Viral Campaign: Faye K. Olympiou – Oly for the City!

Viral Campaign, municipal elections 2019: Faye K. Olympiou – Oly for the City!

How the graphic nature of the local elections and the overall spamming atmosphere from the candidate municipal councilors can inspire the creation of the most viral campaign of the year? The Vitamin Media, taking advantage of the pre-election campaign of the local elections, found fertile ground for the implementation of the most creative campaign of the year aimed at informing and educating the public regarding fake news, managing through this, the presentation of a case study project with a strong dose of humor.

The central idea was to create a spoof pre-election campaign, a fictional candidate for the municipal elections! The starting point of the creative thought was – what else? – the plethora of eccentric -to say the least- campaigns of several candidates, some of which were discussed and spread precisely because of their eccentricity (either in terms of design or message). Our candidate was named Faye K. Olympiou, while her central slogan was defined as “Oly For The City”. Although her name and the initial of her middle name indirectly referred to the nature of the candidacy (read as fake) and the positions she expressed were at least exaggerated, the graphic approach referred to a candidacy that could convince the average user of its validity (a fact that is evidenced by the results, the comments and reactions of the people).

The main goal was to implement an online viral campaign aimed at informing and educating the public regarding fake news, with a primary focus on social media. Its timing would coincide with that of the pre-election campaign for the local elections, and for this reason, it would need to embody the spirit of the contest while also standing out from the clutter of messages from hundreds -even thousands- of candidate mayors and councilors. Using the theme of the (fake pre-election campaign) the relevant audience was approached – residents of Thessaloniki over 18 years old, thus potentially voters in the upcoming municipal elections.

To achieve the goal, a microsite was created (www.ogtp.gr), while the main promotional tool was Facebook and complementarily Instagram. A Facebook Page was created (Faye K. Olympiou – Oly for the city), as well as the Instagram account (@ogtp.gr).

The result of the above effort was a viral campaign, as beyond the countless comments and buzz on social media, we saw mentions in several of the largest media in the country and Northern Greece, as well as in many industry media (advertising.gr / marketingweek.gr / publishitmagasine.gr / gazzeta.gr / makthes.gr / voria.gr / typosthes.gr / seleo.gr / vimapress.gr / metrosport.gr / tvopen.gr / mycampus.gr / pagenews.gr / and many more)

Faye K. Olympiou was even invited to one of the largest television channels in the country:

A candidate caught our attention… And she had it!
Faye K. Olympiou. Woman, working, candidate.
Her central slogan, Oly For The City!

Her main goal was to inform and educate the public regarding fake news. Alongside her, thousands of citizens commented, applauded, criticized, or shared her literally fantastic positions. Because many believed she was real. And quite a few hoped she would be…