Prior to the Hungarian referendum on EU Accession on 12th April 2003, the Public Foundation of European Union Communications supported a campaign to educate Hungarian citizens about the rest of Europe and the impact of accession. Additionally, it aimed to maximise the number of people voting to reflect the importance of this event in their lives.

Our innovative solution delivered 85% target coverage - an extremely cost-efficient way of educating and entertaining a mass audience about the realities of closer union with Europe. The greatest testament to its effectiveness was a successful referendum which delivered a resounding ‘yes’ vote – with 84% voting to join the EU.

We selected two popular reality TV shows that were still relatively new in Hungary: Big Brother and Való Világ. Working closely with the producers of the two shows, we developed a unique sponsorship/product placement package to embed our key messages in the programme content. On each day in the lead up to the referendum, the shows themed their content around a different EU country – with participants indulging in pursuits enjoyed by ordinary people in those markets: likes, dislikes, passions, food etc.

The Reality TV strategy was part of a much wider mass media campaign to build awareness and encourage people to vote.Reality shows proved to be the ideal platform to positively engage and educate our audience about the reality of living closer with their potential EU partners, by involving them in the fun and antics of the show’s participants. This provided valuable ‘social currency’ which served as a catalyst for further debate in homes, bars and offices across Hungary.

Indications were that the referendum was felt by many Hungarians to be a rather serious and impersonal topic from which they felt rather detached. In order to cut through this apathy, we sought to stimulate interest, excitement and debate by making the issue more relevant and immediate to the Hungarian electorate. We developed a unique partnership with two popular mass market media properties in order to engage with people on a ‘non-political’ and personal level.