On 22 and 23 August 2009, a 31-hour unity run was organised along the historic route of the Baltic Way, inviting people to choose a kilometre and, by running it, add their heartbeat to the joint rhythm of the Baltic pulse.
Activities
A registration website, www.baltijascelam20.lv, was opened three weeks before the run and included an interactive map where runners could choose their kilometre, invite friends to join in, and acquaint themselves with the history of the Baltic Way.
Latvian president Valdis Zatlers was the first to register for the run, in the shadow of Latvia's symbolic Freedom Monument. He was joined by the ambassadors for the run - popular celebrities, and 20-year-old young people who had been born on the historic day of the Baltic Way. The run was also announced and registration opened simultaneously in Lithuania and Estonia.
The Run information tent was open for three weeks and several thousand would-be runners took the opportunity to register there. Special Run T-shirts were also created.
Various promotional events were held up to the start of the Run - bakers created special strength-inducing bread, which was sent to Vilnius and Tallinn, starting points for the Run. A special warm-up run was held at the Maltuve marsh, where Latvian president Valdis Zatlers joined several hundred orienteers. In turn, to mark the route of the Run and its total length, "Heartbeats for the Baltics" kilometre posts were ceremonially erected, and the Run's kilometres were marked along the historic Baltic Way.
After Estonia's president gave a speech and signalled the start, to the sound of heartbeats and church bells, the first runners took off in Tallinn. A little later, the Run also started in Lithuanian capital city Vilnius with the encouragement of the country's president.
The finish line was in the centre of Riga and more than a thousand runners accompanied the Latvian president through the final kilometre.
Results
Thanks to an extensive information campaign, the Baltic Way festivities succeeded in involving residents of all three Baltic States. More than 60 000 people ran their own kilometre for Baltic unity with the Run setting a record for the number of participants.
Events connected with the Run resulted in hundreds of large and thousands of small articles in all three Baltic States. The extensive publicity was accompanied by active participation and involvement is social networking websites, for example, the Delfi news portal's photo gallery was viewed 400 000 times, several thousand tweets appeared in Twitter, the Run section in the draugiem.lv social portal was viewed more than a million times. Tens of thousands of people followed the Run's progress live in the internet. In turn, thousands of photos and videos were uploaded to the interactive map of the Run on the promotional website www.baltijascelam20.lv.
More detail about the campaign can be seen in the awards presentation HERE
Client: President's Chancery
Heartbeats for the Baltics
Communication campaign for the Run for Baltic Unity
Idea To mark the 20th anniversary of the historic Baltic Way, also to rekindle the spirit of unity and patriotism that the Baltic people experienced 20 years ago, the Latvian Orienteering Federation and PR agency Deep White cooperated at the instigation of Latvia's president Valdis Zatlers and the idea for the Run for Baltic Unity "Heartbeats for the Baltics" was born.
Each of the stars of the phone card's advertising campaigns - six friends - was given a sphere in which to become an ambassador for a topic of real interest to young people and so could actively communicate the brand's values in the virtual space.
Alongside ZZ heroine Jana's blog on the ZZ website, a separate project - an internet fashion and style guide www.ielumode.lv was created. For the first time in Latvia, the www.lacitis.lv project offered the opportunity to chat with a robot and get answers on various topics. In its turn, the www.tunelis.lv project allowed everyone to reveal their creative side and leave their personal graffiti message on the wall of the virtual ZZ subway. Technology buffs had a game created for them in the virtual environment www.ZZkodi.lv, with which, utilising QR coding technology and their mobile phone, they could decipher various coded messages.
The innovative ZZ internet projects, with more than 800 000 uniquely created units of content, were adapted to various interest groups, addressing different communities of young people and significantly increasing the popularity of the ZZ brand in the virtual environment. Overall, more than 178 000 young people became fans and actively participated, in turn, the number of visitors to the ZZ website increased by 25% during the campaign.
The ZZ online campaign, created by the Deep White and Baddog 2.0 agencies, was adjudged second in the digital communication campaign category at the "Baltic PR Awards 2010". More detail about the campaign can be seen in the awards presentation HERE
Client: Zelta Zivtiņa
There will always be something to talk about!
