Concrete Jungle wins Fundraising Campaign of the Year

“Effective social impact, beautiful creative, global awareness.” – Judge’s Comment, Campaign For Good Awards 2019

In August last year, we joined forces with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) to launch a poignant short film, ‘Concrete Jungle’, raising awareness of the devastating impacts of forest destruction in Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, promoting their Rainforest Home Appeal. Having raised the full £870,000 needed to buy back an 890 acre plot of land called Cinta Raja, we were recently awarded Campaign For Good’s Best Fundraising Campaign 2019. Crucially, work has now begun to turn this lifeless palm oil plantation back into diverse and vibrant rainforest.

The campaign is a brilliant example of what can be achieved if an inspiring creative is used at the heart of fundraising. Produced by Eddy, the film shows much-loved iconic jungle characters who’ve lost their natural rainforest habitats and are struggling to survive on grey city streets without even the bare necessities. This helped connect a geographically distant audience to the cause.

Content vs Cause

King Louie, Baloo and the rest of the gang are timeless figures for both adults and children, so there’s a universal reaction to seeing them in distress – we all want to make sure this story ends happily ever after. A universal creative means we were able to reach an audience beyond those typically engaged in content around the deforestation. By taking beloved Jungle Book characters and dropping them into unfamiliar urban landscapes, the film immediately highlights the issue in an engaging way, stitching together animation and real footage.

Targeting

This approach was reflected in our engagement too; on social we promoted the video to those interested in popular content aggregators and sites, as well as people interested in the cause, which meant the audience wasn’t oversaturated with similar messaging. Then, retargeting those who had engaged with the film, we nudged our new audience into action with a ‘donate now’ button. Having built these audiences out, we were able to update this new group with progress of the fundraising target, making them an integral part of the charity’s journey.

Tangible goal

For a topic which can feel hopeless, the tangibility of the end goal gave people a sense that their small donation was going towards achieving something genuinely hopeful. As momentum built for the campaign, the success attracted high net worth donors, meaning SOS were able to achieve the full £870,000 fundraising goal.

Fortunately, as the film highlights, there is still hope for Sumatra’s forests. Land that was barren just a few years ago is now buzzing with life once more, and there are regular reports of orangutans, elephants and other animals returning to their forest homes.We are thrilled with the result, and Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society, Helen Buckland, says, “Once reclaimed and restored, it will provide a home for thousands of species, including the iconic orangutans, elephants and tigers we all recognise from the campaign film, forever.”

Our Creative Agency

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