could alone.
Most used creative strategies in the 2014 Prize (% of all entries)

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
61%18%
21%
Under $500k
$500k to $1m
Over $1m
55
65
52
71
39
53
32
47
Winners
All entries
Social media Earned media/
buzz
Public
relations
Word of mouth
Making the most of small media budgets
KEY FACTSLOW-COST MEDIA CHANNELS LEVERAGED TO BIG EFFECT
A key feature of Warc Prize for
Innovation entries was a low
media budget, with 61% of
entries having budgets under
$500k.
Low budgets can lead to crea-
tive use of media, and a focus
on leveraging low cost chan-
nels such as social media,
earned media, public relations
and word of mouth.
Campaigns made the most of
limited resources by generat-
ing buzz and using PR to boost
reach. The winning campaigns
used these media even more
strongly than the total pool of
entries, with 71% of winners
using earned media or buzz as
a key media channel.
The prize did not feature many
big budget campaigns – only
10% of entries used televi-
sion as a lead medium, and
only one entry had a budget
in the $10-20m bracket. This
would suggest the constraints
of small budgets can lead to
creativity and innovation.
% of entries by media budget
% of entries that use low cost media channels

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The mobile provider boosted cul-
tural relevancy and demonstrated
the value of its network by creating
an ocean buoy to warn of shark
attacks.
CHALLENGE
Optus is Australia’s second-largest
mobile provider and also has the
second-largest network, behind mar-
ket leader Telstra.
Customers believed that Telstra’s
network is significantly larger, even
though the difference is less than 1%.
‘Network’ is the number one driver
of consideration when it comes to
Case study Optus
Campaign
Clever Buoy
Advertiser
Optus
Agency
MC Saatchi
Sydney
Market
Australia
Winner of the
Product or Ser-
vice Innovation
Award
tunity to use the Optus network to
solve a genuine and topical issue.
Australia has four times more fatal
shark attacks than any other country,
yet defence methods have changed
little in 60-plus years.
Combining innovative technolo-
gies and the Optus mobile network,
Clever Buoy was created, a smart
ocean buoy that detects sharks and
sends real-time alerts to lifeguards
via the Optus network.
A short animation detailing how
Clever Buoy works was posted to
YouTube, and also ran via pre-rolls.
All comms directed people to a mi-
crosite where they could learn more
about the project.
RESULTS
The campaign was a global success,
making the Optus network culturally
relevant, and creating a product that
could revolutionise beach safety.
The month after launch saw social
media reach of more than 19 million,
with an 84% positive sentiment, and
earned a 92% share of voice in rela-
tion to #innovation and #technology
compared to other telcos. The Clever
Buoy launch video garnered more
than 3 million impressions.
Read the full case study
GRAND PRIX
choosing a mobile phone provider.
Therefore, the perceptional gap was
a real challenge for Optus.
So the task was to change the
focus away from the size of the
network, to what it can do, improving
brand perceptions along the way.
Optus needed to find a new way to
communicate the strength of its net-
work. It had to make the intangible,
tangible and bring to life what the
network could do.
SOLUTION
As 85% of Australians live near the
coast, MC Saatchi saw an oppor-
By focusing on beach safety, Optus increased its relevance with Australians

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Case study Lifebuoy
Campaign
Help a child
reach 5
Advertiser
Unilever
Agency
Lowe Lintas +
Partners
Market
Brazil, India,
Indonesia and
Saudi Arabia
GOLD
A film inspired by Thesgora village received over 16m views on YouTube
The soap brand created a cam-
paign to save children’s lives
through raising awareness of the
need for handwashing with soap.
CHALLENGE
Every year, 2 million children under
five die from preventable infections
like diarrhoea and pneumonia.
India, with the world’s largest child
population (and whose population
eat with their hands), bears the brunt
of these cases, with a death toll in
2010 exceeding 600,000.
The act of handwashing with soap
can reduce deaths from diarrhoea by
40% and deaths from acute respira-
tory infections by 25% – more than
any other intervention alone.
Lifebuoy made it its mission to re-
duce child mortality rates by chang-
ing the handwashing habits of 1bn
people by 2015. The challenge was
to change the behaviour of millions
globally by convincing consumers
that handwashing with Lifebuoy
soap can save children’s lives.
SOLUTION
Rather than just making a commer-
cial, Lifebuoy felt it had to demon-
strate the power of handwashing
and give consumers a chance to be
bilise the target audience to promote
the cause and spread the message.
RESULTS
Lifebuoy proved that handwashing
with soap reduces diarrhoeal inci-
dence in Thesgora. As a result of the
campaign, there was a 74% reduc-
tion in the incidence of diarrhoea,
potentially saving the lives of 20
children, and saving India US$3.5m.
The campaign achieved 16m
YouTube views and 94% of those
exposed to the campaign intended to
purchase Lifebuoy.
The success led to Lifebuoy adopt-
ing a further 14 villages worldwide.
involved and be part of saving lives.
The ‘Help a Child Reach 5’ cam-
paign adopted the village of Thesgo-
ra, which had the highest diarrhoeal
incidence in India, and committed
to reducing diarrhoea among its
children with a unique digital cam-
paign to create mass awareness and
empower parents globally to spread
the handwashing message.
Through this very real campaign,
consumers would see Lifebuoy’s role
in saving lives unfold for themselves,
and would have the opportunity to
get involved. As it had only a limited
budget to change the handwash-
ing behaviour of millions globally, it
implemented a social strategy to mo-

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The beverages multinational creat-
ed a new music platform to attract
young people to the brand.
CHALLENGE
The lack of teen-relevant platforms
was holding Coca-Cola back to
number-two position in the Middle
East. The brand needed to create a
teen-centric, innovative and emotion-
ally resonant platform.
For Middle Eastern teens, music
was an exciting passion point, but
music was new territory for Coca-Co-
la in the region and was witnessing
heavy activity and investment from
other brands, such as Pepsi, which
was winning teens.
The musical proposition needed to
be ownable by Coke and be talked
about by teens. The aim was to
Case study Coca-Cola
Campaign
Two Worlds. One
Song.
Advertiser
Coca-Cola
Middle East
Agency
FP7/DXB
Market
Bahrain, Iraq,
Jordan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Oman,
Pan Arab, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia
and United Arab
Emirates
tional artists. To make the show more
immersive for fans, innovative trans-
media experiences were created,
linking TV to social media.
RESULTS
Coca-Cola’s ROI on media improved
to 0.63% against the target of 0.24%.
Additionally, Facebook fans in-
creased 200% in just three months,
and Coke Studio contributed to more
than 22 million YouTube views, a
600% increase in views versus previ-
ous videos for Coca-Cola.
With Two Worlds. One Song,
Coca-Cola got young people to see
that positive change happens when
cultures connect and that, when we
open up to others in our region and
in our world, others open up to us.
BRONZE
increase Coca-Cola’s volume growth
and deliver a high engagement rate
on social media, along with generat-
ing influencer endorsements.
SOLUTION
The target audience loved Arabic
traditional music and were proud of
it but enjoyed western, more progres-
sive genres too. So Coca-Cola com-
bined both styles through a younger,
cooler and local version of Coke
Studio, its international franchise.
The branded content platform, ‘Two
Worlds. One Song’, became a musi-
cal icon of collaboration, refresh-
ing teens’ outlook on the world and
strengthening pride in their identity.
By partnering with Universal Mu-
sic, Coca-Cola secured the input of
popular Middle Eastern and interna-
Coca-Cola grew relevance with teenagers by facilitating musical collaborations between western and Arabic artists

