Effective Social Strategy Report

Lessons from the 2019

WARC Awards

1 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Contents
Themes from the report 3
Social media is about people, not brands 4
What this means for... 6
Judging panel 7
Chapter one:
Themes from the winning campaigns 8
Social can deliver impressive, long-term returns 9
Social can facilitate creative judo 13
A smart influencer strategy can drive growth 15
Chapter two: Winning case studies 18
The United Nations: The People’s Seat 19
Child Focus: Closer Than You Think 23
Puck: Save the Cows 24
Vans: Not Just One Creator 25
Silver Winners 26
Bronze Winners 29
Chapter three: Data 31
Where the shortlisted case studies came from 32
Campaign objectives 33
Creative strategy 34
Lead media 35
Hard and soft metrics 36
Themes from the report
Social can fulfil both long- and
short-term business objectives
As social matures, it is increasingly being
positioned at the heart of business and is
delivering impressive returns. Two brands
from this year’s WARC Awards – Starbucks and
McDonald’s – demonstrated social’s ability
to combine brand activity with a promotional
mechanic to steer commercial results. Judge Alex
Steer, Chief Product Officer at Wavemaker, writes:
“It is a grown-up, hugely powerful set of media that
drives real responses from real people. It should
not be consigned to the playpen of proxy metrics.”
He continues: “As social has grown up, it’s shown
itself more than capable of a fair fight... and it
can make real impact on brands, customers and
business results.”
3 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Social can facilitate creative judo
Creative judo enables brands to be Davids taking
on Goliaths, and social provides a good context
for this strategy. As Born Social’s Callum McCahon
points out: “Social still brings an unrivalled ability
to form a crowd, to break down barriers and smash
convention.” Winning case studies that embraced
this strategy included Burger King in the US that
leveraged an opportunity on Twitter when rival
Wendy’s discontinued spicy nuggets. McCahon
describes this as a “a short, sharp, tactical land-
grab... It owned online conversation and shifted a
load of nuggets in the process.”
A smart influencer strategy
can drive growth
Despite claims that we have reached ‘peak
influencer’, this year’s social winners showed
that using influencers thoughtfully within a
social strategy can lead to engagement and
effectiveness. As Jakub Hodbod and Charlotte
Tansill from Ogilvy write: “The future of influencer
marketing is about the dynamic relationship
between influencers and brands, expanding their
impact from amplifiers and advocates to growth-
drivers.”
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Social media is about people, not brands
Social offers immense opportunities for participation-
led campaigns, but not enough brands are playing to
its strengths, writes WARC’s Lucy Aitken.
This report scrutinises entries to the
Effective Social Strategy category
at the 2019 WARC Awards and draws
out trends and themes around
the shortlisted case studies. This
is to find out what makes a social
campaign successful and to offer
actionable insights to marketers.
Social has matured, a point made
by one of the judges, Alex Steer.
However, there are still too many
campaigns – some of which were
shortlisted – that many judges
dismissed as ‘let’s tick the social
box.’ In other words, social formed
Lucy Aitken is Managing Editor, part of the comms plan, but the
Case Studies at WARC campaign itself did not play to the
strengths of the channel.
4 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Fast-food brands use social well
Category-wise, fast-food brands
tend to work well on social: judges
saw KFC’s Burger Wars and Burger
King’s Turning Their Tweets Against
Them as examples of this. Non-
profit initiatives also work well in an
interactive environment: the Closer
Than You Think initiative from Belgian
charity Child Focus and the Grand
Prix winner from the UN, The People’s
Seat, were both described by one
judge as “social media at its best”.
But in many categories,
use of social is queried
Whether or not the campaign could
have been as successful without
the social component is one way
that judges decided to approach
the judging process. JetBlue’s Get
Packing, for instance, was widely
liked by judges, but not felt to be
an inherently social campaign.
Similarly, Emirates NBD’s hijack of
YouTube pre-rolls was seen as “one-
dimensional”, to borrow the words of
one judge.
Three themes that emerged
from winning case studies
When analysing the case studies in
detail, we identified three themes:
Social can deliver impressive,
long-term returns
Social is taking its place at the
heart of business and delivering
impressive returns for brands.
Alex Steer, Chief Product Officer at
Wavemaker, writes: “Social is more
than capable of a fair fight and it
can make real impact on brands,
customers and business results.”
Social can facilitate
creative judo
Brands wanting to be Davids taking
on Goliaths should look to social.
As Born Social’s Callum McCahon
points out: “Social still brings an
unrivalled ability to form a crowd,
to break down barriers and smash
convention.”
A smart influencer strategy
can drive growth
A pproaching influencer marketing
as a long-term strategy, investing
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Social media is about people, not brands

time in selecting the right that won the most recognition in

influencer and using an influencer these awards and that, according to
for co-creation are tried-and- jurors, have the greatest number of
tested approaches to using learnings for marketers.
influencers on social. As Jakub
Hodbod and Charlotte Tansill
from Ogilvy write: “The future of The 2020 WARC Awards will
influencer marketing is about the launch on 22 October 2019. It
dynamic relationship between will remain a free-to-enter, four-
influencers and brands, expanding category global case study
their impact from amplifiers and competition that is dedicated
advocates to growth-drivers.” to celebrating next-generation
ideas. If you’re interested in
And a special mention for judging, please contact
the power of participation lucy.aitken@warc.com.
The Grand Prix winner and a few
other cases offered lessons in
participation. The Starbucks case
study, in particular, was adept at
helping build the brand and generate
sales over time. One of the lessons
learned from its winning paper was:
Burger King: “fast-food brands play to the strengths of social”
“Social media is about people, not
UN: “social media at its best”
brands. If you’re going to be a part of Starbucks: “helped build the brand over time”
social culture you need to find your
place. Starbucks did this by creating
unique and valuable assets for
people to express themselves.”
It is the case studies that enabled
that this kind of self-expression

5 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
What this means for...

Advertisers Agencies Media owners

 dvertisers should treat social platforms
A Consider how campaigns could feature  nline video remains a key part of
O
as a mature channel choice that can be a participatory component that involves successful social campaigns so should be
put to the test of profitability. The winning the audience. User-generated content a hygiene factor in most social campaigns.
case studies in this year’s Effective remains a successful element in many
Social Strategy category show how social campaigns: 40% of shortlisted I nnovate within specific formats to make
social is making a real impact on brands, campaigns in this year’s Effective Social them more specific for the brand and its
customers and business results: 75% of Strategy cited ‘user-generated content, particular objectives. Emirates NBD, for
the shortlisted papers cited sales as a hard participation’ as a creative strategy. instance, used pre-roll ads to demonstrate
metric. the speediness of its money remittance
 atch up brands with appropriate
M service.
Social offers an opportunity for brands influencers that could help generate
to combine both long-term brand-building additional awareness and publicity.
with short-term promotional mechanics,
as seen in the Starbucks and McDonald’s  ocial and PR often go hand in hand, so
S
winning case studies. Think about how the PR potential of a campaign should be
your brand could benefit from combining planned upfront.
both within a social strategy.

 onsider how your brand can leverage

C
partnerships to engage with specific
audiences, like Heineken did with Shazam
in Nigeria.