Zelta Zivtiņa relaunch in the virtual environment
In order to increase the target audience's interest in the Zelta Zivtiņa (ZZ) brand and acquaint them with the newly developed ZZ website, a brand relaunch campaign was unveiled in the virtual environment, accompanied by a number of impressive activities. The pre-paid phone card's slogan "There will always be something to talk about!" was chosen as the strategy for this move.
Remembering the tone that parents use to teach their children and form the concepts of good and evil, storytelling was chosen as the campaign's form of address. Writers and poets created stories for adults, which, affectionately but also instructively, reminded drivers how good it was to be good.
These stories were reproduced in the mass media; they were published in an attractive book with colour illustrations and advertising clips using situations from the stories were created with animation techniques.
The playful campaign, a long way from moralising because of its warmth, attracted a string of celebrities who read the stories so that they could be distributed on the internet in audio format.
In turn, on the Polite Driving Day organised as part of the campaign, all of Riga's public transport drivers, as well as thousands of Latvia's drivers, declared their support for the campaign by tying special blue ribbons with the slogan 'It's good to be good!' to their vehicles.
Client: CSDD (Road Traffic Safety Directorate)
It’s good to be good
Campaign for polite and cultured driving
Apparent anonymity and the secure sanctuary of a car seem to turn even the most mild-mannered people into aggressive drivers. Standing up for cultured driving and mutual respect on Latvia's roads, the integrated campaign 'It's good to be good!' was created.
The "See a belt - buckle up!" campaign was specifically targeted at back-seat passengers to fight the prevailing perception that a car's front seat can protect people in accidents, and as a reminder that: SAFETY BELTS ARE OBLIGATORY for everyone, and will save the lives and wellbeing of both back-seat and front-seat passengers.
To make people really stop and think, and to clearly demonstrate the consequences of not wearing a safety belt, a real accident, a front-on collision between two cars was shown for the first time in Latvia. An 'Accident Demonstration Lesson' - a real crash showing the consequences of safety belts not being fastened - was organised, with the participation of experienced stunt men, a professor of physics and specialists from the Catastrophe Medical Centre.
The road-accident photos and videos shown at the opening event of the campaign were published in a number of internet portals, national newspapers and TV news broadcasts, and were utilised in a number of programmes.
A special campaign section was set up in the social networking portal draugiem.lv giving people the opportunity to pose questions and get answers from CSDD experts, and to take a physics test about various accident situations. For their part, the CSDD's Riga branch put on an exhibition of safety equipment giving people the opportunity to experience simulated accident situations.
Client: CSDD (Road Traffic Safety Directorate)
See a belt – buckle up!
Campaign to get back-seat passengers to wear safety belts
The great majority of drivers and their front-seat passengers understand the necessity to wear safety belts and have got used to the idea. The situation is very different with back-seat passengers: even though statistics show that 50% of passengers killed had not been wearing safety belts and that they may have survived had they been wearing one, wearing a belt continues to be seen as stupid and unnecessary.
This is how the Latvijas valsts meži brand Mammadaba (Mother Nature) was created, together with a movement for getting back to nature whose aim is to acquaint the Latvian population with our natural riches.
The nature portal www.mammadaba.lv, the Mammadaba Embassy at the Alfa shopping centre and Mammadaba ambassadors - well-known, sharp-witted people - popularised Mammadaba's ideas and more than 100 sites of natural beauty managed by Latvijas valsts meži. Mammadaba film screenings revealed the magic of nature to children through animated films and creative lectures. In turn, active social life - in cooperation with the Positivus AB music festival; a campaign with the largest retail chain, Rimi, to promote the use of textile shopping bags and cooperation with Latvia's nature-friendly and most-watched TV chef Mārtiņs Sirmais enabled the public to encounter Mammadaba during their day-to-day activities.
Client: Latvijas valsts meži (Latvian State Forests)
Mammadaba (Mother Nature)
Movement for getting back to nature
On the one hand, the mission of JSC Latvijas valsts meži (Latvia's State Forests) is simple and clear: manage the nation's forests. On the other hand, the company wants to make a contribution to society by getting people closer to nature.