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
More on… The innovation mindset
How success stories from the past can inspire future innovation:
Reviewing new product launches in the US and Europe
Marcin Penconek and David Hood, Nielsen, ESOMAR Congress, September 2014
Brands and innovation
Jean-Noël Kapferer, The Definitive Book of Branding, September 2014
Breakthrough innovation report US
Nielsen, June 2014
Nestlé’s three pillars of digital success
Stephen Whiteside, Warc Event Reports, April 2014
How to create a culture of risk taking: The biggest mistake may be the
one you don’t make
Anne Field, ANA Magazine, Fall 2014
Collaboration, innovation and disruption: How Unilever, Google and
ingenie are resetting the marketing agenda
Lena Roland, Warc Event Reports, November 2014
Beyond predictable: Managing uncertainty in innovation
Kristin Hickey, Ruby Cha Cha, Market Research Society Annual Conference, 2015

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
CHAPTER 2
THE POWER
OF UTILITY
The growing role of product or service innovation

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
At a glance The power of utility
1 ‘Utility’ is increasingly important as a marketing concept, and was
a core theme of the Warc Prize for Innovation in 2014. Case stud-
ies from charity Depaul UK and Colgate in Australia show how the
outcome of communication strategy need not be a communication
campaign.
2 A product or service that, through the way it works, demonstrates
the brand message is a powerful communications tool. A theme
among these cutting edge campaigns is not to produce a communi-
cations campaign, but to focus innovation on the product or service,
then use communications to amplify that innovation.
3 Utility is customer-focused. Brands that focus on making people’s
lives easier may be able to ‘pull’ people towards their products or
services. This may not replace the need for ‘push’ communications,
but it changes the requirements of those communications.
4 The focus on utility gives a fresh challenge to agencies, and par-
ticularly the planning teams within agencies. Increasingly, planning
teams will need to understand some of the principles of product
development. As a result, planning departments are recruiting more
product specialists.
KEY INSIGHTS

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Comment Focusing on the product
“When I first came into the industry, innovation was
about new insights and new compositions, and new ways
of talking to the audience. Increasingly, that’s not true.
Innovation is now about utility and what you’re going
to do with the product or use the product for. For most
winning cases utility was embedded in what they were
trying to do.”
Nigel Jones, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Draft FCB
“How much of our work is about creating awareness for
products, and how much should it be focused on making
sure those products are so good they almost don’t need
advertising?”

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Marketers are increasingly expect-
ed to focus on the product as much
as the communications strategy.
A key theme for judges across the
case studies in the Warc Prize for
Innovation was utility – the idea that
creating products or services that are
in some way useful to consumers will
act as a form of communication.
The link between the product and
communications is an emerging
theme in marketing. The idea has a
tech slant, and reflects concepts such
as ’growth hacking’ – the creation of
online platforms that have growth
mechanisms built into them.
Utility was an important theme
in the campaign strategies of most
Prize-winning cases. This was evi-
denced by the invention of Clever
Buoy, in the Grand Prix winning cam-
paign by Optus, as well as in many
other case studies.
‘Make money, don’t raise money’,
a campaign for Depaul UK, a charity
for the homeless, took the concept
of utility to new lengths. Rather than
soliciting donations, the agency cre-
ated a new company to make money
for the charity, and the business itself
embodied the brand values.
UTEC, the Engineering and Tech-
nology University in Peru, succeeded
in communicating its brand message
by creating a unique billboard that
produced drinking water in order to
attract students to its 2013 intake.
The single billboard, the first to pro-
duce drinking water from moisture
in the air, made a powerful claim,
which is the DNA of UTEC: ingenu-
ity in action. It demonstrated utility
in both the function of the billboard
meeting a need for local people, and
the way it communicated the univer-
sity’s message.
A campaign by Colgate, the dental
care brand, also blurred the lines
between product and message.
‘Grinners are winners’ used a sports
team’s mouthguards to reinforce the
brand message of protection while
providing an unusual and memora-
ble media platform. This case study
shows that utility doesn’t need to in-
volve the latest technology, a simple,
practical product can be repurposed
if it fits with the brand.
Campaigns like these are having
a material impact on what can be
considered as advertising. Agen-
cies have an increasingly important
role in developing great products
because traditionally they have
experience in scaling new products
to market, and planners also have
a deep understanding of consumers
and the applications of the brand.
The focus on utility is having an
effect on the skillsets agencies are
looking for. When considering skills
shortage in the industry, the usual
focus is a call for programmatic
experts or data analysts. According
to Lawrence Weber, it’s becoming
increasingly important to employ
people who understand product as
well as brand. In particular, agency
planning departments are evolving
to include product specialists.
Better products mean better promotion
Customers of
the Depaul Box
Company posted
pictures of the
product in use on
social media

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Case study UTEC
Campaign
Potable water
generator
Advertiser
The University of
Engineering and
Technology
Agency
MediaConnec-
tion BPN / FCB
MAYO
Market
Peru
Winner of the
Technology-
led Innovation
Award
GOLD
UTEC’s water generator provided a practical demonstration of its claims
To attract students to its 2013
intake, the university created a
unique billboard that produced
drinking water from the air.
CHALLENGE
UTEC, the Engineering and Technol-
ogy University, was a new university,
lacking both the track record and
budget of other Peruvian universities.
The challenge was to convince
young students to study at UTEC by
demonstrating, in a tangible way,
how ingenuity in action with engi-
neering can change the world.
Its commercial objective was to
increase the number of students
registered for 2013, and its marketing
objective was to create awareness
and position UTEC as a different, in-
novative, inspiring university.
SOLUTION
The university came up with the idea
of creating a billboard that, using
existing technology, could capture
water from the humidity in the air
and produce potable water for thou-
sands of families living nearby. The
billboard produced approximately
100 litres of water per day.
The existence of the billboard was
communicated through a video.
short time, thanks to the target mar-
ket’s regular use of the internet.
UTEC’s billboard grabbed press
attention, securing more than 50
reports and press releases in news-
papers and magazines, and on TV
channels and radio. It also gener-
ated significant traffic to UTEC’s
website, totalling 101,229 entries.
UTEC’s billboard was clearly
recognised by 46% of parents of ap-
plicants.
In under two years, UTEC in-
creased its number of applicants
through a message that went beyond
a regular advertising strategy.
The billboard was strategically
placed in a very dry area where there
was no potable water and where the
community was suffering from the
lack of it. Additionally, it was located
88km along the South Pan-American
Highway – a road potential students
would use to visit the beach during
their summer vacation.
This new way of communicating
UTEC’s claim positioned it as the
different, innovative and inspiring
choice among Peruvian universities.
RESULTS
The campaign went viral, achieving
more than 100,000 views in a very