6 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Judging panel

Christine Xu Mark Carroll Fran Cassidy Thomas Gregorski Catherine Heath Jakub Hodbod Kim Hoeu Jai Kotecha
Chair of the judges Senior Creative Founder, Cassidy Global Vice Partner, Executive Global Head of Head of Paid Social, Managing Partner
Vice President, Strategist, Media Partnership President Strategy Director, Strategy, Ogilvy APAC, Essence and Global WPP
Chief Marketing Snap Inc. Digital Strategy John McNeil Studio Social.Lab and Lead, Ogilvy
Officer, McDonald’s & Customer Chief Strategy
China Engagement, Officer, Ogilvy
Epsilon Czech

Interested in
judging Effective
Social Strategy
in 2020?

Please contact
Lucy Aitken,
Managing Editor,
Case Studies, WARC
André van Loon Hans Lopez-Vito Callum McCahon Aoife Murphy Martin Smith Alex Steer Mike Teasdale lucy.aitken@warc.com
Senior Research & Chief Operating Strategy Director, Executive Strategy Chief Strategy Chief Product Founder and
Insight Director, Officer, Greater Born Social Director, Officer, Twelve and Officer, Wavemaker Planning Director,
We Are Social China, BBDO Boys + Girls Communisis Group UK Harvest Digital
London Worldwide & Agencies

7 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Chapter one:
Themes from the winning campaigns
Social can fulfil both long-and short-term business objectives

Social can facilitate creative judo

A smart influencer strategy can drive growth

Are we selling social short?
We live in curious times when it
Wavemaker’s Alex Steer queries why advertisers comes to measuring the impact of
and agencies doubt social’s impact, selecting three social media. On the one hand, the
whole world seems to be suddenly
winning cases from the 2019 WARC Awards which convinced that social media –
intelligently planned, targeted,
more than prove its ability to drive growth and profit. measured and optimised – is capable
of bringing down governments,
fomenting rebellion and changing the
political and cultural climate of whole
countries in ways unprecedented in a
generation. We earnestly believe that
within the vast data centres of the
social media giants, every aspect of
our lives is being logged and analysed
with terrifying pinpoint accuracy.
Yet on the other hand, many
of us in marketing seem to find it
Alex Steer is Chief Product Officer
inconceivable that social media
at Wavemaker
advertising is capable of selling
everyday goods and services.
That difficult second decade
As social media accelerates into
its difficult second decade, the
rest of the world is reeling from its
shuddering impact on many aspects
of how we live, talk, think, share, vote
and buy. Social media has eaten
publishing, journalism, e-commerce,
9 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
television and much of the discourse
of public life, but over here in adland
many advertisers and agencies are
still nervous about whether or not
it makes an impact. We are wielding
a flamethrower and wondering
whether it can make toast.
So it’s disappointingly common
to see social media case studies
propped up on the usual proxies and
vanity metrics, like a child’s bike on
stabilisers. We benchmark social
activity on dubious indicators such
as likes, shares, hearts, swipes,
clicks and engagement rates. Why
do we do this, if not because of a
suspicion that this might be all social
media can do? Press it too hard, we
seem to think, and it might fall over;
while all around us whole industries
are falling over as social media
presses into them.
That’s why I’m delighted to see
in the Effective Social Strategy
category of this year’s WARC Awards
some examples of brands insisting
that social media should be held
to the same standard to which all
commercial communication should
be held: its ability to drive growth
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Are we selling social short?
and profit for the businesses that
invest in it. Imagine my surprise when
these case studies prove beyond
reasonable doubt that social media,
the shaker of nations, can also be
an efficient weapon in the battle for
market share among quick-service
restaurants, coffee shops and
confectionery.
M&M’s: disciplined venture
into a new world
The M&M’s case study from the
UK starts with the brand heading
10 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
cautiously into a new world –
launching a new product variant, and
therefore unable to rely on its familiar
character-led creative vehicle, and
under pressure to move away from
dependence on broadcast television.
Under these circumstances, the
temptation might be to play it safe
by defaulting to other reliable parts
of the media mix, or to include social
media but not work it too hard.
M&M’s approach is impressive for
its commitment to being disciplined
rather than safe – developing new
product-focused creative that
reinforced highly recognisable brand
equities; building creative assets fit
for platform and fit for purpose rather
than reproducing anything generic;
and investing in controlled sales
match-back studies that would leave
the effectiveness of its social media
investment with nowhere to hide.
By demanding that social prove its
value, M&M’s put the time and effort
into doing it right and saw the reward:
a £3.27 short-term, in-store sales
return for every £1 spent.
M&M’s: “resisted
the temptation to
play it safe”
McDonald’s: cheering up the
losers and driving footfall
McDonald’s in Lebanon was faced
with a collapse in visits to its
restaurants as the nation tuned in
to the football World Cup. Rather
than trying to outdo the world’s
largest tournament for attention,
McDonald’s de-averaged the
problem, identifying the groups of
people whose interest in the World
Cup would drop fastest – those
whose sides had just lost. It created
an integrated social campaign
focused on cheering up fans of the
losing side, using social platforms’
targeting capabilities to reach only
those groups and bring them into
restaurants for a consolation meal.
By targeting specific groups and
moving them to action through a
shared social idea, McDonald’s drove
an 89% spike in in-store sales vs. the
previous year.
Starbucks: making social
media make business sense
Lastly, Starbucks’ paper
demonstrates the power of a
sustained commitment to learning
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Are we selling social short?
McDonald’s: “drove an 89% spike in in-store sales”
about media effectiveness.
Rather than focusing on a single
campaign, the study looks at the
highs and lows of social activity and
measurement over an eight-year
period. What shines through is the
team’s combination of belief and
insistence: belief that a brand that
thrives on social interactions should
have a meaningful role for social
media; and an insistence that this
should be measurable and should
11 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
ultimately have a proven contribution
to business results. Whereas many
awards papers have a tendency
to gloss over the rough edges,
Starbucks pulls no punches, showing
the changes in strategic and creative
direction that failed, as well as those
that succeeded, as it learned how to
make social media make business
sense. The result is a social strategy
that pays back at scale, delivering
£14.9 million of incremental profit,
Starbucks: “pays back at scale”
and contributing more than 2.5% of
the brand’s total revenue in 2016.
A grown-up, powerful
set up of media
These case studies, with their proof
of effectiveness, do not of course
mean that all social media marketing
is effective. Like all advertising, it
can be badly planned, creatively
unoriginal and strategically unsound.
The point, though, is that these
cases prove once again that all social
media marketing should be put to
the test of profitability. It is a grown-
up, hugely powerful set of media
that drives real responses from real
people. It should not be consigned
to the playpen of proxy metrics. If
it can bring down a government, it
can sell a bag of sweets, get people
into a shop, and pay its own way in
a marketing plan. It won’t always
do so, and it faces stiff competition
from a variety of other similarly
effective channels – but as social has
grown up, it’s shown itself more than
capable of a fair fight; and papers
like these show that it can make real
impact on brands, customers and
business results.
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Using social to drive sales: three models
Fast-food giant, coffee shop Goliath and confectionery brand embed social to drive commercial success