Next to the roadside RIGA sign at the city boundary on the road from Daugavpils, Riga Dinamo fans added the word DINAMO in imposingly sized letters.
Photos and videos of this event were plastered all over internet portals, national newspapers and TV news broadcasts, accentuating the team's relationship with the city of Riga and attracting new fans for the club and spectators for the incoming Continental Ice Hockey League.
Client: Dinamo and fans
The Dinamo fan greeting
The Dinamo fan greeting
To publicise the fact that ice hockey team Dinamo Riga was starting its home games, we, with the help of their fans, sent the team a huge greeting.
Over a three-year period Cūkmens has visited the Cabinet of Ministers, got legislation changed so as to discourage the use of plastic bags and met thousands of schoolchildren. He blogs on social networking portal draugiem.lv and a book is being published about his exploits. Cūkmens has got clean-up working bees to be a popularly accepted activity. Cūkmens is learning to fly so that he can spot forest rubbish dumps from the sky. This year he went on a promotional tour all over Latvia and is hoping that a PET-bottle deposit system will soon be introduced here.
Pink Cūkmens has successfully emerged from the forest and, having attained an 80% awareness rating among the Latvian population, has become a green and effective reminder to us all.
The Cūkmens campaign was also highly rated by our industry peers and Cūkmens, after his initial activities, received a number of annual Latvian public relations awards, including the gold award for the Best Corporate communications campaign.
Client: Latvijas valsts meži (Latvian State Forests)
Don’t litter the forest! You’ll turn into a pig!
The Cūkmens campaign
When picnickers' litter and household rubbish had become the norm in Latvia's national forests, Cūkmens (Pigman) was born as the image of the clean forests campaign, a living representation of the slogan 'Don't litter the forest! You'll turn into a pig!'
Information regarding seasonally appropriate sports (snowboarding, football, yoga, running), advice from Latvia's top sports people and coaches, virtual training sessions, user forums, FAQs, information about Adidas equipment and opportunities to win it in interactive competitions ensured lively communication between the brand and net users over a period of several months.
Furthermore, the return on the communication was particularly high, as the virtual Adidas world was inhabited by those thousands of net users who had committed to increasing their sporting activities in an earlier survey.
The brand becomes a friend and adviser, interactivity becomes literally that and brand identity acquires real forms so strengthening the positioning of Adidas in a particularly receptive target group.
Client: Adidas
Adidas: I pledge
Project "I pledge 2008"
The Adidas slogan 'impossible is nothing' achieved its fulfilment in Latvia's largest social networking portal draugiem.lv. The Adidas 'I pledge' section of the website, specially created for the campaign became a source of inspiration for almost 100 000 people and their friends, helping them fulfil their dreams of a sporting lifestyle.
How much money were people prepared to bid to have dinner with some of Latvia's most popular people: politicians, entrepreneurs, actors and singers? This was revealed by Latvia's very first charity auction 'Dinner with the stars', where the money collected from successful bids was donated as a Christmas present to the Teika children's welfare centre so they could renovate their premises.
The progress of the unusual, fortnight-long percunpardod.lv auction and its results were extensively reported in Latvia's main internet portals, newspapers and magazines.
Client: percunpardod.lv
VIP Dinner
Campaign launching classified ad and auction portal percunpardod.lv
The Latvian 'e-bay' percunpardod.lv is much more than just the biggest classified ad portal in Latvia, it simultaneously offers people the chance to evaluate their own goods and set a reserve price for auctions.
The programme saw many blind people gain dependable helpers, guide dogs, through the support of notaries. To facilitate public understanding of the day-to-day difficulties facing blind people, a special 'Dark Trailer', in which anyone could experience the complexities of being blind, was constructed. The plight of the blind and their lack of access to public buildings were drawn to the attention of civil servants and officials by attaching Braille plaques to the doors of state institutions, including the Saeima (Parliament). For their part, to further the integration of the blind into the general community, Latvia's notaries, in cooperation with the Ideju forums association and the most significant mass media, created and regularly distribute an audio magazine.
A symbolic parallel can be drawn between notaries' support for the blind and their daily activities where notaries, being the members of the legal profession in closest contact with the public, guide their way through the legislative jungle.