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The youth homeless charity reap-
praised its fundraising strategy by
founding a business to sell card-
board boxes to home movers.
CHALLENGE
Youth homelessness is a growing is-
sue in the UK, with demand for Dep-
aul UK’s services outstripping supply.
In addition, with income streams un-
der threat and a minimal marketing
budget, the door was closed to many
traditional not-for-profit marketing
channels.
Depaul UK’s voluntary income
stream has become unpredictable
and unsteady and total income had
decreased every year for five years. It
needed a new approach to fund-
raising – a long-term, sustainable
funding solution that would allow it
to concentrate on what it does best:
helping vulnerable people.
SOLUTION
People associate cardboard boxes
with homeless people. When winter
draws in and there’s no place else to
go, it’s a cardboard box that helps to
protect a homeless person from the
elements. And it’s cardboard boxes
that home movers need to transport
things from one home to the next.
Case study Depaul UK
Campaign
Don’t raise
money, make
money
Advertiser
Depaul UK
Agency
Publicis London
Market
UK
Winner of the
Category Inno-
vation Award
to becoming a commercially geared
enterprise with a profit centre.
RESULTS
Since launch, more than 9,000 boxes
have been sold, which equates to
£19,820 in revenue. The Box Com-
pany passed its six-month incubator
stage with flying colours and Box Co
logistics have been transferred to
much larger warehouse premises.
Most importantly, when all costs
were taken into account, this added
up to an extra 319 bed nights for
young homeless people.
So it was in cardboard boxes that
Depaul UK found inspiration.
It founded the Depaul Box Compa-
ny to sell cardboard boxes to home
movers. They’re just like other boxes
– a parity product in a highly com-
moditised marketplace, except for
one big difference: all the profit goes
to helping young homeless people.
Depaul UK was no longer just
a charity, concerned with helping
homeless people. Now it could also
call itself a cardboard box business,
concerned with helping home mov-
ers. This was a huge leap for a small
charity – from asking for donations
The charity’s new business created a revenue stream from cardboard boxes
SILVER

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The creation of a branded mouth-
guard led to a fresh way to engage
with Australians about oral protec-
tion.
CHALLENGE
Children aren’t always open to
health messages, and with only a
small budget Colgate knew it would
be hard to break through the clutter.
The oral care category is very
much one of convention, where mes-
saging is communicated through
individual products. This rarely
resonates directly with younger
consumers, many of whom see oral
care as something ‘championed by
mum’ rather than a decision of their
own. Colgate needed to help mum
champion oral care by applying the
message in popular culture.
It had to find a creative way to
communicate the importance of kids
protecting their teeth from damage,
particularly in sports, and to stimu-
late WOM by creating a message
that the media would willingly am-
plify (at their expense!).
The approach also needed to con-
nect with parents, given their impor-
tant role in facilitating and support-
ing their kids’ behavioural change
when it comes to oral care.
Case study Colgate Equity
Campaign
Grinners are
winners
Advertiser
Colgate
Agency
George
Patterson Young
Rubicam
Sydney / VML
Market
Australia
message announced by the kids’ he-
roes wearing Colgate Mouthguards
in games.
RESULTS
The level of interest shown by the
NSW and national sports media far
exceeded expectations, allowing
Colgate to multiply the power of its
message many times over.
With an actual spend of just
$55,000, Colgate generated total me-
dia coverage conservatively estimat-
ed at $208,534, and to which more
than 6 million people were exposed.
This is four times the unpaid cover-
age relative to spend.
Importantly, Grinners are Win-
ners challenged the convention that
budget limits innovative thinking.
BRONZE
SOLUTION
A discussion about ‘no teeth’ led
Colgate to think of Rugby League – a
sport where the potential for damage
to kids’ teeth is far greater than most
other sports.
It partnered with NRL club South
Sydney Rabbitohs, whose play-
ers would wear Colgate-branded
mouthguards throughout the 2013
season to heighten awareness of the
importance of protecting kids’ teeth.
The players would be accompa-
nied by Colgate’s ‘Dr Rabbit’ to de-
liver the message of Protecting Kids’
Teeth On and Off The Field, and
promote oral care packs and ‘Bright
Smiles, Bright Futures’ information.
Complemented by various other
activities, this offered a perfect way
to carry through the oral protection
Partnering with a Rugby League club highlighted oral protection among kids

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
More on… Utility as a marketing tool
How halving Australia’s washing time more than tripled Biozet Attack’s
share of category
Guy Marshall and Simon Bookallil, Bashful, Account Planning Group - (Australia),
Gold, Best unexpected thinking, Creative Strategy Awards 2014
Growth hacking – where marketing and coding collide
Warc Trends, August 2014
Knorr: “What’s For Dinner?”
Institute of Communication Agencies, Bronze, Canadian Advertising Success Stories,
2014
PepsiCo: Marketing in the context of the consumer
Geoffrey Precourt, Focus on Consumer Insight, May 2014
The Mobile First shopper strategy
Gareth Ellen, Geometry Global, Admap, May 2014
Brand trust: Brand relationships in the world of smart technology
Paul Kemp-Robertson,Contagious Communications, Market Leader, Quarter 2, 2014

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
CHAPTER 3
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Bringing participation into the real world

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
At a glance Social engagement
1 Social media was widely used among prize-winning cases –
unsurprisingly, given how many had low budgets. However, a
theme among winning entries was the use of social media to drive
an offline response. Virgin Mobile Australia’s Game of Phones
was a successful and engaging mobile app for the brand, but the
game also crossed over to increase footfall in-stores and delighted
customers by interacting in real-time in their current location.
2 Non-profit campaigns fostered empathy between those in need and
their target customers to increase engagement with the charity and
donations. The strategy of crowd sourced empathy made charitable
giving immersive and meaningful, and reflects a current focus on
empathy in society.
3 Tangible rewards for online participation increased the
effectiveness of social campaigns both through encouraging
involvement and the related PR coverage this can generate.
KEY INSIGHTS

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Comment Consumer involvement
“Collective wisdom has created and reshaped agendas
the world over; creating awareness and action through
social participation is the most powerful way of
achieving it.”
Neeraj Kalani, Sr. Director Global Strategy Insights, PepsiCo
“Case studies in the Prize showed a sense of advertising
having to do something beyond marketing products
– going beyond selling things. There was a focus on
corporate social responsibility.”