McDonald’s M&M’s
Targeting new audience pool results in footfall increase Social engagement shapes creative to drive sales
Commentary

McDonald’s boosted footfall and sales through a

Engagement informs
optimisation of creative social campaign that sided with losers in Lebanon
Events & Social during the World Cup. Using the ‘Losers’ Club’
Experiential video
Social media
as a mechanic to deliver promotions, the fast-
Content targets fans
of losing teams food giant saw footfall increase by 77% during
the 2018 World Cup compared with the 2014
Fans share Online Out of
home
tournament.
the content video User engages
Fans redeem with content
Losers’ Club cards M&M’s launched a colourful mobile-first video
campaign on Facebook and Instagram to appeal
Mobile to a younger audience in the UK. Crucially, the
& apps
creative treatment did not contain the usual
characters but focused on a new product, M&M’s
Mix. This product-led campaign delivered a 36%
Starbucks
360-degree social strategy benefits bottom line sales uplift for Mix and a halo uplift of 11% for the
M&M’s brand.
Starbucks deployed social media for promotions,
Consumers share content
influencer campaigns, events and merchandise,
which often led to consumers sharing posts
User-generated
content featuring the brand. This way of working has seen
the brand invest more in social campaigns. It’s
Social platforms used to promote activities estimated that these social campaigns alone
have driven more than $14.9m of additional profit
for Starbucks in the UK.
Social media Sales Influencers Packaging Events & Merchandise
promotion & design experiential & free gifts

12 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Making the problem the solution
Creative judo is becoming a more established
way for brands to stand out on social according
to Born Social’s Callum McCahon.
In her WARC article from last year,
Margaux Revol, Strategy Director,
AMV BBDO London, talked about
how Bodyform used ‘creative judo’
to punch above its weight and break
toxic taboos with its #bloodnormal
campaign.
What struck me about the
campaign was the way it turned
heavy opposition into a clear
advantage. The media owners didn’t
want to run a piece of advertising
that showed the reality of periods.
So Bodyform incorporated the
TV ban into the campaign itself,
Callum McCahon is Strategy galvanising the impact.
Director at Born Social This was brilliant challenger
thinking and shows how Davids can
13 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
beat Goliaths by using their strength,
size, and lack of agility against them.
Reading the papers entered
into the Effective Social Strategy
category in this year’s WARC
Awards, it was clear that this thinking
was at the heart of some of the most
effective work on social
It’s no surprise. Whilst the ability to
gain organic reach on social media
has plummeted to practically zero, it
can still offer opportunities to gain
an unfair advantage.
Think like David
Brave, innovative, genuinely
meaningful ideas still have legs and
they always will do. Campaigns like
#bloodnormal are evidence of that.
Bodyform didn’t have the budget
of P&G, but it managed to galvanise
its audience around a big idea, grow
its share of voice and deliver unfair
levels of earned reach. That’s how to
think like David.
If you can do that, social still brings
an unrivalled ability to form a crowd,
to break down barriers and smash
convention. So it’s no surprise that
so many entries used this to their
advantage this year.
Clearly, this approach isn’t right
for everyone – you need a Goliath to
rally against. That might be a specific
competitor, it might be an industry,
it might be a taboo. In Bodyform’s
instance, it was all three.
But if you’ve got that, as well as
a healthy appetite for risk, a dose
of creative judo could be the right
move. Here’s how to apply it.
Own the problem
The first thing any strategist is
taught is to start with the problem.
What are we up against? Getting
to an accurate and well defined
problem is 90% of the work. Only
once you’re clear on that do you start
to think about how to solve it.
The difference with the creative
judo approach is that the problem
becomes the solution; the challenge
becomes the opportunity.
The Bodyform campaign is a
masterclass in this approach. The
resistance of the media owners was
engineered into an advantage, by
incorporating the TV ban into the
story itself. The obstacle becomes
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Making the problem the solution

the way, and the impact increases
exponentially.
Sometimes the best solutions
come from truly embracing the
problem and finding your leverage
within it.
Burger King: “a short, sharp,
tactical land-grab”
Be tactical and proud
There’s an unhelpful narrative in the
industry that thinking strategically is
superior to thinking tactically.
Strategy is obviously fundamental
to success. Study the competition.
Identify the weak spot. Direct your
limited resources. Challengers need
focus more than anything else and
strategy is how you get there. When
the strategy is wrong, the tactics fail.
Whilst the best papers this year did
all of this extremely well, they also
put equal weighting on the tactics
that came next. Precise and targeted
blows towards that weak spot.
Burger King has developed a
reputation in recent years for being a
great tactician, and this was evident
in its Silver winning campaign this
year, Turning Their Tweets Against
Them.
Wendy’s had discontinued one of
its cult products, the spicy nuggets,
and was getting slaughtered on
Twitter for it. Burger King spotted
the chink in the armour and went
full throttle. Using the third-party
promoted tweets feature, it put its
own paid budget behind the angry
tweets, before launching its own
version of the spicy nuggets.
Burger King spotted the cult of
the spicy nugget that Wendy’s had
invested a lot of time and money in
nurturing and leveraged it. A short,
sharp, tactical land-grab. And it paid
off – it owned online conversation
and shifted a load of nuggets in the
process.
Divide and conquer
One inherent advantage of the
underdog is that it doesn’t have to
be everything to everyone. It can
divide and conquer, taking a side on
contentious issues. Upsetting some
people is an acceptable compromise
when galvanising a crowd of
enthusiasts.
But this takes guts. Only Davids
can take that risk, and that’s how
they gain an unfair advantage.
Coca-Cola – which, believe it or
not, is a challenger brand in Saudi
Arabia with 20% market share –
stood on the side of a legal change
allowing Saudi women to drive for
the first time. It did this despite
knowing that half of the country
Coca-Cola: “stood on the
side of a legal change”
would be against it. Pepsi remained
silent, Coca-Cola took a stance,
and it achieved a 26% increase in
consumption intent after three years
of stagnation. Powerful stuff.
It was a similar story with Nike and
Colin Kaepernick. Nike took a stance
on a highly divisive issue. It attracted
some hatred off the back of this. But
the people it cares about adored it.
Bravery prevailed, and Nike will sit on
the right side of history.
Above all else, social media is
uniquely positioned to do this. It’s
literally built to form a crowd around
an idea. If you can’t be brave on
social, you can’t be brave anywhere.
Own the problem. Be tactical and
proud. Divide and conquer. That’s
how to apply creative judo on social.

