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LOVE, ANDA
MARKETING LOST LOVE AS PHILANTHROPY
This is a story of how one man turned his grief into a multi-million dollar philanthropic initiative of worldwide interest.
It is also a story of how Americans enthusiastically responded when this initiative was finally brought to the U.S. It is a story of how the nexus between romantic love and philanthropy radiated out and captured the hearts and minds of thousands, as well as the media. It is a story of how the issue of pure love created impressive results very fast - the kind of response that every non-profit and corporation yearn for when strategizing a launch.
Two years ago, financier Henri Zimand of Monte Carlo, Monaco, lost his beautiful 49 year-old wife Anda to breast cancer. Twenty years earlier, Henri and Anda had gone out on their first date. By midnight they were engaged. Their life together was a storybook romance.
After an extended period of mourning, Mr. Zimand determined that the most important step he could take would be to spread Anda's spirit of love and positive survivorship throughout the world.
A month after we began work with Mr. Zimand, conceptualizing this non-profit
initiative, the response to his message on the importance of love was staggering:
major national press coverage Good Morning America, CNN, The New York Daily News and 5 local New York television news shows, 200,000 website hits in 10 days, over 3000 entries into a contest over a month, a partnership with a national magazine, major events throughout the year and non-profit industry recognition.
THE CHALLEGE:
Henri Zimand came to Passion Marketing because he wanted to transport the Anda spirit to the U.S.
Mr. Zimand was not planning to fundraise or recruit like most of our other clients. His goal was more complicated - he was looking to advocate a concept, through his philanthropy, to the entire world. His message was simple: he wanted America to be touched by the love that existed between him and Anda.
THE STRATEGY:
After multiple internal brainstorming sessions, we concluded that in an increasingly frenetic and fast-paced world, of e-mails, cell phones, TIVOs, mounting pressures and expectations, further complicated by issues of terror, conflict, AIDS, homelessness, poverty and out-of-control hate, if we could build Mr. Zimand's initiative into a simple symbol of love and meaning, much like Betty Boop became a comforting symbol to America and the world during the Depression years, we would be onto something wonderful.
This became the big idea led that led to:
CONCEPT
The initiative was to become the tangible holder of all Henri Zimand's charitable donations and programs created in his wife's name: breast cancer research, education, arts, culture and children's causes. Henri Zimand has donated over $5 million since his wife passed away a year and a half ago. But the initiative was to take on the bigger meaning, promoting the subject of pure romantic love, touching people everywhere with the unexpected that had meaning and simplicity.
BRANDING/POSITIONING: LOVE, ANDA
We learned from Mr. Zimand that Anda had kept a diary from the time she was a teenager. During her illness, she continued to write in her diary. Based on this knowledge, we called the initiative, Love, Anda, evoking the emotional response of knowing that the farewell written at the end of each of her love letters to Mr. Zimand would also accompany each philanthropic gift he made in her honor. Good Morning America immediately utilized the logo to symbolize Valentine's Day.
WEBSITE
We created a Love, Anda website, featuring the love letters between Henri and Anda. After its first week and the extensive media coverage, there were over 200,000 hits. Mr. Zimand received overwhelming amounts of emails from people who told their own stories of love, loss and illness. www.loveanda.com
STEP 2/CREATING THE CAMPAIGN THAT CAPTURED NEW YORK
Through Mr. Zimand's challenge to us to create the most unprecedented promotions possible, we examined the opportunities of Valentine's Day. What better time to spread the word about love? The result was that Love, Anda and the I (heart) Valentine's Day Campaign became the symbol of Valentine's Day for all of New York and much of America.
CAMPAIGN
The multi faceted Valentine's Day promotion consisted of:
 - Free Horseand Carriage Rides in Central park
Coinciding with Valentine's Day, 500 free horse and carriage rides were given away to couples in love, who rode through Christo's gates. Every year, Henri and Anda would spend Valentine's Day at the Plaza Hotel in New York and they would take a horse and carriage ride in Central Park. In Anda's memory, Mr. Zimand donated free rides among Christo's gates.
- Development of a love letter contest
To participate in the carriage promotion, riders were required to writer a love letter and enter into the contest. The winner of the love letter contest would receive a free five-day trip to Monte Carlo (paid by Mr. Zimand). Letters could also be entered via the web.
- A cause marketing partnership with a new magazine dedicated to love.
Tango Magazine symbolized Mr. Zimand's belief of the importance of love and gathered a top notch staff headed by former Vanity Fair editor Elise O'Shaunessy. This synchronized partnership includes co-branded events and advertising, including an ad campaign on Times Square electronic billboard.
 - Development and launch of a Love, Anda diary dedicated to women's health.
The diary was available free at the Love, Anda website and was a unique way to tell women that they should keep their health records in one place and utilize the diary to collect their memories and thoughts (as Anda did).
- An intellectual discussion dinner
Facilitated by Passion Marketing on the "The Nexus Between Personal Love and the Love of Society," this dinner which took place in New York gathered 50 elite minds for a three hour in-depth exploration on the importance of love connected to philanthropy.
RESULTS
- The response to the New York Valentine's Day promotion was more successful than ever imagined.
The New York Daily News kicked off the campaign with a cover story that resulted in a line around the block on the first day of the promotion.
Hundreds of people dropped of their love letters at the carriage and over 1500 people took rides.
This enthusiasm was echoed by the press that covered it nationally, internationally, locally, on television, radio and in print.
Some of the press outlets included CNN International, Good Morning America, Channels 4, 5, 7, 11 and 13 in New York, a second story in the New York Daily News, Associated Press, and more.
To see the press breaks go to www.loveanda.com.
The press resulted in over 200,000 hits for the website. Due to the results, Mr. Zimand decided to host the Valentine's Day horse and carriage event annually and to create in 2006 the 1st New York horse and carriage Valentine's Day parade.
- A gala event hosted by James Denton ("Desperate Housewives") and Love, Anda to launch Tango Magazine. Passion Marketing was instrumental in securing James Denton to be the cover story of the first issue of Tango. The star studded evening at Bloomingdale's in Soho exposed the Love, Anda concept to the entertainment and society press. Also, this was a successful cause marketing program between a non-profit in initiative and a national magazine.
- Over 3000 people submitted love letters. The Romance Writers of America will judge the letters and the winner will be announced at a press conference in early May.
THE HUMAN SPIRIT
Mr. Zimand and his new Love, Anda initiative have challenged the strategic thinking and creativity of Passion Marketing, in a manner that no client has ever done. It has stretched our limits, brought us an extraordinary experience of the human spirit, impressive results---and something we rarely receive as a reward from other client interactions---pure fun. Love is a difficult subject to market, but the Love, Anda initiative has given it a whole new meaning.
GARY WEXLER, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
Passion Marketing - Capturing the Intangible. Marketing for non profits.
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