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The online/offline crossover
Prize-winning campaigns demon-
strate the results when engagement
online translates into action in the
real world.
Evidence of impressive numbers of
shares, likes and views was not seen
as an automatic success story in this
competition. However, there were
several campaigns that shifted the
boundaries of social participation
and created some very interesting
and effective communications. What
these case studies share is a deeper
connection between the brand
and the consumer than might be
achieved by watching a viral video or
clicking ‘like’.
Virgin Mobile Australia created
a mobile gaming battleground in
which consumers competed for
prizes, to increase footfall into Virgin
stores and seize the advantage from
competitors. With a small budget in
a competitive market, Virgin Mobile
created the ‘Game of Phones’ to capi-
talise on their best point of difference
– their in-store experience.
A well-thought out and sophisti-
cated broadcast media campaign
often underlies viral marketing suc-
cess. However, some of these Warc
Prize for Innovation case studies had
to make an impact with very little
budget. Several of the participation
campaigns that impressed were
non-profit initiatives with limited
resources. One successful strategy
used by agencies to achieve effective
non-profit campaigns was by foster-
ing greater empathy between those
in need and their target charitable
givers. Two campaigns by Smart-
Life, a non-profit organisation in the
United Arab Emirates, encouraged
social participation in a way that led
to deeper understanding of the char-
ity’s concerns.
In the SAPNA campaign, Smart-
Life created an interactive outdoor
work of art in Dubai. The approach
focused on crowd-sourced empathy
– a first-of-its-kind experience in the
region that made charitable giving
immersive and meaningful.
The second participation cam-
paign from SmartLife featured a
scheme that connected white-collar
workers with labourers to help pro-
vide the latter with an education.
Empathy was also at the centre of
an initiative by the Peruvian Cancer
Foundation. The Ponle Corazón (Put
Your Heart into It) fundraising drive
had seen donations decline. 2,485
inmates in one of Peru’s most dan-
gerous prisons donated to the cause
and in turn encouraged the public to
engage with the campaign as well.
Finally, a participation campaign
by Brazilian beer brand Antarctica
rewarded people who shared a video
about the dangers of drinking and
driving with a ‘Beer Metro Card’ for
the views they generated.
Virgin Mobile
Australia created
a gaming
battleground
that increased
footfall into its
stores

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
KEY FACTSNUMBER OF SOCIAL CHANNELS USED
OBJECTIVES IN SOCIAL CASES
Social media was the most
used channel by entrants to
the Warc Prize for Innovation,
while earned media came a
close second. These best-in-
class innovation campaigns
used social for more than
awareness or reach, and deep-
ly connected the social activity
with real world consequences.
Campaigns did not spread
resources across many social
media networks, with 43%
using only one channel. For
the campaigns that specified
which social channels were
used, Facebook was most
popular, used by almost half of
the campaigns.
The most used objectives for
these campaigns reflect the
focus on social media. As the
campaigns used innovative
strategies and highlighted
innovative products and initia-
tives it follows that increasing
awareness was the most used
goal.
Innovation and social media
One channel
Two channels
Three channels
43%
34%
23%
Increase
awareness
Social, politi-
cal and non-
profit aims
Increase
sales, volume
Build brand
equity
Generate
buzz, WOM
Gain new
customers
38
35
29 28
24
18
% of Prize cases that used social
% of cases using one, two or three social channels

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Case study SmartLife
Campaign
SAPNA - how
17,793 nails
changed
the future of
generations to
come
Advertiser
SmartLife
Agency
FP7/DXB
Market
United Arab
Emirates
GOLD
Engaging people in a small act of labour grew empathy and donations
An interactive work of art raised
money and awareness about the
education of blue-collar workers’
children.
CHALLENGE
There are more than a million blue-
collar workers in UAE, many of whom
dream of educating their children
back home to provide a better life.
These labourers hammer in nail
after nail – some hammering up to
200,000 a month. But, even though
they labour tirelessly, no amount of
nails may ever be enough.
SmartLife wanted to help build a
better future for the labourers’ chil-
dren by addressing the root cause
of the labourers’ own circumstances:
lack of education. It wanted to find
a way to help educate their children
and thereby eradicate the cycle of
poverty and change the destiny of
generations to come.
To do this, it needed to create a
sustainable platform that would raise
enough funds to sponsor at least 20
children to graduation level.
SOLUTION
SmartLife created SAPNA (which
means ‘dream’ in Hindi), an interac-
tive outdoor wall on a prominent
coverage across leading print, radio,
TV and online platforms worldwide,
which along with social media buzz,
generated earned media amounting
to $730,000 and growing.
Most importantly, in just nine days,
all 17,793 nails were hammered in
the wall.
The money raised will help
educate many children (so far 40)
through their schooling right up until
graduation, allowing them to receive
a first-class education and have the
chance to go on to lead a better life –
something their fathers had only ever
dreamed about.
street in Dubai, which invited people
to buy the very nails the labourers
use every day and hammer them in
to designated markers on the wall.
This little act of labour gave people
in Dubai a chance to feel a fraction
of the workers’ efforts and give back,
one nail at a time. The approach
focused on crowd-sourced empathy,
which made charitable giving immer-
sive and meaningful.
RESULTS
The wall became a centre of atten-
tion in Dubai and people of 55 differ-
ent nationalities took part.
The campaign gained unexpected

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Case study Virgin Mobile Australia
Campaign
Game of Phones
Advertiser
Virgin Mobile
Agency
Starcom
MediaVest
Group
Market
Australia
GOLD
Virgin Mobile’s game improved
brand health and engagement
The small telco company created
a mobile gaming battleground to
increase footfall and outsmart the
competition.
CHALLENGE
The Australian telco kingdom is ruled
by three things: price, device and
network coverage.
As a smaller telco operator, with
4% share (versus its nearest rival
at 20%) and a significantly lower
budget, driving footfall into Virgin
Mobile stores was challenging.
With competitors fighting the battle
with significantly bigger budgets,
Virgin Mobile was constantly behind
the market when it came to critical
brand health metrics around offer-
ing the best devices and contracts.
Its strongest weapon was its in-store
experience, so it set the challenge to
increase footfall during the summer
period by 5%.
SOLUTION
The company realised that a regular
promotion wouldn’t be enough to
drive its highly gamified millennial
audience instore, so it decided to
turn its greatest ammunition, Virgin
Family rewards, into something worth
fighting for. This took the form of a
on a mobile icon when they came
within 50 metres of a prize, but prizes
could be stolen by other players in
the same vicinity.
The company used social and dy-
namic online messaging, radio and
an innovative outdoor dashboard to
add fuel to the battle and keep play-
ers gaming throughout the day.
This revolutionary approach turned
stores into ‘safe houses’, driving
fighters instore to learn more about
the Virgin Mobile kingdom while
fiercely protecting their loot.
RESULTS
Game of Phones smashed all tar-
gets, creating a 10.8% increase in
footfall instore (more than doubling
the 5% target), and a huge increase
in brand health and engagement
results for Virgin Mobile.
The virtual mobile battle attracted
exceptional interest from the Austral-
ian public, generating more than
2.5 million screen views, and driving
more than 103 million online impres-
sions throughout the duration of the
game. Social mentions delivered
78% positive sentiment and the press
heralded Game of Phones as ‘the
game that ruled Australia’.
mobile battleground that got millen-
nials actively fighting to win part of
the Virgin Mobile Empire.
It ambushed the market by deliver-
ing Virgin Mobile ‘Game of Phones’,
Australia’s largest ever location-
based mobile app challenge, where
consumers battled in the real world
and an alternate reality in a bid to
win $200,000 worth of virtual prizes.
Warriors could claim loot by tapping