14 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Influence for impact
When done right, influencer
Ogilvy’s Jakub Hodbod and Charlotte Tansill draw marketing continues to be one of the
out lessons from three winning social campaigns most powerful and effective forms of
marketing today. But often it is poorly
that used influencer marketing. executed because we focus on quick
wins and short-term results. We all
know work like this: the overly staged
product promotion, the influencer
who was promoting a competitor two
weeks earlier, the obvious #ad that is
missing proper FTC disclosures, or
the post that misrepresents real life.
Treat influencers like any
personal relationship
Successful influencer work doesn’t
come overnight. It is based on
building deep relationships that
matter. Think about your own
personal relationships. You don’t
make demands without considering
the other person’s needs. You take
their advice, especially on matters
they know well. You use your intuition
and are empathetic to their concerns.
Jakub Hodbod is Global Head Charlotte Tansill is Executive You permit the closeness and trust to
of Strategy at Ogilvy Social.Lab Director of Social at Ogilvy develop organically over time.
and Chief Strategy Officer at If we carry these same principles
Ogilvy Czech into the way we manage our
influencer partners, we will earn –
15 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
not buy – their trust and influence,
which will be reflected in how they
communicate with their audience.
By maintaining and respecting their
authority and authenticity, we are
better servicing the industry, our
consumers and our brands.
Approach influencer marketing
as a long-term strategy
To deliver best-in-class influencer
marketing, we need to go even
further. We must make sure that the
authentic stories we’re telling with
influencers are supported by data-
driven distribution and with a focus
on driving business objectives.
The future of influencer marketing
is about this dynamic relationship
between influencers and brands,
expanding their impact from
amplifiers and advocates to
growth drivers.
This means treating influencer
marketing as a long-term strategy
– partnering with influencers over
years, not contracting them for
a few days. It also means fully
immersing them in the brand,
providing them with exclusive
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Influence for impact
access and status – and making
sure they are genuinely passionate
about the brand and its products.
This way, our influencer partners
can consistently build brand
meaning over time (and even offer
protection in times of crisis), they
can be activated during campaigns
to drive specific actions and they
can create brand meaning during
relevant cultural moments. As
partners and co-creators, they
can provide valuable feedback on
marketing strategies or even new
products.
It may be more difficult to get
there, but the partnership will matter
more and last longer – and our work
will be more impactful, more credible,
and more persuasive.
Let’s consider this through the
lens of three case studies awarded
in the 2019 WARC Awards’ Social
Strategy category.
UN: selecting the right influencer
The 2019 Grand Prix winner is a
compelling example of strategic
influencer marketing. To re-
connect with the public, the United
16 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Nations (UN) chose the globally
resonant topic of climate change.
The campaign centered around
the Climate Change Conference
in Katowice, Poland (COP24) and it
encouraged citizens from around
the world to join the debate about
climate change. To encourage
participation, Grey London came
up with an idea to reserve a seat at
the UN conference’s table for an
additional person. This first ‘People’s
Seat’ required someone who could
UN: “passionately and credibly
represented a wider audience”
present the ideas and opinions
collected under the hashtag
#TakeYourSeat.
Sir David Attenborough was
chosen as the first spokesperson for
the UN People’s Seat in Katowice.
His resonance across generations,
relevance and credibility on the
topic, as well as his ability to bridge
cultural and national divides
made him an appropriate choice.
However, the campaign did not rely
on a single use of this celebrity
influencer. Instead, the team
dynamically stretched Sir David
Attenborough’s role before, during
and after the event. Additionally, he
was supported by a wider network
of 60 locally relevant influencers to
extend impact. Two weeks before
the event in Katowice, Sir David
Attenborough invited people to join
the dialogue and collected their
ideas through innovative interactive
social formats. His participation
culminated with a speech at COP24,
where he delivered the message on
behalf of the campaign participants.
To maximise reach, his speech was
livestreamed on social media.
The engagement captured by Sir
David Attenborough was further
used to launch ActNow.bot, a
Messenger bot which encouraged
people to take action against climate
change through daily nudges. In
summary, Grey selected the right
influencer who could passionately
and credibly represent a wider
audience on climate change. They
also skilfully extended his impact
by strategically lengthening the
engagement beyond a single
moment in time.
Vans: influencers for co-creation
Awarded with a Gold, Not Just One
Creator for Vans maximised the
power of dynamic personalisation in
social media. By carefully mapping
the nuances in people’s interests
around art, fashion and creation, the
Starcom team identified 16 distinct
subsegments relevant to Vans – and
then they identified an influencer
relevant to each one.
Each of these 16 influencers
represented a highly relevant
artistic territory and had devoted
audience followings. They were then
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Influence for impact
tasked to create a fully customised
Vans shoe inspired by his or her
style. By co-creating products
with their influencer partners, Vans
showed its commitment to creating
meaningful relationships built on a
true value exchange between brand
and influencer. The team created
customised content distributed
through the brand and influencers
– and then they used sophisticated
distribution tactics to take engagers
within each segment on a relevant
path to purchase. By integrating
powerful storytelling with best-in-
class influencer activation and data-
Vans: “integrated powerful storytelling with best-in-class influencer activation”
17 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
driven paid distribution, the campaign
was able to achieve 390% ROAS.
Visit Flanders:
authentic endorsement
The Mud Soldier, which promoted
the Belgian World War I battlefields
in Flanders, focused on the strategic
connection between a community
and its local influencers. The
team at Visit Flanders and Ogilvy
Social.Lab Brussels identified
a strong community of people
interested in Word War I, including
former visitors to Flanders Fields
as well as historians, teachers,
Visit Flanders: “influencers generated buzz”
locals and other history buffs.
Selected topic-based influencers
were recruited to generate buzz
surrounding the launch of this
ephemeral statue in the middle of
London. When identifying these
influencers, the team pushed
beyond only assessing follower
count, and focused attention on
each influencer’s relevance to the
sub-matter and their resonance
within their respective communities.
This approach resulted in authentic
and trustworthy endorsement.
This initial experience in the middle
of London was further extended
through a personalised, targeted
paid social campaign. Visit Flanders
turned emotional involvement offline
into consideration and bookings
among potential visitors online. The
campaign achieved a 15% increase
in visitors to Flanders Fields.
Partners in experience
All three successful examples
from the 2019 WARC Awards show
some similarities. First, they use
influencers strategically – building
integrated programmes focused
on the particular goals of the
campaign and challenge ahead.
Second, each campaign took great
care in the selection of influencers,
leading to authentic and impactful
content. Third, the influencers were
engaged as more than channels for
message delivery; rather, they were