Client: Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries
DIA:logs
Support programme for the blind
To mark the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries, a charity project in support of the blind was developed: DIA:logs. [In Latvian, dialogs means 'dialogue', but logs on its own means 'window']
Consequently, thousands of people visited the Lung Repairs Service where they could measure their lung capacity and obtain medical advice on the most effective ways to stop smoking. Doctors also addressed smokers at an event in Vērmanes dārzs dedicated to International Non-smoking Day; in turn, female gynaecologists joined the campaign to specifically target female smokers.
A substantial pledge project was executed in the social networking website draugiem.lv where those who could not rid themselves of their harmful habit were addressed directly, having been drawn together through a questionnaire. The chance to get support from friends and doctors, anytime, day or night; to strengthen one's resolve with the help of a special calculator to work out the money saved and life-expectancy increase since quitting, mutual wagers made by quitters, a virtual reality show about quitting and various competitions ensured the active participation of users. Encouraged by the Pledge section, people created autonomous net groups, who agitated for their friends not to smoke and emphasised the campaign message - doctors offer the most help in this process.
The solution was also highly rated by the Golden Hammer jury who awarded Deep White and media agency Reactive a Silver Hammer in the Best use of the Internet category.
Clients: Latvian Medical Association, Pfizer
Doctors against smoking
Anti-smoking campaign
Target-group research attests that, to people who want to stop smoking, the support of friends, relatives and doctors is much more important than advertising in traditional media. That is why, to encourage Latvia's smokers to quit more effectively, in cooperation with the Latvian Medical Association and the Pfizer company, a campaign was created with the strategic message 'See your doctor and liberate yourself!'
'Let's renew the lunch break!' said solicitous Lido hostess Lydia, not just in the advertisements created by the agency !MOOZ, but at the media event attended by numerous journalists. She explained the benefits of good nutrition in maintaining good health with the president of Latvia's Gastroenterologists' association, Dr. Anatolijs Danilāns. They were also joined by Olympic champion weightlifter Viktors Ščerbatihs. In turn, in cooperation with well-known dietician Lolita Neimane, special low-calorie menus were developed for those people who, according to the research data, were avoiding restaurants because they feared putting on weight.
The basic principles of healthy nutrition, dietician Lolita Neimane's recommended meals, Aunty Lydia's proper-meal-for-lunch manifesto, and stimulating entertainment for quieter moments could all be found at the campaign's special website where thousands of users took the opportunity to download lunch-break e-cards, the campaign video and mobile phone ring tones featuring campaign slogans.
Client: Lido
Lido renews the lunch break
Campaign promoting the lunch break
The nation is in crisis; people are working too hard, saving money and too busy to eat a proper meal at lunchtime. These were the conclusions of research carried out by the Lido restaurant chain.
Lido's response? A campaign promoting healthy lifestyles, appropriate daily regimens and the renewal in Latvia of the tradition of eating a proper lunch.
The public information campaign "Look twice! TWICE!!" invited Latvian vehicle drivers to be careful and, to be on the safe side, look in their mirrors twice. Twice!!
As part of the campaign, TV clips, radio and outdoor advertisements addressed drivers and other traffic participants. The advice of professionals, descriptions of the most dangerous situations and a computer-simulation game could be found at the website www.skaties2x.lv.
The Motorcycle Club Association of Latvia were invited to become involved, thus more than 1500 motorcyclists took an active part in the campaign. Among other activities, 50 motorcyclists created their own version of the campaign slogan Look twice! By taking over Doma laukums (Cathedral Square) and arranging themselves to symbolise an eye, they sent friendly greetings to all traffic participants.
In turn, the new motorcycling season was launched in unique fashion by the first performance of a song 'Look 2x 2x',specially composed for the campaign and sung by comedy legend and singer UFO.
Client: CSDD (Road Traffic Safety Directorate)
Look twice! Twice!!
Safety campaign on behalf of motorcyclists and other less-protected traffic participants
If motorcyclists collide with a car, their chances of survival are relatively small. But they deftly flit through the gaps between cars, more and more often turning drivers into unintentional murderers.
Lifelong feelings of guilt and ever-present pangs of conscience are inescapable for such drivers and the knowledge that the accident was actually caused by the motorcyclist does not relieve this hurt.
