Our new Warc 100 rankings, released last week, collect together a truly global array of campaigns. Listed according to their success at effectiveness and strategy awards over the past year, the collection of the world's 100 smartest campaigns highlight a big industry trend: the increasing recognition of the great work being done away from the Anglosphere.
Exemplifying this shift is 'My Blood is Red and Black', a campaign from Leo Burnett Tailor Made in Brazil for HEMOBA, a blood donation charity, which is ranked 31st on the Warc 100. As part of the campaign, football team Vitoria removed the red stripes from its kit, promising to put them back as people donated blood – leading to big fan engagement and a rise in donations. And, when I asked him about developing the strategy for the campaign, Marcello Magalhaes, VP for planning at Leo Burnett, said that one big cultural insight was ultimately responsible for the (award winning) work.
"It's about putting people at the centre of what we do," he said. "In the case of HEMOBA, the client asked us for a very usual blood donation campaign. But we realised that if we approach people as donors, that won't fly. Then we thought, these people need to find affinity. Affinity was the key insight: [people are willing] to donate blood to a person that they know – that they have affinity for."
In football-mad Brazil, there is one group of people who people feel affinity for even if they don't know them: the stars on their local football team. That's why a partnership was struck with Vitoria, and that's why the campaign generated significant media coverage – and why HEMOBA experienced a 46% volume increase in donations.
"From that initial insight, about affinity, that just kickstarted the creative process," Magalhaes added.
If you'd like to dig deeper, into the Warc 100, please read the full top 100 rankings, and learn more about our methodology.
Warc subscribers hoping to learn even more about each of the world's smartest campaigns can also read the full case studies where we have them. And, if you're on the rankings but don't have the case on Warc yet, please drop us a line.