engaged as partners in experiences
dynamically tailored to the specific
influencer and their audience. As a
bonus, these campaigns didn’t stop
at best-in-class influencer marketing
and creative storytelling, but paired
these efforts with data-driven
distribution to maximise impact.
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Chapter two:
Winning case studies
The United Nations: The People’s Seat
Innovative participation-led social campaign galvanises global action
GRAND PRIX AND LIVE AWARD
Lead agency: Grey London
Contributing agency: Facebook
Advertiser: The United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change (The United Nations)
Market: Global
Global intergovernmental
organisation The United
Nations used social media to
tap into grassroots activism,
enabling people to have their
say on climate change.
It generated really big numbers,
despite a relatively small media
budget.
Mike Teasdale – Founder and
Planning Director, Harvest Digital
19 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Objectives
The UN wanted to increase its
awareness as an active platform
for change through a campaign
that would let people participate
in tackling global issues.
Insight
The UN was set up at a time when
people delegated their power to
representatives through elections
and then trusted them to make
the best decisions in their name.
But things have changed: social
media has enabled direct, and more
informal, communication between
people and politicians, and people
expect to have their voices heard on
the issues that matter to them.
Strategy
The campaign partnered Facebook
and used Messenger to create
a chatbot as its acquisition and
engagement channel. Sir David
Attenborough was approached as a
spokesperson for the first People’s
Seat. The speech he delivered was
crafted from social poll results,
Kantar survey data and the qualitative
responses collected across social
media, and a global network of more
than 60 influencers were recruited to
share the launch video and engage
the target audiences. The people’s
speech was streamed live via the
UN’s Facebook page and Facebook
Live events and panel discussions
were hosted. A 24/7 newsroom
covered broadcast and social media
content; world leaders, celebrities,
activists and leading UN negotiators
were interviewed; and live data was
shared on how many people pledged
to take action.
Results
1.3bn
people reached
500k+
watched the speech live
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Takeaways
When working with minimal
media spend, it is crucial
to implement strategy and
structure over tactics.
Disruptive innovation
doesn’t always have to come
through new technology:
use a mix of digital platforms
and channels, such as
Messenger bots and
Instagram stories, alongside
physical installations.
User-generated content
can be more powerful to the
client and their stakeholders
than any creative content
developed by an agency.
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Mobilising millions
We are officially in a climate
Social helped to bring the voice of people all over emergency. Climate activism
the world to the climate change conference. Here, has become mainstream and is
the biggest issue of our time.
WPP’s Gemma Bardsley talks about the crucial Sustainable transformation is
a political, business and moral
role played by social in The People’s Seat and imperative.
offers five ways to start a movement. To accelerate impact, we must
convene partnerships between
the corporate world, governments
and civil society. People demand
that brands and businesses play
a leading role in creating a more
sustainable future for us all. Our
future depends on it.
In these complex times, the
UN is the world’s most powerful
organisation to facilitate change.
Gemma Bardsley is Consulting
But people no longer believed
Director at WPP
this. They felt locked out and
disengaged. For an organisation
created to serve the people, this
was a problem.
To re-engage with people, the
UN created the first ever actual
seat at the UN to represent all the
people in the world as opposed to a
specific nation or interest. Designed
to give people the opportunity to
share their views and opinions, The
20 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
People’s Seat mobilised millions
of people around the world to
influence world leaders to act on
climate change.
How social was crucial
to The People’s Seat
Our team assembled a global
network of influencers, NGOs and
activists to invite their followers
to #TakeYourSeat. This network
was encouraged to answer
Instagram Story polls, create
video testimonials and share
their opinions on social channels
about what action they wanted to
see world leaders take on climate
change. We gathered this user-
generated content through the
hashtag #TakeYourSeat and crafted
it into the first ever People’s Seat
Address, delivered at the climate
change conference COP24 by Sir
David Attenborough and streamed
live to the world via Facebook.
For the first time in history, social
media enabled us to bring the
voice of people across the world
inside the perceived closed doors
of a United Nations plenary. The
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Mobilising millions
Sir David Attenborough delivered
the first-ever People’s Seat
Address at the climate change
conference
21 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
People’s Seat engagement numbers
were reported daily to delegates
and negotiators at COP24. At the
start of negotiation sessions,
comments from #TakeYourSeat
were read aloud to ensure that
people’s voices were heard and to
remind delegates that the world was
watching.
To start this movement, we put
social media tools at the heart
of our strategy and this helped
The People’s Seat, the UN and
The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) to achieve the legislative
impact they wanted from COP24. By
the end of the conference, nearly
200 countries signed the rulebook
putting the 2015 Paris Agreement
climate promises into action.
Five ways to start a movement
1. Start with a shared agenda
To unite the public,
organisations and political
bodies around a cause,
you need to create a single
shared agenda. In the case
of The People’s Seat, our
goal was to ensure that
world leaders signed the
rulebook implementing the
2015 Paris Agreement. Our
communications focused on
inviting people to share their
opinions and testimonies
about why this issue mattered
to them. A movement cannot
be built around multiple goals
and different stakeholder
agendas. You will lose
people along the way and the
disjointed efforts will have
less impact. The key rule is to
find one thing that everyone
can agree on and use this to
build a unified movement.
2. Lead with a brave
and disruptive idea
In today’s 24/7 world,
creativity is essential to
capture hearts and minds.
Introducing a new seat at
the United Nations might
sound simple, but this was
a highly disruptive idea that
required our UN clients
to break protocol. For the
first time in history, the UN
hosted a seat that wasn’t
representing a nation or
interest group. Instead, it
directly represented the voice
of the people. Nowadays,
many assume that disruptive,
innovative ideas come from
technology. Conversely, we
learned the power of creating
a tangible and concrete
manifestation of an idea. The
People’s Seat was an iconic
physical manifestation of
a brave idea and acted as a
clarion call to mobilise the
world’s people, decision
makers and global media to
rally around our cause.
3. Put citizens at the centre and
invite them to participate
We are witnessing a cultural
shift happening between old
and new power. Old power
structures are held by few.
They are closed, inaccessible
and leader-driven. New power
structures operate differently
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Mobilising millions
and are made by many. They
are open, participatory and
peer-driven. We helped the
UN, an old power structure,
leverage this new power.
Through social media, we
gave people a seat at the
table so they could be heard
directly by world leaders and
create impact. The People’s
Seat allowed their voice to be
heard in the moment when
key decisions were being
made by decision makers.
4. Harness technology
Leverage technology to build
a platform through which