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
A controversial approach helped
the cancer charity find a new way
to reverse a downward slide in
donations.
CHALLENGE
Every year, the Peruvian Cancer
Foundation (Fundación Peruana de
Cáncer) conducts a fundraising drive
entitled ‘Put Your Heart into It’ (Ponle
Corazón), which aims to raise money
for children with terminal cancer.
However, since 2009, less and less
money had been collected and the
campaign hadn’t achieved its goals.
In addition, it had become increas-
ingly difficult to get free ads in the
media.
In this context, caring for children
who are sick with this terrible disease
was becoming increasingly difficult.
Case study Ponle Corazón
Campaign
Searching for
hearts
Advertiser
Peruana de
Cáncer
Agency
MediaConnec-
tion BPN / FCB
MAYO
Market
Peru
country, and its inmates. The thought
behind this was: if the hardest hearts
in Peru can find it in themselves to
give, perhaps the entire nation might
show the same spirit of collaboration.
A total of 2,485 inmates committed
to the cause, and the media were
integrated for seven days to support
the campaign with a single goal:
‘Searching for Hearts’.
RESULTS
The campaign far exceeded the
Foundation’s expectations. It raised
$300,000 for the Peruvian Cancer
Foundation, which was 33% more
than the previous year. The prison
inmates’ commitment to the cause
drove donations nationwide.
With a US budget of $6,500, the
charity was able to secure earned
media valued at US$351,203.
However, money alone can’t meas-
ure the change that came about:
Peruvians found it in their hearts to
give to others truly in need.
A shocking campaign was needed to
reach the hearts of every Peruvian.
SOLUTION
The charity decided to take a differ-
ent approach by inspiring people
to transform their indifference into
compassion. It wanted the people of
Peru to recognise that anyone can
give – even the most unconventional
of hearts. It devised a campaign
that would attack the problem of
declining donations in an innovative,
controversial way, and that would
have an impact on both society and
the media.
To launch the campaign, the
Peruvian Cancer Foundation focused
on the most unlikely of places and
people: Penal Castro Castro, one of
the most dangerous prisons in the
Asking for donations from prison inmates also drove donations nationwide
SILVER

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Connecting white-collar workers
with blue-collar labourers helped
to provide the latter with a life-
enhancing education.
CHALLENGE
Many blue-collar labourers in UAE
have not finished school, and come
to work there as labourers to provide
for their families back home.
They want to learn English to help
them get a better job and earn more
money, so their children won’t end up
like them. But they have neither the
time nor the money for education.
SmartLife wanted to find a way to
create opportunities for labourers to
develop professionally by not only
providing financial aid, but also
giving them access to information
beyond the temporary solutions they
were currently getting.
SOLUTION
To launch its Adopt-A-Labourer pro-
gramme, SmartLife identified more
than 4,000 labourers across UAE who
were interested in getting educated
so they could elevate their profes-
sional and income levels.
A web portal was launched, con-
sisting of a database with detailed
information about each labourer
Case study SmartLife
Campaign
Adopt-A-
Labourer
presents Hello
Education
Advertiser
SmartLife
Agency
FP7/DXB
Market
UAE
programme called ‘Hello Education’.
They were asked to become teachers
at weekends, bridging the societal
gap between white- and blue-collar
workforces.
For 30 minutes a week, in different
labour camps, volunteer teachers
met labourers and taught them about
a range of systematically planned
topics. At the end of the course, this
resulted in their graduation.
RESULTS
The programme broke down the bar-
riers between two different segments
of society: white-collar professionals
and blue-collar labourers. The soci-
etal gap between the two, which had
felt like a million miles, disappeared
and resulted in real success stories.
After five full terms 2,500 students
have graduated. They have experi-
enced immediate success: 40% got
salary increments, 30% successfully
cleared job interviews, 10% got pro-
moted in their jobs, and 20% became
entrepreneurs in their home towns in
India and Pakistan.
The programme is growing every
month and, for many labourers, is
continuing a chapter they had left
incomplete a long time ago.
BRONZE
– their ambitions, current education
levels, strengths and weaknesses.
Through word of mouth and
industry contacts, Adopt-A-Labourer
recruited white-collar profession-
als as teachers in an engagement
White-collar professionals mentored
blue-collar labourers to close the
societal gap and improve the latter’s
job prospects

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The beer brand created a campaign
to increase awareness of the dan-
gers of drinking and driving.
CHALLENGE
In Rio de Janeiro, at carnival time,
excessive alcohol consumption has
increased the number of traffic ac-
cidents.
Despite the efforts of local authori-
ties to stop drink driving, it remains a
big problem.
Antarctica Beer, the official sponsor
of the Rio de Janeiro carnival, wanted
to promote safe drinking by encour-
aging revellers to leave their cars at
Case study Antarctica
Campaign
Beer ticket
Advertiser
AmBev
Agency
ALMAP BBDO
Market
Brazil
Just before carnival, it published a
video online to remind carnival-goers
that drinking and driving is a bad
idea. Through a microsite, they could
register and receive a personalised,
unique URL to share the video. Via
social networks, users shared their
link with friends. For every 50 views,
Antarctica gave away a Beer Metro
Card with 30 rides.
The video quickly went viral, and
in a very short time all the available
cards had been distributed to users,
thus raising awareness of the dan-
gers of drinking and driving.
RESULTS
The population of Rio de Janeiro
joined the project very quickly. More
than 30,000 rides were given away
on the first day alone, and the video
clocked up more than 350,000 views
in less than 24 hours. It ranked
among YouTube’s top ten in Brazil
during February, which is carnival
month.
The bilhetedaboa.com.br website
logged about 8,000 visits per hour.
Most impressively, Antarctica con-
tributed to a very important result: in
2014, the number of DUI cases fell by
more than 15%.
BRONZE
home during carnival.
SOLUTION
To raise consumers’ awareness it
was necessary to rely on a subject
that was very important to them. As
carnival is all about enjoying the par-
ty with loved ones, Antarctica chose
friendship to get people’s attention
and then to prevent excessive alcohol
consumption.
It came up with the Beer Metro
Card (Bilhete da Boa), the first metro
card to give users free rides if they
talked to their friends about the prob-
lems of drinking and driving.
Antarctica’s safe drinking campaign grew awareness and reduced accidents

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
More on… Social participation
Seriously Social 2014 - How social strategy can drive business results
Warc Trends, October 2014
ASB Bank: ASB Like Loan
Murray Streets and Fee McLeod, Warc Prize for Social Strategy, Gold, 2014
Going to the edges for inspiration: Why it’s right to talk to ‘extreme’
consumers even if you are a mass-market brand
Marlene Cohen, Nick Graham, Jayne Hickey, Elaine Ho, Tom Lilley and Jacky Parsons,
PepsiCo and Sense Worldwide, ESOMAR Congress, September 2014
Molson Coors: Molson Canadian
Institute of Communication Agencies, Grand Prix, Canadian Advertising Success
Stories, 2015
Ditch the pitch: Out with in-your-face advertising, in with branded content
Chuck Kapelke, ANA Magazine, Winter 2014

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
CHAPTER 4
TECH-DRIVEN
INNOVATION
The smart application of technology in marketing