Along with the values set for the brand, its philosophy, a new corporate tagline and visual identity, created by Deep White together with advertising agency !MOOZ, Domenikss also streamlined and clearly formulated its outlook on customers, partners, employees and the tasks it undertakes. And it can be stated very simply: the Domenikss Standard is Excellence.
From now on, the Standard of excellence will serve as a measure of and frame of reference for the company's operations: starting with the quality of services and products offered, vehicle servicing, customer relations, attitudes within the company to each other, to customers and corporate partners.
Standard of excellence is also the inspiration behind every Domenikss activity, sponsorship project and choice of corporate partner, whether it be the Cēsis Art Festival, the annual Diena prize for culture, the Latvijas Lepnums ceremony saluting people who have done good deeds, or the National botanical garden at Salaspils.
Client: Domenikss
Domenikss: Standard of excellence
Development of new slogan and identity
'We believe that to be merely "good" is not enough. The ignoring of details is not permissible when the subject is quality. Above all, we place the highest demands on ourselves.' Such thinking and the phrase 'Excellence in every detail' laid down the foundations for the Domenikss brand.
Clients: SEB bank, Diena newspaper, Latvijas valsts meži (Latvian State Forests)
The 11th hour. Ideas – People - Changes
Young people’s campaign against global warming
In response to the wish of a number of Latvian companies to address schoolchildren with a view to popularising green thinking and environmentally friendly lifestyles, we developed the campaign Ideas - People - Changes. Inspired by free screenings of the Leonardo di Caprio film 'The 11th Hour', young people created thousands of ideas for a greener life which were published on the campaign website. With the help of professional artists, the schoolchildren created a gigantic graffiti-style version of the best ideas on the 'Wall of Ideas'.
Students from every Latvian university were able to implement their creative ideas by upgrading their temporary residences: student dormitories. Well-known fashion and design experts gave their views on the students' concepts, awarding significant cash prizes to the best solutions and thus the opportunity to implement them in real life.
Client: K-Rauta
Royally re-decorating dormitories with K-Rauta
Creative event for Latvia's students
To accentuate the do-it-yourself trend being promoted by the K-Rauta retail chain, who specialise in the sale of building, garden and household goods, tools and equipment, we developed a creative event for Latvia's students: royally re-decorating dormitories with K-Rauta.
Attesting to this, the current and former Ministers for Justice, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and notaries from all over Latvia presented a symbolic gift - an outline of Latvia's borders traced in candlelight in Riga's Doma laukums (Cathedral Square).
Client: Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries
A gift for Latvia
A gift from notaries for Latvia’s celebration
What can we give Latvia for its birthday (Independence day)? Ceremonial speeches, expensive presents and receptions? No, what Latvia really needs is the love and respect of its population.
A hub of the creative arts - contemporary cultural organisations, regular music and film events, the annual Poetry festival, the White Nights arts festival, a museum and state-of-the-art offices are the new faces of the Spīķeri buildings.
Client: Joint venture Spīķeri
Spīķeri
Rebirth of the Spīķeri
Spīķeri - Riga's historic market warehouses - are the future hub of the creative industries. The dilapidated buildings between the Central market and the Daugava river are being transformed into a contemporary location for cultural, innovative and business activities, an open and friendly environment for the residents of Riga and their guests.
Having regard to the stark reality of Jāņi today,
Deep White and MOOZ! created an unusual selection of "Shock songs" for this CSDD campaign: police officers, doctors and gravediggers intoned uncensored songs about the bloody events surrounding the Jāņi celebrations. For their part in the campaign, the traffic police carried out a number of raids accompanied by well-known traditional group, the Suitu sievas, who, in song, mocked guilty drivers about the offences they had committed.
The "Shock songs" campaign provoked a lot of public discussion, verses were sung by teenagers, drivers and the Suitu sievas, also by younger children, the Minister for Transport, CSDD and traffic police management. More than 4 000 users of the social networking portal draugiem.lv took the opportunity to immortalise their own Shock song in a virtual Dainu skapis (the real one, a massive cabinet, can be seen at the Krišjānis Barons museum, dedicated to the first great collector of Latvian folk songs).