people can participate and
equip people with the tools
they need to create change.
Technology and the tools of
modern marketing enabled
our idea to build scale and
create impact. We leveraged
the Facebook platform to
disseminate the speech live
to the world.
22 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
5. Encourage open access
We created a new model for
engagement. We helped the
UN and UNFCCC change
how they use social media
by opening themselves up
and connecting directly
with audiences on social
platforms. Our hashtag
#TakeYourSeat also allowed
open access by allowing
different organisations and
influencers to use it to amplify
their own message on climate
change. To accelerate reach
and impact, a movement must
invite people in. Make sure
that it is easy to join, inspires
influencers to take part and The People’s Seat achieved
legislative impact
invites partners to turbo-
charge growth. Social media tools were at
the heart of the strategy
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Child Focus: Closer Than You Think
Belgians mobilised to raise awareness for missing children
GOLD AND SMART SPENDER
AWARD
Lead agency: Wunderman Antwerp
Contributing agencies: MediaCom
Belgium, Static Films
Advertiser: Child Focus
Market: Belgium
Belgian NGO Child Focus
used findings from a social
experiment to inspire Belgian
citizens to contribute towards
finding missing children.
Social media at its best –
through a clever strategy,
it managed to get organic
reach in a paid world.
Callum McCahon – Strategy
Director, Born Social
23 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Objectives media coverage prompted repeat
Child Focus wanted to instigate a experiments personalised to five
behavioural change to increase national celebrities, several national
Facebook sharing of missing child footballers and even Melania Trump,
posters among the Belgian Facebook during the US President’s trip to
population and galvanise public Brussels.
engagement with Child Focus’s
mission.
Results Takeaways
Insight
The theory of ‘six degrees of
separation’ – the idea that two 387% Utilise academic research:
it often provides tried-and-
complete strangers can be increase in sharing of posters tested insights that can
connected through a chain of only bolster a campaign.
five people – was used to highlight
the issue and bring it closer to home 1 Reapply your creative
for an audience who often felt far missing child found within 48 hours concept to different
removed from these social issues. situations, people and
formats, making it tangible
Strategy VIEW FULL CASE STUDY for a broad and diverse
A social experiment was conducted audience.
featuring four participants who
were subsequently linked, via a
maximum of five steps, to a boy
who went missing in 1985. This was
released as a video on social during
the week of International Missing
Children’s Day, prompting people
to share posters. After strong
engagement on Facebook, further
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Puck: Save the Cows
Gamification and AR drive engagement and sales
GOLD
Lead agency: FP7 McCann Dubai
Contributing agencies:
Snapchat, PHD UAE
Advertiser: Puck (Arla Foods)
Markets: Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates
Food brand Puck used
a gamification strategy
delivered through Snapchat
to engage kids and mums
during breakfast and fend off
competition in Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates.
They integrated product
and social, really engaged
the demographic and
actually got kids playing.
Jai Kotecha – Managing
Partner and Global WPP
Lead, Ogilvy
24 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Objectives encouraging their kids to play and
Despite category stagnation in share the game.
Saudi and the UAE, Puck wanted to
increase top-of-mind awareness Results
as well as grow its Blue Jar Cheese
revenue by 4% and market share
by 5%. 7.6m
games played
Insight
Parents and children need quality
time together. And kids wanted 16%
‘food time’ to be ‘fun time’, preferring increase in market share
more ‘fun’ options like sugary cereals
over cheese.
7% Takeaways
Strategy increase in revenue
By gamifying a product, you
Due to its substantial user base
can create a seamless path-
skewed towards women and
to-purchase experience
children, Snapchat was partnered VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
which could generate
to create a gamified AR lens that
consistent sales.
allowed kids to ‘Save the Cows’. A
Snapcode for the game was printed
on over 450,000 Blue Jar packs,
with multiple variations and levels
of the game created and added
monthly to sustain engagement
and sales. A competition was
launched on social media and further
buzz was generated by in-store
promotions and regional influencers
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Vans: Not Just One Creator
Influencers leveraged to reach new audiences and drive sales
GOLD AND PATH-TO-PURCHASE
AWARD
Agencies: Starcom, MRY
Advertiser: Vans (VF Corporation)
Market: United States
Footwear and clothing brand
Vans used influencers and social
to successfully broaden its
appeal among teens and young
adults in the US, generating
revenue and brand awareness.
The product was at the
heart of the campaign,
delivering strong results
– and they executed on
the insight very well.
Mark Carroll – Senior
Creative Strategist,
Snap Inc.
25 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Objectives Results
Vans wanted to build awareness
for its Customs range and drive an
increase in sales and positive ROI $895k
of customised Vans on the brand’s in direct revenue
e-commerce site.
Insight 22%
The brand wanted to leverage increase in ad awareness
underground culture to help promote
Takeaways
its Customs range, realising that they
were perfectly suited to the artistic VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Look for audiences in areas
freedom demanded by creatives, and
where your brand isn’t
sought growth beyond its traditional
usually represented.
representation within action sports
and music. When working with creative
influencers, try not to place
Strategy too many constraints on
Sixteen influencers were selected them.
from a diverse range of creative
pursuits – such as tattoo art, foodie
photography, poetry and cosplay
– and their bespoke communities
were transformed into programmatic
audience segments. A steady stream
of content pushing followers to the
Vans Customs website was released
through each influencer’s Instagram
account to retain attention and build
momentum.
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Silver winners
BURGER KING: TURNING THEIR
TWEETS AGAINST THEM
Agency: MullenLowe US
Advertiser: Burger King
Market: North America
Objectives
When Wendy’s discontinued
its Spicy Nuggets, Burger King
launched its own version to
generate substantial mentions
and impressions.
Insight
Wendy’s had a reputation for being
the ultimate Twitter troll, so Burger
King waged a shadow war against
it and used the competitor’s tweets
against it.
Strategy
The brand hijacked tweets from
disgruntled Wendy’s customers
and commented on them by letting
them know they could now get Spicy
Nuggets at Burger King.
26 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Takeaways
Use both the mistakes and
strengths of competitors as
opportunities to play them at
their own game and convert
customers.
Results
60%
lift in product sales
150m
earned media impressions
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
COCA-COLA:
CHANGE HAS A TASTE
Agency: FP7 McCann Dubai
Advertiser: Coca-Cola
Market: Saudi Arabia
Objectives
Takeaways
Coca-Cola aimed to own the
conversation regionally and
For your content to have
internationally around the topic
maximum traction, publish
of Saudi women being allowed
it on platforms with high
to drive and build brand equity
organic following.
in the process.
Insight
Despite being on the global agenda, Results
gender equality was trailing in Saudi,
so Coca-Cola decided to capitalise
on the recent change in law that 7.1:1
allowed Saudi women to drive. ROI
Strategy
The brand released a video $3.9m
about women driving in Saudi on in earned media
YouTube and Facebook and engaged
influencers to endorse the content
across social. VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Silver winners

