An Introduction
Trócaire’s Lent campaign aimed to highlight at-risk communities around the world, their resilience in the face of incredible challenges, and Trócaire’s active role in helping to alleviate the poverty and injustice they face.
Trócaire turns the compassion of the Irish people into life-changing support for some of the world’s poorest people.
The primary goal was to focus on the extreme weather events happening in Malawi as a result of climate change, and to highlight the knock-on consequences too much or too little water can have on the country.
The Project
As a nation, we love talking about the weather. It’s our go-to conversation starter, making its way into casual chats and headline news alike.
And while we often complain about “rubbish” weather or deal with local flooding, our weather issues are minor compared to the devastating impact of extreme weather in poorer countries. These regions often face severe challenges that threaten lives and communities.
Our mission was to develop a campaign dedicated to bridging the gap, turning weather conversations into meaningful action. By supporting those affected by climate extremes, we hoped to make a real difference.
The Innovative Approach
To highlight the extreme weather events happening in Malawi, we have created the new “Extreme Weather Event Segment” that ran across all IRS+ stations throughout the Lent Campaign.
This was a 45” spot, fixed around news and weather and was read by a local station DJ.
Did you know? Our experiment revealed that the geographically targeted local accent voiceover copy significantly outperformed the national accent in 22 out of 24 sample groups, while also helping to establish genuine relationships with our customers nationwide. The local accent is a game-changer in radio advertisements.
The “Extreme Weather Event Segment” detailed the extreme weather events happening in Malawi as a result of climate change and explained the knock-on consequences these have on the country.
The segment’s powerful and authentic content was based on Malita’s family lived experiences, enabling the people of Ireland to connect and empathise with the family’s situation. Malita is a single mother to six children, including 12-year-old twins Patricia and Patrick (who are all featured on the front of the 2024 Trócaire box). Their story is unfortunately one that’s typical in Malawi.
Each segment ended with a donation appeal.
“We are delighted to have partnered with IRS+ and Foe to execute our 2024 Lent campaign. Our primary goal this year was to focus on the extreme weather events happening in Malawi as a result of climate change, and to highlight the knock-on consequences too much or too little water can have on the country. IRS+ and Foe helped us to bring the people of Ireland closer to the communities we support through the “Extreme Weather Event Segment”. Their professionalism is second to none and the decision to use a local accent in the ads seemed to resonate with our audience, once again, reinforcing the power of community.” – Nicola Perrin, Marketing Campaigns Manager, Trócaire
