Keys for Peace

Paula Sonne - Head of Communications Petra Yli-Hemminki - Account Director Martta Kallio - Creative, Copywriter  Netta Puumalainen - Creative, Art Director Maria Kuutsa - Head of Content Heikki Karstu - Junior Copywriter Nelli Pätäri - Junior Copywriter Riku Jussila - Junior Copywriter Sari Sälemaa - Designer  Tiia Rahkonen - PR Producer Riina Leinimaa - Content Producer Niclas Kristiansson - Chief Creative Experience Officer (CCXO) Juhana Hokkanen - Creative Director  Aapo Kuortti - Creative Strategist Linda Manninen - Content Trainee Ville Hackzell - Editor Mirkku Tenhunen - Production Manager Fanny Haga - Photographer Astrid Lindroos - Retoucher  Iiro Hokkanen - Director, Creative Head of TBWA\Screen Def Agency - Event planning  Pågå - Event production

BACKGROUND  Peace mediation is needed more than ever. CMI, one of the leading global Peace Foundations, receives more requests for peace mediation than it can work with. Last year, the war came closer to the Finnish people than in a long time. Even still, as we rush through our everyday lives, the terrors feel distant and hard to grasp. CMI wanted to bring the human cost of war so close to Finnish decision-makers and the general public that it would be impossible to ignore - as well as gather funds and partners to secure their operations for years to come.  The campaign was named Keys for Peace and the idea for it was literally found in our pockets. Our home keys are the most important item we all own and something we take for granted. And yet they are the first thing a person fleeing from war no longer needs. A touring exhibition was created which introduced 10 real house keys gathered from conflict zones all around the world, telling the life story of 10 brave people that had to flee war. IDEA  We had the physical exhibition and tour venues in place but how to reach the general public without any media budget? Enter the power of earned media and social media. All we needed was that one final push. There are 103 million people in the world who have had to leave their home because of conflict or war. On International Peace Day, September 21st, two of these homes were listed for sale on the largest real estate website in Finland, Oikotie.fi.  We counted on the fact that many Finnish people like to browse the most expensive listings for fun. There amongst the penthouses and lakeside mansions our war torn homes would surely stand out. The sale price of these homes - 28 million euros - was the same as the economic cost of war across the world in a mere minute. These digital real estate ads were meant to peak curiosity, evoke emotions and ultimately lead people to the "Keys for Peace" campaign website. RESULTS  The cost of the online real estate ads? Zero. Results? On the very first day the two real estate advertisements were visited over 10 000 times and caused the website’s customer service to crash. People started talking about the advertisements organically across social media channels like Facebook, Reddit and others.  Within a few days, almost all the major newspaper outlets in Finland had written about the real estate ads and the Keys for Peace exhibition – including the nation’s largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat. By the end the reach from the local earned media was over 13 million (Finnish population being 5,5 million). The real estate ads on Oikotie.fi, Kyiv in particular, were among the most viewed on the site – over 171,000 ad visits by 158,000 unique visitors. Finally, more than 500,000 people visited the Keys for Peace exhibition on its tour. All this resulted in CMI securing multiple new collaborations as well as record-breaking donations to finance their work.