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
At a glance Tech-driven innovation
1 Technology developments remain a major driver of innovation –
and the challenge is matching what is possible to what is required.
The experts contributing to Prize-winning campaigns went far
beyond brand and media specialists to include engineers, satellite
experts and neuroscientists. A bold and broad perspective, plus an
interdisciplinary approach on the team, contributed to an effective
strategy.
2 A growing challenge for ad agencies is to have talent and resources
that combine tech and brand problem-solving expertise. For the
Grand Prix winning campaign, ‘Clever Buoy’, it was technical excel-
lence inside the agency that was able to kickstart the ambitious
project.
3 Innovation was seen not only in the product and communications
format, but also in the research that went into campaigns. The
‘Sound with Power’ campaign for Mercedes-Benz used neurosci-
ence techniques to uncover an insight that led to engaging a new,
younger target market.
KEY INSIGHTS

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Comment The role of technology
“There is a risk that people see technology as
synonymous with innovation. But tech is moving so
quickly, a lot of the time it does facilitate innovation.”
Daniele Fiandaca, Founder, Innovation Social
“The ‘Clever Buoy’ campaign was a smart way of
leveraging Optus’ technology and network. It put the
consumer at the centre and solves a need, instead of
broadcasting a brand message.”
Peter Espersen, Head of Crowdsourcing and Online Communities
LEGO Group, (Chair of Judges, Warc Prize for Innovation)
“Innovation is the life-blood of our industry. It’s where we
see all our possible futures taking shape before our eyes.”
Alistair Beattie, President EMEA, Tribal Worldwide

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Spotting potential in emerging tech
Technology often facilitates market-
ing innovation. While some cam-
paigns were able to create a power-
ful message using no technology at
all, others pushed the boundaries of
current marketing techniques.
Advances in technology have opened
up new opportunities for marketers
– so much so that innovation often
involves spotting the marketing po-
tential of emerging technology.
This is particularly the case for
brands with technology at their core.
The Grand Prix-winning Clever Buoy
concept, which combined the client’s
own tech capability with the expertise
of third parties, is a prime example.
But tech-driven innovation is not
the preserve of tech-driven brands.
One example is UTEC’s 1200 Trees
like purifying system. Similarly to
the earlier ‘Potable water genera-
tor’ campaign, the agency sought to
showcase the Peruvian university’s
technology and engineering excel-
lence while making a statement that
would benefit those in the vicin-
ity of the university. This billboard,
developed in conjunction with UTEC,
improved air quality, as well as in-
creasing awareness of the university
and applications.
Tech innovations, by their nature,
are often conducted at a small scale.
Ideas may need to be tested before a
bigger roll-out. Or the test itself may
serve as a promotional opportunity
that, through PR and other channels,
can be carried to a mass audience.
One example comes from Audi in
Brazil, which used technology to
create a powerful personal message
to potential customers. The initiative
involved manual appraisal of used
cars presented in a high-tech way.
During the campaign the number of
customers who visited Audi dealer-
ships increased by 45%, and 15% of
the target audience traded their car
for a new Audi. Using technology to
convey the car evaluation message
proved more powerful than tradition-
al sales techniques.
Finally, the ‘Sound with power’
campaign developed to promote the
Mercedes-Benz E-class, applied tech-
nology innovation to research, rather
than the campaign itself. Biometric
and EEG data were recorded while
cars were driven round a track. The
sound of the exhaust was identified
as the key stimulus and this insight
led to further research that high-
lighted the universal appeal and
significance of sound for an emo-
tional bond between driver and car.
A large, integrated campaign then
used sound as the key component.
Mercedes-Benz
discovered the
significance of
its cars’ sound to
drivers

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The car manufacturer combined
technology and prestige in a single
idea to make an impact in a com-
petitive market.
CHALLENGE
The Brazilian premium automobile
market is highly promising. However
it’s not easy for car manufacturers to
draw their audience into dealerships
and initiate the sales process.
Nobody likes wasting time tak-
ing a pre-owned vehicle to have it
appraised at a dealership. This aver-
sion is even greater when it comes
to premium car dealerships because
Case study Audi
Campaign
Instant valuation
billboard
Advertiser
Audi
Agency
ALMAP BBDO
Market
Brazil
tial consumers by presenting its new
models to them along with details of
how much it would cost them to trade
in their cars for an Audi.
To do this, it created the Audi
Instant Appraisal Billboard, which
appraised their used car as a trade-
in for a new Audi model.
An Audi employee stored informa-
tion about the car in an RFID tag and
placed it on cars parked in premium
parking lots. When the owner drove
the car away, the tag communicated
with an electronic panel located at
the exit. This would then show the
owners of competing models an ex-
clusive, tailor-made offer specific to
that car and driver should they trade
in their car for a new Audi model.
RESULTS
During the campaign, the number of
customers who visited Audi dealer-
ships increased by 45%. More than
600 vehicles were appraised every
day and 15% of the target audience
decided to trade in their used car for
a new Audi. The action had an ROI
of over 900%.
Most importantly, Audi created an
innovative, customised and direct
way to approach potential buyers.
consumers believe that imported
models are beyond their budget,
thereby making visits to these dealer-
ships even less frequent.
Audi had to show potential custom-
ers the prices of its new models and
that they were within their budgets. It
needed to identify this audience and
impact them in an assertive manner
to encourage them to head to their
nearest Audi dealership to see the
models up close.
SOLUTION
Audi came up with the idea to skip
the appraisal step and reach poten-
Audi bypassed the feeling of wasted time by appraising cars in parking lots
SILVER

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
To attract students to its 2014 inta-
ke, the university created a unique
billboard that improved air quality.
CHALLENGE
UTEC, the Engineering and Tech-
nology University, wanted to find a
way to demonstrate that, through
engineering ingenuity in action, it is
possible to change the world, and
through this message attract new
students to its 2014 intake.
Lima is undergoing a building
boom and there are construction
sites on every block, causing pollu-
tion and life-threatening diseases
due to the solid particles in the air,
endangering local residents and
construction workers alike.
UTEC was building a new campus
and, as a university that thinks and
does things differently, it had to find
a solution to this problem.
SOLUTION
UTEC took advantage of the con-
struction of its new campus to create
social and environmental awareness.
A billboard measuring approxi-
mately 30 x 10 metres was installed
to communicate the construction of
the new campus. It contained an air-
purification system that, by means of
Case study UTEC
Campaign
1200 trees-
like purifying
billboard
Advertiser
The University of
Engineering and
Technology
Agency
MediaConnec-
tion BPN / FCB
MAYO
Market
Peru
RESULTS
The billboard immediately drew me-
dia attention, resulting in more than
180 reports and press releases in
newspapers and digital media worth
US$116,084.
It also successfully publicised the
2014 admission process, increasing
the number of applicants by 14%
compared with the previous year.
Potential students saw UTEC as
a university that could demonstrate
that engineering is capable of
changing the world.
water filters, extracted dust particles
lifted by the construction project and
replaced them by releasing pure air.
The billboard produced 100,000m3
of pure air per day for a five-block
radius.
Additionally, the billboard commu-
nicated the construction of the new
eco-friendly campus for a different
kind of university, to increase the
number of student applications.
The idea was to continue driving
awareness and building on UTEC’s
image as the innovative, inspiring
university for future engineers who
want to change the world.
The air purifying billboard communicated the benefits of studying at UTEC
SILVER

