The Royal Australian Mint creates millions of new ways to donate with the launch of ‘Donation Dollar’ via Saatchi & Saatchi, Melbourne
The Royal Australian Mint and Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne this week launch ‘Donation Dollar’, the world’s first legal tender currency designed to be donated.
The plan is to mint a ‘Donation Dollar’ for every Australian, creating 25 million reminders to donate.
As a nation we have been fast to adopt online and digital payment methods – ever more so since the pandemic. Sadly, a shift away from notes and coins has had unforeseen and significant consequences on Australian charities. Many of which rely on coin donations – as do the most disadvantaged members of our society. While the ways we use currency are evolving, coins and notes are still relevant. And, for many, necessary.
Each Donation Dollar is therefore designed to be a small reminder to give. And each one in circulation will create its own loop of generosity. If every Australian gave just one Donation Dollar a month, we could raise an additional $3 billion for our charities over 10 years.
Which is one of the reasons why the idea has had the full endorsement and support of the Community Council of Australia (CCA) – a collective of over 50,000 charity organisations.
Launching on International Charity Day, Donation Dollar is supported by an integrated campaign led by film, social and earned media, the latter being facilitated by Publicis Groupe agency, Herd MSL.
Says Simon Bagnasco, executive creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne: “I am incredibly proud of the team behind this project. It is a rare feat to bring an idea to the world which helps all charities, not just one. And a special thank you to everyone at the Mint for the spirit of collaboration and enthusiasm they brought to this project.”
Says Mark Cartwright, executive general manager – marketing, sales and innovation, Royal Australian Mint: “This is a world first initiative that everyone at the Mint is very proud of. For over two years we have worked closely with our friends at Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne to construct an approach that can make an extraordinary difference to Australians.
“We do hope that the Donation Dollars act as a gentle reminder that as individuals we have the power to help those that are doing it tough – the act of giving these dollars, multiplied over and over for many years, has the potential to make a significant contribution to the lives of many.”
Chair of The Community Council for Australia and former chief executive of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello, has shared his praise and support for Donation Dollar and the impact it will have on those who need a helping hand: “Our immediate reaction when presented with the Donation Dollar was ‘finally an idea that unites every Australian charity, but also every Australian, in a common good’. With research showing one in five Australians, who don’t currently give to charity at all, saying the coin would lead to them giving more to charity, there’s no doubt in my mind this is a gift that will benefit those who are most vulnerable in our nation, starting now – a time when many need this kind of helping hand the most.”
To visit the Donation Dollar website click here.
Client: The Royal Australian Mint
General Manager, Marketing, Sales & Innovation: Mark Cartwright
Project Manager: Frederica Heacock
Marketing & Communications Manager: Nicolle Keye
Creative Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne
Chief Creative Officer: Mike Spirkovski
Executive Creative Director: Simon Bagnasco
Creative Director: Lee Sunter
Senior Creative/Copywriter: Adam Ferrie
Senior Creative/Art Director: Peter Cvetkovski
Head of Design: Matt Alpass
Designer: Alice De Saulles
Finished Artist: Juliet Symes
Executive Producer: Lucy Trengove
Producer: Zena Bartlett
Senior Digital Producer: Nick Baum
Digital Design: Jarryd Hood
Head of Content: Fei Wang
Creative Content Producer: Heather McKean
Developer: Steven Ashby & Dagmar Ford
Strategist: Jack Gilbert
Group Account Director: Leah Williams
Account Director: James Cameron
Account Director (2019): Jamie Herman
Account Executive: Jobe MacShane
Senior Business Director (2019): Adam Brami
New Business Director: Rebecca Robertson
Managing Director: Mark Cochrane
Production Company: Revolver/Will O’Rourke
Director: Stephen Carroll
Managing Director / EP: Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer: Pip Smart
Associate EP: Anna Mannix
Producer: Max Horn
Cinematographer: Jordan Maddocks
Post Production: The Editors, Melbourne
Executive Producer: Charlotte Griffiths
Editor: Leila Gabbi
Post Production & VFX: Alt VFX
Senior Producer: Celeste Fairlie & Adrianna Spanos
VFX Supervisor & Online Editor: Dave Edwards
VFX Production Manager: Jayce Attewell
Head of 3D: Nick Angus
CG Supervisor: Jordan McInnes
Animator: Kerri Moss
Lead Compositor: Matt Chance
Colourist: Ben Eagleton
Retouch Artist: Jonathon Ryder
Music Composition: Turning Studios
Composer: Elliot Wheeler
Producer: Carla De Menezes Ribeiro
Audio Post Production: Squeak E. Clean Studios
Head of Sound: Paul Le Couteur
Executive Producer: Ceri Davies
Earned Media & Public Relations: Herd MSL
PR & Earned Lead: Rob Tolan
PR Strategy & Account Director: Stephanie Banno
PR Account Managers: Sarah Gilmore & Coralie Redden
Publicity Support: Nelson Fogarty, Lucy Rayner, Sarah Lipkin, Sophia Mathias, Karen Dunnicliff & Damian Marwood
Group Managing Director: Skye Lambley
Event Management: Yakusan Brand Experience
Senior Account Director: Isabelle Ward
Associate Producer: Lauren Hunter
Audio News Release: MediaCast
Video New Release: Hug Media
104 Comments
for actually pulling this off. Like it a lot.