STARBUCKS: JETBLUE:
STARBUCKS & SOCIAL GET PACKING!

Agency: Manning Gottlieb OMD Agency: MullenLowe US

Advertiser: Starbucks UK Advertiser: JetBlue
Market: United Kingdom Takeaways Market: North America

Learn from how your

Objectives
Starbucks wanted to isolate
incremental sales delivered by social
media from ones generated by other
activities such as communications,
store changes and pricing.
Insight
Coffee houses have long existed as a
‘third place’ between work and home,
but social media created a ‘fourth
place’ where social capital is created,
and Starbucks wanted to own it.
Strategy
Across eight years, Starbucks
created a content calendar, launched
seasonal messages on social feeds,
established its cups as icons through
social images and created influencer
events.
audience uses social media
and, if your audience are
trying something new, try it
yourself.
Results
3.8:1
ROI
2.5%
of Starbucks total revenue driven
by social media in 2016
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Objectives
Takeaways
JetBlue’s key markets had been hit
hard by 2017’s hurricane season. The
By identifying a social
airline needed to reverse its financial
tension and addressing it
decline on a budget of less than
creatively you can achieve
$400,000.
cut-through on a small
budget.
Insight
People need moments of escape
from their families during the Results
holidays and board games offer them
some respite.
223m
Strategy earned media impressions
The brand created a board game with
a free JetBlue flight inside, promoted
it via social media videos and radio 15%
ads and sold it through Amazon. point increase in ‘first choice’ airline
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY

27 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Silver winners
EMIRATES NBD:
WHILE YOU WAIT…
Agency: FP7 McCann Dubai
Advertiser: Emirates NBD
Market: United Arab Emirates
Objectives
Emirates NBD-owned DirectRemit
wanted to communicate the speed
of its money remittance service
to differentiate itself in a crowded
market.
Insight
YouTube provided the best direct-
response rates, and the brand knew
that its audience hated watching
pre-roll ads.
Strategy
Emirates NBD created deliberately
pointless pre-roll ads based on
frequently searched topics. The
inaction in the ads drove home the
message that nobody likes waiting
for what they expect to happen, and
that Emirates NBD could transfer
money in 60 seconds or less.
28 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019
Takeaways
Despite the wealth of
platforms available to
brands, sometimes one
effectively chosen channel
can be cost-effective and
deliver great results too.
Results
11.3:1
ROI
13.2%
increase in transaction volumes
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
FLANDERS FIELDS 14-18:
THE MUD SOLDIER
Agency: Ogilvy Social.Lab
Advertiser: Flanders Fields 14-18
(Visit Flanders)
Markets: Europe, North America,
Australia
Takeaways
Objectives
When on a tight budget,
With a tight budget (€210k), Visit
combine social media and
Flanders needed to reverse the fall
online video to extend the
in visitors to the Flemish battlefields
effect of more unorthodox
of WWI against a background of
activations.
terror attacks in Belgium.
Insight Results
During the Battle of Passchendale,
mud was among the biggest killers.
€1.5m
Strategy in incremental ticket revenue
To commemorate the centenary of
the battle, an ephemeral statue, the
Mud Soldier, was placed in London’s 15%
Trafalgar Square and broadcast live growth in unique visitors
and on social media.
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
© Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Silver winners

HEINEKEN: CHAIRMAN

Agency: Insight Publicis

Advertiser: Heineken (Nigerian
Breweries Limited)
Market: Nigeria

Takeaways Does your

Objectives marketing
Heineken sought to recruit make an
Use quick wins and impact?
new drinkers and regain lapsed
testimonials to drive
occasional drinkers to drive brand
credibility and fend off
penetration.
consumer apathy and
fatigue.
Insight
Nigerian millennial drinkers spent
more time on digital, so the brand Results
aimed to use their passion for travel
to launch a promotion that would
drive engagement and build brand 17%
equity. year-on-year growth in brand
awareness
Strategy
Heineken partnered Shazam and
designed a limited-edition series of 20m
bottles, representing 192 countries, country-edition bottles sold
that consumers could scan to watch
videos of the respective country and
collect rewards. VIEW FULL CASE STUDY #makeitwarc makeitwarc.com

29 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Bronze winners

KFC: MCDONALD’S: OFFICIAL M&M’S: SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD: WHY

THE BURGER WARS SPONSOR OF LOSERS MIXING UP A SOCIAL STORM GAMBLE WITH YOUR HOLIDAY?

Lead agency: Reprise
Contributing agencies: Naga DDB
Tribal, Universal McCann
Advertiser: KFC (QSR Stores
Sdn Bhd)
Market: Malaysia
Lead agency: FP7 McCann Beirut
Contributing agencies: UM Lebanon,
Ripply MENA, RPR MENA
Advertiser: McDonald’s
Market: Lebanon
Agencies: AMV BBDO, MediaCom
Advertiser: M&M’s (Mars Wrigley
Confectionery)
Market: United Kingdom
Lead agency: TBWA\ Singapore
Contributing agency:
Zenith Singapore
Advertiser: Singapore Tourism Board
Market: Singapore

Fast-food restaurant chain KFC
used a TV ad and social media
GIFs to promote a special-
edition burger in Malaysia.
Fast-food brand McDonald’s
employed a social media and
on-ground strategy, targeting
losing football fans during the
2018 World Cup, to drive footfall
to restaurants in Lebanon.
M&M’s confectionery brand,
ran a social media campaign
that successfully drove sales
in the UK by appealing to a
millennial target audience.
The Singapore Tourism
Board employed a multi-
faceted campaign based on a
1990s TV drama to convince
Singaporeans that travelling
without insurance was risky.

