In Chile the only way to be a firefighter is as a volunteer, that’s why people respect them and love them a lot. In addition to this, at christmas eve their volunteer work becomes more relevant because christmas occurs on summer season, when the fire hazards start.

So when a lot of institutions and the press realized that we were making an animated film to pay them tribute, they reacted positively and helped us to expand the message and the cause to all the country.

Ripley, one of the biggest retail stores in Chile, presents “The magical night of Gaspar” an animated short film that make tribute to all firefighters. Christmas is stereotyped by snow and cold. However, in the southern hemisphere of the planet, it’s the beginning of the summer season where the fire hazard starts and the work of all firefighters becomes more relevant. The story also makes tribute to all the people who devote themselves to care and prevent risk for others, especially on Christmas Eve.

Brief / Objective: Create the 2018 campaign for Christmas, with a message that will be able to create engagement and get people closer with the brand.

Idea: We created an special christmas short film about about a firefighter "Gaspar" (main character) that was chosen to work at christmas night shift and her wife will find an a special way to tell the news to their children.

The story message: If you don't believe in magic, the only way to keep it alive is to become a magician.

The first strategic decision was to find a true story that was close to every chilean to create an animated short film to have brand engagement in this special season.

The second strategic decision was converting this short film in a tribute to all firefighters and to those who cannot celebrate christmas with their families for working at the service of other people. This tribute got the attention of the chilean press.

And finally, we have made an strategic alliance with Firefighters of Chile, who have loved our gift and they helped us to share and make the work go viral.

Implementation: An official trailer of the animated film was launched at prime time. People reacted and they started talking about it in social media.

Timeline: One week later, the short film was premiered on the iconic channel 11 for all the country. And was launched in all digital channels: Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter.

Placement: An exclusive event to all firefighters in Chile was done at the most iconic park of Santiago, were the short film was broadcasted.

Scale: As an extension of the short film, all the characters were brought to life at social media and in real life too (inside and outside the store). Gaspar Alegría (our principal character) was trending topic the same day of the premier and became an iconic character of Chile appearing in a crossword puzzle of an important chilean newspaper. Finally all firefighters shared the short film, including those from other countries.

The magical night of Gaspar reached amazing results:

- Over 9 million views in two weeks.

- 71 millions of media impressions.

- 40 thousand of digital reactions,

- 17 thousand of digital shares.

- The film had 2 trending topics the same day of the premier.