Background

The brief was quite simple: say that WhatsApp messages are private. And since everyone -at least here in Brazil- uses WhatsApp, we had to show it in a way that everyone would understand, that would be part of their lives. As every Brazilian use WhatsApp and watches football matches on TV, we decide to use football matches to talk about WhatsApp's main differential, privacy.

Idea

To show the WhatsApp’s privacy, we took advantage of the fact that Brazilians love football, and we sponsored a gesture that every player makes when they don't want everyone to know what they are saying during a match, putting their hands over their mouths. When they did it, a live communication linked the gesture with WhatsApp privacy. The idea was on sports programs and social network.

Strategy

We use all the touchpoints of people who like football, from the games on TV to social networks. We sealed agreements with the TV networks, the championship, and the teams. And after each match, we did the same with the players who made the gestures to use their images.

Execution

To talk about the app's privacy, we decided to do an unusual activation during the games. We use media that already exists in a way that has never been used before. The brand communication only entered the screen when the player made a specific gesture (uncombined action). In other words, we never knew strictly at what time this would happen and not and not even if it would happen. The same was used in sports programs on TV and digital media. We combined with TV channels that had a team on standby the entire game to release communication at just the right moment for the activation to work. In addition, the narrator of the match spoke a text when this happened.

Outcome

The idea was a success: Impact on 1.2 billion people; Reach of 89 million people; Remembrance of 61%; 9.1/10 of average score among viewers; 85% of the year's goal with half of the budget.

Role: WhatsApp Global Creative Direction

Awards

D&AD

1 Wood Pencil

1 Shortlist

Effie Brazil

1 Bronze