FROM THE GRAND PRIX WINNERS

MATHIEU PLASSARD, CEO, OGILVY AFRICA

The last living male northern white rhino is called Sudan. He lives in Kenya’s Ol Pejeta conservancy and cannot mate naturally due to old age and a range of other issues. If he dies, his species will become extinct with barely any hope of revival. They are critically endangered. Our brief was to help increase the number of donations being sent to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s “Last Chance to Survive” breeding programme, so as to aid in funding the research into artificial reproductive techniques like IVF that are required to enable him to breed through one of 7,000 southern white rhino surrogates and give his species a chance at survival.

We chose to look at the bright side of Sudan the rhino’s grim situation. Considering the fact that he has 7,000 females ready to carry his baby, is the literally the last of his kind and lives on a picturesque 90,000 acre ranch under the protection of his personal team of military trained bodyguards, we decided to dub him “The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor” and made a Tinder profile for him where users just had to swipe right to match with him and be redirected to Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s site, where they could donate to his cause. The campaign was supported by print ads and radio ads that also directed people to donate.

It was a uniquely African idea that tackled an old, sad and unpleasant problem in a new, fresh and fun way: the use of a dating social media platform to raise awareness and funds. The story got amazing traction across the world.

[Editor’s note: sadly, , Sudan died on March 20.]