Depaul UK is one of the biggest charities for young homeless people in the UK. Since its launch in 1989, it has helped more than 50,000 people with accommodation, family mediation, training and employment.
However, with half its donors over 65, it needed to attract a younger audience to ensure a continuing stream of funding.
While 25- to 45-year-olds are among the most emotionally hardened to homelessness, they are keen embracers of technology. So Depaul developed an iPhone app, iHobo, that involved caring for a fictional homeless person for three days.
The first iPhone app to use real-life footage of a fictional homeless person rather than CGI, and one of the first to use Apple's 'push alert' technology, iHobo was there 24/7. It sent alerts when he was hungry, cold or lonely.
A one-click 'text to donate' facility enabled people to give money and sign up to the charity's database.
The app was also seeded with influential technology bloggers, and within a week reached the top of iTunes' free-apps chart.
Punching well above its weight, the campaign achieved an estimated media value of £1.2m from an investment of just £6000. The app was downloaded 575,000 times, with monthly traffic to the Depaul website increasing by 59%. It also changed perceptions of homelessness among the target audience. With 3700 signing up to the charity's database, this was 74 times more than previous activity achieved.
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Metropolitan Police Anti-Knife Crime (Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO)
Teenage gun and knife crime is a growing problem in London, with young people using weapons to settle minor disputes.
To tackle this disturbing trend, the Metropolitan Police chose to highlight the crime of joint enterprise - the legal doctrine that means someone can be charged for murder even if they did not actually pull the trigger or use the knife to kill someone.
On a budget of just £250,000, the police created an interactive murder-mystery video for Facebook about the fictional murder of a boy called Deon.
The campaign launched on MTV, with an unbranded trailer, and radio spots, plus a teaser poster and online activity.
It achieved six times as much engagement as the average Facebook campaign. Moreover, 59% of the audience understood the implications of joint enterprise.
Judges described the campaign as 'really brave, high-stakes marketing'.
Also shortlisted for Not-for-profit marketing: BBC, The BBC 2010 general election campaign; British Heart Foundation, The Angina Monologues; NSPCC/Childline, How U feelin?
Sponsored by Business in the Community