We donated a campaign. All services rendered were thus provided free of charge, from strategy to conception to the production of advertising materials. We are also very proud that we were able to convince MXR Productions and Cosmix Studios of our idea and win them over for the implementation - pro bono as well.
It was really important for us to give the pro bono campaign to a company that is committed to a good cause. To be honest, however, the whole thing was not entirely altruistic. We saw it not only as an opportunity to make an important contribution to society, but also as a great opportunity to demonstrate our own skills. We want to position ourselves as a creative agency that has a strong digital focus but covers all competencies ranging from TVC to posters.
At the same time, we also really wanted to realize the campaign for an existing customer. Not only as a sign of appreciation - we wanted as much leeway as possible. The trust placed in us, which is based on an existing and successful collaboration, allows us creative freedom as well as resource-efficient project management.
The first supposed challenge was to convince Haus der Barmherzigkeit to trust us blindly. After all, we pitched the idea of the donated campaign without any concrete creative idea. Our requirements for the project: a free hand in conception and implementation. In addition to a new look and feel, this meant one thing above all: little to no feedback loops. It quickly turned out that we didn't need much convincing at this point. We thank you for the limitless trust.
Another challenge was that we absolutely wanted to work with real people, i.e. the residents and clients of Haus der Barmherzigkeit. So we had to find an idea that met our creative quality standards and at the same time could be realized on site in one of the homes with elderly people in need of care and people with disabilities.
The campaign under the claim "Wir pfeifen auf euer Mitleid" which literally translates to "we whistle on your pity", referencing a German proverb that means to not give a damn about something, focuses on the people of the house, their lives, their wishes and feelings. And why they don't care about pity - but not about our compassion. To tell this insight authentically, the residents themselves were asked to stand in front of the camera.
"The elderly, people in need of care, and people with disabilities are always confronted with pity - and this always has a bitter aftertaste for those affected. All the people we care for want to be treated respectfully at eye level. With the campaign, digitalwerk has hit the bull's eye and put our philosophy in a nutshell." says Maria Hämmerle, Head of Communications and Fundraising at Haus der Barmherzigkeit.
That's why we “whistle“ on statements like "Oh dear, how poor" or "This is no life. Quite literally. With the help of artificial intelligence, different expressions of pity were translated into sounds and finally combined by sound designer and componist Mauricio Duda (MXR) into the musical theme that forms the heart of the campaign.
Whistling is an expression of joy: we whistle when we feel joy in life. With whistling, we want to take the heaviness out of pity and the wind out of the sails of statements.
The elderly, people in need of care and people with disabilities are always confronted with pity - and this always comes with a bitter aftertaste for those affected. Everyone we care for wants to be treated with respect and to be met at eye level. With this campaign, digitalwerk has hit the mark and gotten to the heart of our philosophy.
Maria Hämmerle
Head of Communication and Fundraising, Haus der Barmherzigkeit
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