Paul Falla

CHALLENGE

Eneco launched a new product, HollandseWind. Wind power produced by Dutch windmills. Eneco wanted to make the public aware of the power of the wind.

IDEA

A virtual balloon race. People could launch a virtual balloon from their home address and follow its progress on Google maps. The wind information was real, provided by the Dutch meteorological office. There were also updates of the balloon's progress on Twitter and Facebook. The winner got to ride in a real hot air balloon.

RESULTS

78,000 virtual balloons were launched. The winning virtual balloon travelled 3,789 miles in 2 weeks. The idea won a Silver Dutch Effectiveness Award and a Nomination at the Art Directors Club Netherlands.

Bols Benelux launched Two Dogs in the Netherlands tapping into the alco-pop trend in Europe. How do you talk to a barely legal target audience and create a mystique around the brand?

Simple. A poster campaign showing the side effects of drinking Two Dogs. Using the significant talents of American horror artist, Jeff Knight Potter.

The posters became cult and were literally ripped off the walls by students.

A successful launch, Gold at Epica and a ‘Lamp’ at The Art Director Club Netherlands.

When easyJet launched in the Netherlands, the other airlines immediately lowered their fares to England. Hoping to quickly put easyJet out of business. The owner, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, was facing ruin. His advertising campaign (with another agency) wasn’t working.  Our advice: don’t make an advertising campaign make a court case.

Stelios took KLM to The European Court of Justice for predatory pricing. Lowering their price artificially to remove the competition. Of course the case would take years to be resolved. However, the story was the main news in Holland for weeks and ran on the front pages of all the major Dutch newspapers.

Before the court case ‘campaign’ easyJet flights to England were running at 63% capacity. After the news broke, 92% capacity. And Stelios received the Businessman of The Year Award.

Special beers are very popular in The Netherlands. There was a trend where many brands were advertising with images of monks and abbeys to create a sort of specialness and heritage. Wieckse Witte poked fun at this fad to create its own unique style.

Tourists visiting Amsterdam have a list of must-sees. The Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House, The Flower Market… And of course The Red Light Area and the coffee shops. Madame Tussauds Amsterdam is not on this list. It is an impulse visit, something decided at the last moment.

What better medium than posters? The campaign used all the benefits of famous people and wax.

Visits to Madame Tussauds Amsterdam increased by 12% during the 2 years of the campaign.

The first animal to show the physical effects of global warming is the frog. This then seemed an appropriate symbol for this TV commercial.