Gappie Gezocht wins Amsterdam Communication Award

We are very proud to have won the Amsterdam Communication Award 2021 for the campaign Gappie Gezocht! In a special zoom final meeting on April 1st, we won as a non-profit project and the Wispe Brewery as a commercial project.

Jury chair Betteke van Ruler, emeritus professor of Communication at the University of Amsterdam, praised the quality of the entries. It was remarkable how all projects paid attention to their measurable impact, as far as possible. The Amsterdam Communication Award was presented for the tenth time and is organized by the Communication Network Amsterdam (CNA).

More than 400 matches found

Even the project Buddy Wanted, which the Volunteer Center Amsterdam carried out with dozens of social organizations, was very successful. It started in 2019 in Amsterdam North, where 1 in 10 people live in social poverty. The campaign aimed to inspire people to become a buddy (buddy) to alleviate this poverty somewhat. In 2020, the campaign was repeated in the districts Center, South, and East, supplemented with additional communication tools.

Campaign agency BKB, together with Studio Wesseling, developed the concept and an action plan. Billboards, a live stream kick-off from De Balie, social media campaign, video, coffee cups, flyers, ambassadorship; everything was done to make this happen. Ultimately, a total of 412 new buddies were recruited in three districts, despite the challenge of the project taking place during the pandemic.

Floor Wesseling, the campaign’s creator, said: “The idea of ​​addressing people in their own language, using the word Buddy instead of Mate, thereby reaching every Amsterdammer (with corresponding design) was born in our studio. That’s what we’re proud of, actually from the moment of the release and seeing the first results.”

Judges’ verdict

“It is a fun, versatile campaign that is well designed and executed with a beautiful result (more than 400 new followers). The campaign is closely tailored to the target audience, clearly taking into account the language of the target audience, and it looks very good graphically. A lot has been achieved with very little money but a lot of love and expertise. And – not unimportant – there has been a quick response to the corona circumstances, requiring different content.”

With many thanks to…

At this point, we want to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of this campaign!

• Floor WesselingStudio Wesseling– for the beautiful designs and campaign ideas
• Justin Koornneef and Maarten van Heems –BKB– for the first brainstorms
• Louis van Zwol– for the cool campaign video
• Jackie Mulder– for the beautiful double portraits
• Huub Zeeman and Kitty de Jong –VCA Media– for the reportage photos
• De Balie– for the kick off
• Willem Dieleman– for his performance during the kick off
• Roos Schlikker– for the hosting of the kick off
• Chulah Berkowitz– for project management
• The volunteers and their buddies who have been portrayed
• Agnes Loogman –Markant, Gerda Veen –Humanitas, Lieke Folkertsma –Rainbow Group, Jasmijn van Katwijk –Neighbor Network– for thinking along and -doing as core group
• Claartje Chajes– for her performance as a portrait poet
• Districts Center, East, and South for the financing