2017 was a disastrous year for Samusocial in Brussels: due to shady political maneuvers and ensuing scandals the attention shifted away from the concrete efforts and actions they were taking to help the homeless. In an effort to refocus communication they decided that they needed to be as concrete as possible, pointing out the problems that people were actually helping with by contributing and supporting, rather than putting forward the organization as a goal in itself.

In order to collect enough drinking water, on a very short notice, we immediately created a stunt in one of the busiest streets in Brussels. A homeless man sitting on the ground, while snow falls in the middle of summer. He held a cardboard sign in his hands with a simple message:

« Don’t wait until winter to worry about us. »

While support for the homeless is, even in tumultuous times, rather easy to depict and evoke during winter, summer is a completely different case. As people like to go out and enjoy themselves rather than stay in and be cosy, they tend to forget that for homeless people the streets can be a hostile place, no matter what season it is. Luckily the weather at the time helped us make the most of it and depict and portray their troubles at a time when they are the last thing on peoples’ minds.

In order to collect enough drinking water, on a very short notice, we immediately created a stunt in one of the busiest streets in Brussels. A homeless man sitting on the ground, while snow falls in the middle of summer. He held a cardboard sign in his hands with a simple message:

« Don’t wait until winter to worry about us. »

During the first weeks after the launch of the campaign we gathered nearly 25.000 water bottles (9.857 donated by consumers + 15.000 by sponsors) and Samusocial unexpectedly got 10.235 euro in donations as well.

Furthermore, we were able to switch the conversation. We got 60 articles and some tv-coverage in the relevant media in Belgium, talking about what Samusocial does best. We were able to dominate headlines and improve perception instantly, reaching all objectives and gathering the 25.000 bottles.

After the campaign the city of Brussels also created a plan focusing on all access points for free water for the homeless affected by the heat.