By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
A brilliant campaign for press freedom, forged by Reporters Without Borders – Germany and the popular video game Minecraft, has won the top prize at the 2021 ANA REGGIE Awards competition.
The Super REGGIE went to Reporters Without Borders for a clever collaboration that saw the organization work with Minecraft to bypass press censorship in countries where most free media is blocked by repressive governments.
Created by MediaMonks and DDB Germany, “The Uncensored Library” was designed to overcome strict censorship laws in countries where most media are blocked while also generating interest among young people about press freedom.
The campaign used the computer game Minecraft to bypass censorship, because even in countries where most media is blocked, Minecraft, one of the world’s most popular games with more than 126 million active players per month, is easily accessible.
Censored articles from independent journalists became uncensored “Minecraft books,” available in English and their original language, that can be freely written and read inside the game. For the first time in history, a video game became a tool to overcome censorship. A campaign website was also created that related the story about the participating journalists and the project’s background.
The campaign’s budget was under $500,000 and the results were impressive. The Uncensored Library reached more than 20 million gamers from 165 countries, many of them suffering under censorship laws. Well-known gaming influencers talked about the project, and the gaming community made more than 400 YouTube videos about it. The effort also resulted in more than 790 news articles with a total media reach of 2.7 billion, and donations for Reporters Without Borders increased by 62 percent, helping them extend their global fight for press freedom.
The award is an unusual one for the REGGIEs, which has been held annually since 1983 to recognize the best brand activation marketing campaigns activated by brands and agencies. The name REGGIE was chosen because it symbolizes results by “making the cash register ring” with consumers.
The RWB collaboration with Minecraft was not about making cash registers ring, but rather was intended to provide free and unbiased news reporting to millions of people who live in countries where the freedom of the press is suppressed. To win a Super REGGIE is a huge honor in the industry as it recognizes the highest level of achievement and is awarded to the “best-in-class” from the Gold category winners. It is the most honored award in the Brand Activation industry, recognized as the crème de la crème in the marketing world.
The award was presented May 21 at a virtual REGGIE Awards program. A total of 69 Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards were presented to top agencies and brands for the best Brand Activation marketing campaigns of 2020 across 23 different categories.
Categories in the overall REGGIE competition included experiential, digital/social media, sponsorship, influencer, brand purpose, content, B2B, and age-specific campaigns. The competition included campaigns with budgets ranging from less than $500,000 to more than $40 million.