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Sound crowdsourced for a TV ad led
to increased appeal among young-
er drivers for a pivotal auto model.
CHALLENGE
In the battleground of ‘medium-sized
executive saloons’, Mercedes’ rivals
had come to dominate the sector. To
override this, it needed to break with
a pattern of defeat more than two
decades old.
It also had to confront a brand
image problem: BMW and Audi were
both generally seen by the Mercedes
audience as comparatively more
desirable brands. In their eyes, a
Mercedes-Benz was a status car for
‘the more mature driver’.
Mercedes-Benz needed to drive
a 10% increase in E-Class new car
sales, year on year. The challenge
was to make 35–54 year olds reap-
praise the Mercedes-Benz E-Class
and increase the level of enquiries
(test drives and brochure requests)
from this group.
SOLUTION
Working with Hidalgo Ltd, the com-
pany that monitored Felix Baum-
gartner as he base-jumped from
the edge of space, Mercedes-Benz
devised a methodology to gauge the
Case study Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Campaign
Sound with
power
Advertiser
Mercedes-Benz
Agency
AMVBBDO
Market
UK
ing the human response to sound.
RESULTS
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class outsold
its rivals for the first time in decades.
The campaign achieved high lev-
els of interest in the model: brochure
downloads increased by 106% and
test drive requests increased by 76%,
an incremental sales growth of 38%
(versus sector growth of 9%) and a
gross revenue ROI in excess of 17:1.
Crucially, more than 50% of the
sales came from 35–54-year-old car
buyers who were new to the brand.
BRONZE
true physiological impact of driving
an E63 AMG.
Three male subjects were fitted
with a life monitor and a Brainband
EEG headset. Each driver indepen-
dently performed circuits of a private
race track. The drivers’ biometric
data were monitored live under ac-
celeration and braking conditions.
This revealed that it is sound that
creates an emotional bond between
driver and car. Additionally, the
sound of the exhaust signifies an
authentic performance car. A car’s
sound could provide the all-impor-
tant sporty credentials.
Following this in-
sight, an interactive,
multimedia cam-
paign explored how
sound has the power
to incite a range of
emotions.
A TV campaign
drove the audience
to the digital experi-
ence by demonstrat-
An interactive multi-
media campaign
demonstrated how
powerful sounds can
trigger emotions

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
More on… Innovation and technology
When you can smell the feel and touch the colour: Super senser vision
helps in innovation
Runa Gupta, Vartika Hali and Vishal Sampat, L’Oréal, Firefly Market Research and
Firefly Millward Brown, India
Coca-Cola’s Freestyle fountain puts big data on tap
Stephen Whiteside, Ad Age Data, October 2014
Digital technology and market research - Is it helping us uncover more
powerful insights?
Warc Next Generation Research, January 2014
Trends Snapshot: ‘Haptic’ tech, sensory marketing, and the future of brand
experience
Warc Trends, May 2014
The Shelter Pet Project
ARF Ogilvy Awards: Gold, Government non-profit, 2015

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
CHAPTER 5
CHANGING CHANNELS
Innovative use of media

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
At a glance Changing channels
1 Winners in the Warc Prize for Innovation used more media channels
than the average of all entries. They were more likely to use tradi-
tional channels such as television and outdoor in their campaigns.
That said, just 29% of winning entries used television – a far lower
proportion than standard effectiveness case studies.
2 Innovative use of media shown by Warc Prize for Innovation
campaigns was sometimes using older media in new ways.
Unilever’s Kan Khajura Station repurposed simple feature phones
as a new broadcast media channel and for the first time reached
many potential customers in a media dark area of India.
3 Innovation in media can also be finding new ways to combine
channels. Mercedes-Benz’s #YouDrive campaign created the
world’s first interactive driving experience conducted through a tel-
evision commercial.
4 Some campaigns used media as the message. Vodafone Romania
demonstrated the speed and coverage of their mobile network by
giving a geographically remote shepherd a smartphone and tablet
and teaching him to use social networks. Coverage of the feel-good
intiative generated 98 million free impressions and fulfilled the
brand promise of empowering Romanians leveraging only a single,
authentic spokesperson.
KEY INSIGHTS

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Comment Creative use of media
“Some entries that were successful this year used
technology in a very basic form. Any agency in London
who told their client they wanted to do a feature phone
campaign would get some very odd looks. But the
channel approach used in the ‘Kan Khajura Station’ case
was as innovative as using Oculus Rift.”
“Innovation without commercial discipline is not powerful
enough, it will not create value for everyone involved.”
Neeraj Kalani, Sr. Director Global Strategy Insights, PepsiCo

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Channel innovation takes many forms
Case studies for the Warc Prize for
Innovation showed creativity and
ingenuity in using existing media in
new ways and combinations.
Given the number of Prize entries
with low budgets, it is not surpris-
ing that expensive channels such as
television do not feature widely in
the competition. On average, 23%
of Prize entries, and 29% of winners,
used TV – a far lower proportion
than is found in similar analysis of
‘standard’ effectiveness competitions.
For example, analysis of the Cannes
Creative Effectiveness Lions found
more than 50% of entries used TV.
That said, there is evidence that
combining channels helped deliver
better outcomes. The average win-
ning entry used 6.4 channels, com-
pared with 5.6 among all entries.
Channel innovation took various
forms. The most striking example of
rethinking a media channel was Kan
Khajura Station, created to reach
a ‘media dark’ area of rural India.
Traditional media reach only 20% of
India’s rural population, with low lit-
eracy levels adding to the challenge.
Hindustan Unilever created Kan
Khajura Teshan (KKT), an always-on
mobile entertainment radio chan-
nel accessed via feature phones,
in which the content is interspersed
with communication about Unilever
brands.
Other campaigns found new ways
to blend channels. The ‘#YouDrive’
campaign in the UK for the Mercedes
A-Class blurred the lines between
traditional and social media. Tap-
ping into the convergence between
social platforms and broadcast
content, the #YouDrive experience
allowed a television audience to in-
fluence an advertisement in real time
via a digital social platform.
The result was unprecedented
levels of real-time social interaction,
consideration and sales in the UK,
and #YouDrive achieved a return on
marketing expenditure of over nine-
to-one.
In some cases, the medium was the
message. ‘Ghita the social shepherd’
demonstrated how personal use of
a Vodafone smartphone and tablet
could improve someone’s life, and
also showed what can be achieved
with an excellent Facebook cam-
paign. As millions engaged with the
brand, Vodafone was able to fulfil
its brand promise of ‘empowering
Romanians to break their barri-
ers, progress and live a better life
through technology’.
Hindustan Unilever turned mobile phones into an always-on radio channel
6.4
average num-
ber of channels
used by Prize-
winning entries