This has a Palau Pledge / Meet Graham level of grandness to it
…Idea.
Timely.
Positive.
Respect.
Imagine it took a mountain of work to get this over the line – great ideas always do. Good for the world and good news in these dark times. Love the idea guys.
Nothing but congrats on this one. Fantastic idea, executed at meaningful scale. Jealous.
Very nice.
Brilliant work, and the type of stuff that makes me (and I’m sure others who’ve left over the years) fall back in love with the industry.
Maybe even dip the toe back in? Genuine, effective work, with soul and sophistication. Well done to all involved, you should all be proud of yourselves for getting this idea made.
Great idea. Well done.
I’m standing and clapping
Bravo Adam and Pete, bravo.
Oh come on, let’s not ruin the vibes with the obvious and insecure self-congratulatory call out. There’s 100 people on the list of credits.
They wouldn’t be there if it was a two man party.
this is really, really great. well done to all.
Incredible film craft there. Shows what we can make here in Oz when we’re given the scripts.
I love you Adam & Pete.
Amazing idea.
Thats how you do it.
Incredible idea. Well done to all involved.
You’re headed to the sunny beaches of the south of France!
Well done Adam and Pete. A genuine and brilliant idea fellas and a long time in the making!
This is the first thing I’ve been proper jealous of in a while. Congratulations to all involved.
At least this thread will be more wholesome than the Cadbury Gorilla debacle
Genuinely excellent
Spirko and team – this is an absolute banger! Nicely done.
Love it.
Kudos for getting it through and no doubt you’ll pick up awards from it. But let’s not kid ourselves here… that was the main aim. In no way will this actually make a difference. Who uses cash anymore anyway? 99% of places are actively discouraging cash payment now thanks to COVID.
@the reward is the awards, when was the last time you designed a piece of hard currency? This is fucking fantastic, and I’m more cynical than most. Just hope it gets the PR it deserves.
It’s been everywhere. They’re solid.
LOVE this idea. Well done everyone.
And that is….. drumroll please….. win awards.
Yes, you’ve guessed it. In a country where cash transactions have dropped from 69% of all transactions to 24% of all transactions in the last decade, and now in COVID have dropped to below 10%, the potential real world impact of this campaign is the square root of FA.
But, I am sure the case study will look delightful. And judging by the 527 people who crammed their names into the credits, they all know that this will be one of those campaigns that makes more of an impact on jurors that people.
Newsflash, nobody uses coins any more.
Two years ago, this idea would have been awesome. Today it’s useless.
Said the creative living in his double bay bubble who has never once considered the impact to the homeless and charities right now.
It’s such a neat idea and it’s real. To anyone saying don’t just congratulate Adam and Pete you need to know the history of this idea. This idea has been in the making for years now and I’m sure the team at Saatchi and Saatchi helped make it better, but it was Adam and Pete and some others at Publicis that should be given the majority of the credit. Well done all. It’s amazing.
You don’t see ideas like this every day. Especially not in Aus. Kudos
If it’s easier for you, you can just tap homeless people and seeing eye dogs on the head with your credit card until they beep.
Given this was clearly in the works well before COVID, and the fact that plenty of people actually do use coins…and the idea isn’t to actually get these coins donated, it should be celebrated as a cracker of an idea, for a brilliant cause.
And it’s a perfect foil to the other rubbish recently posted here, as an example of real creativity, not rip off.
Nice one to all involved, regardless of how long the list.
I genuinely love this.
Pandemics end. Currency is in circulation for decades.
It’s not easy to get big ideas up. Congrats to all involved.
Great work from the guys who actually came up with SCUBER.
This is bloody good work, first saw it as a news article – didn’t know it was from agency. Feels huge, very jealous – Congrats on getting it up
This is a wonderful idea that shows persistence to get it over the line.
It is a sad commentary that it is already trivialised with references to awards and Cannes.
Surely it would be so much better to just enjoy the reward of a great idea doing its job.
Absolute respect. Can’t even imagine the journey from inception to sharing it today. Hats off to everyone involved.
It’s one thing to conceive, quite another to make. As it takes a village to raise a child, so to it takes many people to bring an idea like this to life. Show some grace, dignity and thank them, instead of reducing this to a self promotion exercise. Trust me.
Yuge idea. Biggest I’ve seen in a long time. Brilliant.
Adam and Pete are genuinely emerging as the creative names to watch in Australia.
Not often you come up with an OOH ad that lasts for 40 years.
Well done Baggers, Adam and Pete.
Well done to the team at The Royal Australian Mint, Mark Cartwright, Frederica Heacock and Nicolle Keye.
The tactics don’t get executed so brilliantly, nor made without brave, strategic and purpose driven marketers like you.
Very nice. Congrats.
Huge. Well done. And a great cause. Couldn’t ask for a better campaign to be part of.
Not that i use money anymore, this is a really nice idea, well done Saatchi + Saatchi
What an excellent initiative and film.