The Golden Hammer jury rated the "Shock songs" campaign as the best of 2008.
Client: CSDD (Road Traffic Safety Directorate)
Shock songs
Campaign against drink-driving
At the Latvian version of summer solstice celebrations, Jāņi, our ancestors would sing at length about their festive traditions and old ways and the humorous teasing of neighbours and friends was an integral part of the night. Sadly, in modern times it seems the main features of Jāņi are alcohol, accidents and tragedies on Latvia's roads.
Along with advertisements on television, radio and in the press, we also organised police raids when reckless drivers were offered the chance to sign a campaign Organ Donor's Certificate. By signing this certificate, drivers confirmed their willingness to donate their organs after death: to people waiting for organ-transplant operations.
The use of the certificate simultaneously brought Latvia's organ donor problem to the fore. During the campaign, the Organ-transplant Department of the Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital received countless calls from people interested in donating their organs.
The campaign received a string of significant awards, including several Golden Hammers. Furthermore, the Organ Donor's Certificate was awarded a Cannes Lion for direct marketing tools.
Client: CSDD (Road Traffic Safety Directorate)
Organ donors
Campaign against aggressive drivers
The objective of the "Organ donors" campaign was to make aggressive drivers reconsider their actions and look at death through other people's eyes.
Avoiding preaching, the CSDD, in cooperation with leading Latvian doctors, suggested to reckless drivers that they stop and think and evaluate what life means to them. Because, while reckless drivers risk their health and lives on a daily basis, it is hardly surprising that the general public refers to them as organ donors − Latvia has a long waiting list for kidney- or heart-transplant operations.
In cooperation with Apeirons, an organization of people with disabilities and their friends, we showed how people's lives were changed by just a few seconds of recklessness. And people who were wheelchair-bound because of such behaviour invited the public not to be as stupid as they had been …
As part of the campaign, a web camera was set up in the apartment of a wheelchair user, giving an insight into the 'benefits' of being a person with disabilities.
A wheelchair drag-race was organised outside the Cabinet of Ministers building; during the morning rush hour on Riga's Vanšu (suspension) bridge, people with restricted mobility held a demonstration against driving too fast; the 'Art of Braking' event saw a number of celebrities decorate road signs, reinforcing the message against drink-driving.
Wheelchair users also joined the traffic police in specially organised raids, visited schools, driving schools and met extreme drivers face-to-face at drag races.
The campaign was judged the best social campaign; being conferred the gold medal at Latvia's annual public relations awards.
Client: CSDD (Road Traffic Safety Directorate)
Drink. Drive. Join us.
Campaign against drink driving and aggressive driving
Want to exceed the speed limit? Want to drink and drive? Be our guest! This wheelchair can't wait to have you sitting in it!
To reach people who consider drink driving to be the norm, we created a blunt, documentary communication campaign in which real people with disabilities, who had been involved in accidents, recalled their harrowing experience.
That is why the campaign, whose purpose was to popularise the use of payment cards, chose security as its strategic message, and in its implementation, involved pickpockets, habitual criminals and other dropouts (real ones who had been found guilty of robbery and filmed in Latvian prisons).
Explaining that payment cards were bad, how they affected business, reduce their hauls, how they de-motivate professional thieves and are ruining the trade, pickpockets suggested that people only carry cash. At the same time, the police highlighted the pick-pocketing problem as part of the campaign while banking specialists extolled the virtues of payment cards in combating pickpockets.
The campaign achieved a broad response, many journalists visiting an environment loved by thieves, the number 15 trolley bus, to attend a Seminar for Pickpockets. In turn, in cooperation with the police and bank specialists, the advantages of payment cards were explained in a tour of Latvia's regions, on the campaign website and in information leaflets available at banks.
The Pickpockets against payment cards campaign received a Golden Drum award at eastern Europe's most significant advertising festival.
Client: First Data Latvia
Pickpockets against payment cards
Campaign promoting payment by card
You understand security through fear. Calm is achieved after stress. Alarm systems are usually installed after burglaries. Furthermore people have an inner resentment against being taught: 'Do this. Do that. Enjoy! Choose! Buy!' Tired of being ordered about, people instinctively choose to do the exact opposite.