#Whamageddon

Client: Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity

Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity helps children battle complex illnesses and rely on donations to fund their important work.

In 2020, their annual Christmas fundraising campaign was made even more difficult as volunteers were unable to collect donations on Britain's streets, in hospitals or train stations. GOSH came to us with a shoestring budget, but a big ambition to reach a new audience of donors. We needed an idea that would make them stand out amongst the thousands of other charity appeals during a uniquely competitive Christmas year. Ultimately, our goal was to raise awareness of GOSH and drive online donations. We analysed the Christmas social conversation in detail, identifying a unique community of people on Twitter playing a game called #Whamageddon. The aim is to go as long as possible without hearing Wham’s iconic song ‘Last Christmas’ before midnight on December 24th. The song is virtually impossible to avoid this time of year in the UK, which made us think it would be a Whamazing way to drive donations. This year, to save us from tears, we announced a new rule: If you get ‘Whammed’, donate to Great Ormond Street Hospital and they’ll give it to someone special… (special… special…) We contacted the ‘Whamfathers’ (the original creators of the game) who were delighted to make GOSH the first ever official global partners of #Whamageddon - FOR FREE! Authenticating the announcement as we went on to take the underground social game into the mainstream.