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Socialmedia
Earned
media/buzz
Internet-
microsites
Publicrelations
Onlinevideo
Events/
experiential
Wordofmouth
Outdoor/OOH
Content
marketing
Television
Print
Mobileapps
55
65
52
71
40
35
39
53
38
53
34
24
33
29
32
47
27 27
35
23
29
47 48
53
Social and earned media lead
KEY FACTSWINNING CAMPAIGNS MAKE BEST USE OF SOCIAL CHANNELS
Social media and ‘earned
media’ were the most popular
channels. Innovation cam-
paigns leveraged ‘free’ media
to the maximum, giving their
campaigns much more clout
than budgets might suggest.
Public relations is also a key
channel for innovation case
studies, used by 39% of all
entries and 53% of winners.
Traditional media, however,
is still important. With Prize
winners being 96% more likely
to use outdoor, and also with
higher usage of television and
print.
There seem to many new
opportunities in out of home,
which was strongly used by
winners, a trend also seen in
the Cannes Creative Effective-
ness awards.
% of entries using most popular channels
Winning entries
All entries

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
Case study Kan Khajura Station
Campaign
From the ‘dark’ to
connectivity
Advertiser
Unilever India
Agency
Lowe Partners,
PHD India
Market
India
Winner of the
Channel Innova-
tion Award
GOLD
Unilever reached ‘media dark’ rural India through consumers’ mobile phones
The consumer products company
built brand awareness in remote
areas of India with a free entertain-
ment service delivered via mobile
phone.
CHALLENGE
While most of the world is connected
and spoiled with an overload of
entertainment through regular and
digital media, there are some parts
that are totally disconnected and
literally in the dark. Regions such as
Bihar and Jharkhand, two of India’s
most media-dark regions, have no
electricity for eight to ten hours a day.
With a population of 130 million,
these regions are key growth markets
for Unilever, which had to find a way
to reach out to the market. The an-
swer lay in the only electronic equip-
ment kept turned on – a rudimentary
mobile phone, and 54 million people
had one.
This regional campaign set itself a
single objective: to reach out to this
audience by entertaining them via
their mobile phones.
SOLUTION
Unilever got together mobile opera-
tors, content providers and some
of its brands to create Kan Khajura
found a way to reach 54 million peo-
ple with only a rudimentary mobile
phone and connect them back to the
world with content relevant to their
culture – and all at a cost of under
four cents per person.
RESULTS
The target was to achieve 6–7 million
calls in six months, but people kept
dialling in, peaking at 150,000 calls
a day.
Another goal was to reach 10% of
the population in six months. Unile-
ver managed to reach 25.5%.
The campaign generated 24
million missed calls and 8 million
unique subscribers – that is, 13,000
hours of engagement each day, 2.3
million hours to date and 70 million
ad impressions clocked so far.
Station, a free entertainment service
delivered via mobile phone. The
moment anyone called Kan Khajura
Station, the call would be discon-
nected and an automated callback
generated with 15 minutes of music,
jokes, news and promotions from
these brands. This ensured that the
service was free, as incoming calls
are free in India.
To popularise the station’s num-
ber, a memorable logo was created,
and posters and banners put up
everywhere people gathered, such
as railway stations, local cattle fairs
and mobile recharge outlets. Other
media, like outbound calls and local
print media, were used too, all with
a simple message about how to
use a missed call to access the free
entertainment.
Through this new channel Unilever

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The auto manufacturer created a
TV ad that used social interaction
to achieve unprecedented levels of
real-time social interaction, consid-
eration and sales.
CHALLENGE
Mercedes-Benz was faced with a
challenge ahead of the launch of
its new A-Class, a small, five-door
hatchback: low consideration of the
brand among its target of drivers
aged 25–44.
The brand didn’t have the breadth
of models to compete directly with
Audi and BMW, and pre-launch
editorial wasn’t as favourable as had
been hoped.
The key to perception change was
getting prospective drivers behind
the wheel to experience the car, but
the A-Class wouldn’t be available in
the UK for another six months.
Mercedes-Benz needed to make
the brand relevant within the places
where young people were spending
their leisure time.
SOLUTION
Tapping in to the convergence
between social platforms and
broadcast content, Mercedes-Benz
launched the world’s first interactive
Case study Mercedes A-Class
Campaign
#YouDrive
Advertiser
Mercedes-Benz
Agency
AMVBBDO
Market
UK
substantially for those who ‘shared’
their experience on social media.
Every piece of content was just
one click away from a test drive or
brochure request.
RESULTS
The result was unprecedented
levels of real-time social interaction,
consideration and sales. YouDrive
achieved ROMI of more than 9:1.
After just six months, the A-Class
had captured 4.7% of the total small
car sector and 12 months after
launch, Mercedes-Benz had sold
13,934 of its A-Class, accounting for
a 6.7% share.
driving experience, where a televi-
sion audience could influence an ad-
vertisement in real time via a digital
social platform.
A video trailer explained the
campaign concept, using Twitter,
YouTube and Facebook, relevant
high-traffic sites and within banner
ad units. Influencers with significant
social graphs who retweeted the con-
tent were rewarded with personal-
ised one-off YouDrive movie posters.
Hidden within the online experi-
ence were details of a secret gig;
those who were able to find them
were invited to enter a prize draw
for the chance to win a new A-Class
for a year – with the odds improving
Mercedes-Benz enabled social media users to influence a TV ad in real-time
SILVER

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
The mobile network told the real-life
story of Ghita, an ordinary Roma-
nian shepherd, to improve its brand
metrics.
CHALLENGE
Vodafone’s network leadership was
being severely threatened by mas-
sively communicated 4G claims from
competitors Orange and Cosmote.
Despite 4G having very limited
coverage and supported handset
availability, Orange had taken
advantage of the novelty factor and
stolen a march on Vodafone.
All of Vodafone’s brand key per-
formance indicators were severely
deteriorating. It needed to reclaim its
position as the ‘best network in Ro-
mania’ by leveraging its superior net-
work performance, while establishing
itself as the best-value smartphone
provider and reversing the declining
trend in total brand consideration.
SOLUTION
Vodafone created Romanians with
Initiative, a new local communica-
tion platform featuring extraordinary
tales of ordinary people whose
encounters with technology helped
them break barriers and make
progress. They demonstrated new
Case study Vodafone
Campaign
Ghita the social
shepherd
Advertiser
Vodafone
Romania
Agency
BVMcCann
Erickson
Romania
Market
Romania
than half a million Facebook fans,
making him the third most popular
Romanian celebrity on Facebook.
The story of Ghita’s everyday life
achieved wide earned coverage,
worth more than 130,000 euros in
free media and dozens of well-known
people visited Ghita at his home.
Ghita became the credible flag-
ship for Vodafone’s network perfor-
mance, helping it to reclaim its main
differentiator and absolute leader-
ship in ‘best network’ perception.
BRONZE
Vodafone products in an easy-to-
understand way, showing how its
services work in real-life situations.
The spotlight was placed on Ghita,
a mountain shepherd, one of the
thousands that most Romanians con-
sider rather backwards. Vodafone
gave him a smartphone and tablet,
taught him how to use social net-
works and documented the way his
life improved through technology.
RESULTS
Ghita’s life was followed by more
Ghita showed that mobile internet is accessible and affordable for everyone

Executive
summary
Chapter 1
The innovation
mindset
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Social engagement
Chapter 4
Tech-driven
innovation
Chapter 5
Changing channels
www.warc.com
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