VIEW FULL CASE STUDY VIEW FULL CASE STUDY VIEW FULL CASE STUDY VIEW FULL CASE STUDY

30 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Chapter three:
Data

Where the shortlisted case studies came from

Campaign objectives
Creative strategy
Media used
Hard and soft metrics
UAE contributes most to shortlist
Where the shortlisted case studies came from

Global 4%

North America (general region) 13%

Europe (general region) 4%

Belgium 8%

United Arab Emirates 17%

United Kingdom 8% Taiwan 4%

Lebanon 4%

United States 4%
Malaysia 8%

Saudi Arabia 13%

India 4%

Nigeria 4%

Singapore 4%

Australia 4%

32 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Awareness and brand equity are the most popular objectives

Campaign objectives – Shortlisted vs. non-shortlisted

Commentary
45%
Awareness 78%
59% Awareness was the most popular campaign
Brand building: Build 40% objective, with 59% of non-shortlisted papers
brand equity 56% and 45% of shortlisted ones citing it. Winning
Sales growth: Increase 35% campaigns such as Vans’ Not Just One Creator
value/volume 48% and KFC Malaysia’s The Burger Wars aimed to
Word of mouth 35% build awareness of a product, while others –
37% such as The UN’s The People’s Seat and Child
Sales growth: Increase 20% Focus’ Closer Than You Think – highlighted
market share 19%
social issues.
Brand launch: 7% 15%
Extension/variant 15%
Building brand equity was also cited by both
Traffic & footfall: 15% shortlisted (40%) and non-shortlisted entries
In-store traffic 15% (56%). Brands aiming to build brand equity
Brand relaunch: 10% often used emotion or humour to deepen their
Reverse decline 7% connection with consumers. Coca-Cola’s
Brand reputation: 10% Change Has a Taste celebrated the new Saudi
Rebuild trust 4% law allowing women to drive, while JetBlue aimed
Sales growth: 10% to diffuse the tensions of family holidays.
Gain new customers 11%
Seasonal, event, Both virality and sales increases were important
10%
promotional tie-in: Christmas to this year’s shortlist: 35% of case studies
& seasonal actitivity 11%

Social, political 10%

aimed to generate word of mouth and the same
& not-for-profit percentage towards sales growth in value and
Traffic & footfall: 10%
volume. Burger King’s Turning their tweets
Web traffic against them delivered on both objectives
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% through provocative tweets promoting the fast-
food restaurant’s newest product.
Shortlisted Non-shortlisted

33 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Driving participation is key in social campaigns

Creative strategy – Shortlisted vs. non-shortlisted

Commentary
User-generated content, 40% 78%
participation Driving participation and user-generated
49%
content was the number-one creative strategy
Advocacy
30% for 40% of shortlisted and 49% of non-
19% shortlisted case studies. McDonald’s engaged
30% football fans through its losers’ mascot, Mr
Humour
26% Cheers, both on- and offline, while Starbucks
30%
encouraged consumers to share pictures of its
Information, educational
15%
cups as a form of social currency.

25% Almost a third of shortlisted papers – 30% –

Brand character listed advocacy as a creative strategy. Gold
4%
winner Closer Than You Think rallied Belgian
25%
Storytelling 15%
Facebook users behind the issue of missing
children, encouraging them to share posters on
Emotion
20% the platform.
11%
Informative, educational was cited by 30% of
20%
Celebrity shortlisted cases, as was humour. Emirates
30%
NBD used both strategies and advertised the
15% benefits of its DirectRemit service through what
Partnerships 0% it described as “pointless pre-roll ads”.

Personalisation
15% Storytelling and emotion were strategies for
4%
25% and 20% of shortlisted papers respectively.
Sustainability,
10% Coca-Cola’s Change Has a Taste and Flanders
responsibility 11% Fields’ The Mud Soldier combined them for
greater impact.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Shortlisted Non-shortlisted

34 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Online video proves popular and versatile

Media used – Shortlisted vs. non-shortlisted

Commentary
78% 65%
Online video Online video was by far the most popular
60%
media, both among the shortlisted (65%) and
non-shortlisted (60%) papers. It lent itself to
45%
Word of mouth, influencers emotional and informative executions – such as
60%
Child Focus’ Closer Than You Think – as well as
25%
more humorous ones – like Singapore Tourism
Content marketing
15% Board’s Why Gamble With Your Holiday.
Word of mouth and influencers were used by
20%
Competitions & contests 45% of shortlisted and 60% of non-shortlisted
19%
papers. Ogilvy’s Jakub Hodbod and Charlotte
Tansill write that, “When done right, influencer
Events & experiental 20%
4%
marketing continues to be one of the most
powerful and effective forms of marketing
15%
today.” Grand Prix winner The People’s Seat
Merchandise & free gifts
11% cleverly chose Sir David Attenborough as the
ambassador for its cause. “His resonance
15% across generations, relevance and credibility on
Online display
26% the topic, as well as his ability to bridge cultural
and national divides made him an appropriate
15% choice”, comment Hodbod and Tansill.
PR
26%
Competitions & contests and events &
15%
experiential were each chosen by 20% of
TV
11%
shortlisted papers. Silver winner Heineken’s
Chairman used both in an effort to recruit new
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 drinkers in Nigeria.
Shortlisted Non-shortlisted

35 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
Buzz and sales go hand in hand for social campaigns

Soft metrics – Shortlisted vs. non-shortlisted

Commentary
100%
88%
80% Social media, buzz was by far the preferred soft
80%
68% metric, with 88% of shortlisted papers citing it.
60% Awareness, already the most popular campaign
47%
40% objective, was a soft metric for almost half –
40%
29% 29% 29%
24%
47% – of shortlisted papers. Bronze-winning
20%
16%
12% 12%
20% campaign Why Gamble With Your Holiday? by the
4%
Singapore Tourism Board launched playful, buzz-
0%
Social media, Awareness Brand health / Consumer PR value Web traffic Search Brand-specific worthy videos on Facebook to raise awareness of
buzz equity measures participation performance measures
the importance of travel insurance.
Brand health and consumer participation were
also notable soft metrics, each chosen by 29% of
the shortlist. Cheese brand Puck earned a Gold
Hard metrics – Shortlisted vs. non-shortlisted through Save the Cows, a Snapchat game for
children which helped the brand increase market
75%
80% share and revenue in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
70% Meanwhile, Grand Prix winner The People’s Seat
52%
60% invited people to directly participate in the UN’s
50% efforts to tackle climate change.
38% 40%
31% 29%
30% Hard metrics tended to revolve around business
25% 24%
19% 19% 19%
14%
20% results, such as sales – cited by 75% of the
6% 6% 6% 6% 10% shortlist – market penetration – 31% – and
0% market share – 25%. The one exception was Gold
Sales ROI Market penetration / Market share Revenue Attitude change Behavioural Efficiency gain Profit
customer gain (non-profit) change winner Child Focus, which aimed for attitude
and behavioural change with its Closer Than You
Think campaign.
Shortlisted Non-shortlisted

36 Effective Social Strategy Report 2019 © Copyright WARC 2019. All rights reserved.
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