In 2010 DDB Brasil completed 21 years and the agency’s objective was to celebrate its anniversary in a different way that could draw people’s attention and aggregate brand value. So how could we turn 21 in a relevant way both in Brazil and abroad? The solution was to create a campaign that would choose a 21-year-old student to become the agency’s Trend Hunter during a 99-day trip around the world. The winner was chosen via an open competition with 21-year-olds all over the country who spoke English fluently. There were 4 phases: general knowledge exam, video production, creation and maintenance of a blog and an interview with the agency’s president. To promote the action, we created offline ads and much buzz on social networks and PR. After the interview with the press and the promotion on social networks, 4 thousand people were considered as candidates. The selection process took 3 months. Newspapers in Brazil and abroad covered the campaign, which generated more than US$ 1.4 million in positive spontaneous media.

Interview to the press on September 27 at DDB Brasil, headed by President Sergio Valente.

-Press releases and interviews on regional media to drive students to send in their application forms from all over the country. Social networks were used to attract the target. Actions in colleges and universities also took place- An exclusive article in one of the country’s most important newspapers was a way to aggregate relevance and present the chosen candidate’s profile.

- International newspapers. A press release containing the results was sent to each country.- In every city Lucas visited he met a journalist. The highlight was the meeting with the New York Times journalist.-To celebrate Lucas’s return we prepared an interview in the most important Brazilian Talk Show: Jo Soares, considered Brazil’s David Letterman. We also arranged an exclusive interview in one of the most renowned magazine and journals.

The DDB Brasil’s 21st anniversary action managed to generate US$1.4 million in spontaneous media including prestigious vehicles such as The New York Times, Times of India, Sun Harold, Contagious, Shots, Creativity and the main newspapers in Brazil, such as O Estado de Sao Paulo, Folha de Sao Paulo, O Globo. There was also a 15-minute interview in Brazil’s most important talk show, hosted by Jo Soares, known as Brazil’s David Letterman. On social networks, the action impacted more than 4 million people in Brazil and abroad. The result surprised expectations because we were only aiming at profiting twice the US$300,000 spent on the project.