I’m sick of homeless people refusing to take American Express or Visa.
Except the design of the coin. Sorry, i’m afraid of spiders so all i see is a web. Great idea though and the design is lovely on everything else.
Well done Adam and Pete and Jack! Years and years of persisting with a brilliant idea has been rewarded. Awesome.
Got real currency minted. Amazing.
THIS IS SHIT
(no it isn’t, it’s awesome, i just wanted to have the only negative comment)
The only negative comments needed, are for the two very blatant self-promoters, who are doing themselves no favours.
Who’s the little shit trying to take it away from them? Who cares?
Absolutely brilliant. Congrats to all involved.
Wasn’t this a Publicis idea? Or is Publicis now Saatchi? I do wonder how much some of those credited did but I won’t doubt Adam and Pete. Best up and coming creatives in Australia.
Big impact. This one will live for as long as we’re using physical currency.
Yes, well done Saatchi & Saatchi & everyone involved especially my granddaughter
Such a good idea. Well done to everyone involved.
… it’s seamless and belongs in the real world. I’m on the board of a charity and I’ve already asked them how we are leveraging this. It’s not about the literal coin (although it could be) it’s a reminder to donate to that charity you always mean to. I think charities will be competing for the donation dollar and coming across them in rotation will act as a nudge to donate again. Well done!
Doesn’t get much better than this
The royal mint have been making money to give to the homeless for years.
I jest. Great cause, idea and execution.
Well done to everyone involved in this.
It would have been so easy to give up along the way and you did not.
You have made me feel very happy about what we do.
Blown away by this. A beautiful idea hiding in plain sight.
This is going to get more Lions than a guy with a limp in the Serengeti.
Jealous
An idea like this has even made the Blog Better. Creativity can do so many things.
So simple. So brilliant. Bravo.
Not only a great idea but one that will last and make a difference for years. Well done to all involved. Love it.
This is brilliant, one of the best pieces of work this year. Hope to find one of these coins in the near future.
You worked so hard on this Jack – well done
So jealous. Wish I did it.
Brilliant idea from two brilliant creatives. Well done, Big A and Big P.
Takes a team to get an idea up, take two brilliant creative minds to have it. Well done to you, Adam and Pete.
I reckon it takes one person to have an idea and the other person to piggyback on the first person to share the credit, the glory and whatever follows.
Well that’s how it worked for me.
This gives me some hope in our industry. It’s huge without being a scam.
And hope in this hate filled blog. Positivity, finally.
Thank you, good idea.
Deceptively simple. So jealous. Good on ya Baggers and co
This is a great idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-3dXBk0o9A
The above coin did well and so will this coin.
I see the similarity, but Coins of Hope was a coin designed to remind people of the faces of missing children.
This is an idea to remind people to donate to the homeless. Different objectives, similar execution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjL566UZ6mA
Alpass is a great man and an even greater designer. Looks super slick mate.
The press release states the problem;
“Sadly, a shift away from notes and coins has had unforeseen and significant consequences on Australian charities.”
Problem not solved.
Also “the plan is to mint 25 million coins”. Weasel words to indicate there’s no guarantee this will happen. And considering the Royal Australian Mint produces up to 2 millions coins every day, this could be a drop in the ocean.
Think you’ve missed the point. The problem is donations are way down. Think this idea will help fix that problem in some way… hopefully lots of ways once 25M coins get out there. Try and look on the bright side of life champion…
Why are you sad?
Excellent.
Why the Royal Australian Mint need to advertise?
Really like the idea, great to see a world first coming from Aus.
Note sure. You should ask Adam and Pete, it was their idea and they made it single handedly.
However, they’ve gone a little quiet since the ‘Coins of Hope’ comparisons started.
Man, I remember when Nick Worthington had this exact idea and tried to get BNZ and NZ mint to back it but despite several efforts over the years, it never got up.
To be clear, I am sure this is a 100% original idea by Saatchi’s Melbourne and there is no cross over. It’s just a good reminder to us all that having the idea is half the battle, actually getting it to go live is the other half where so often we stumble.
So, whether you think this is genius or whether you think it is pure awards bait, you cannot help but admire just how hard it no doubt was to get it over the line. And for that alone, I salute all involved.
Awesome idea, Adam and Pete. Top stuff.
Well done Adam and Pete
Just googled coins of hope.
Yeah, it uses coins, but its about a lost kid
Don’t see how that’s the same idea if that’s what the person is suggesting
Agreed, different ideas. Coins of Hope is a Euro dollar designed to remind people of a missing child. This is an Donation Dollar is an Australian dollar designed to remind people to give money to the homeless. Completely different coin reminder ideas. Well done to everyone involved. Huge.
It’s the best thing any of the Saatchi’s have done in years. Massive props. Will be keeping an eye on these two creatives.
This is a great. Simple. Big.
Would have taken a lot of dedication to get this over the line. You need a culture that believes in the power of ideas to make this kind of work.
It wins everything.
1 – the hate. Seriously, all you sad people with nothing to do but anonymously yell at people on blogs. It’s pathetic.
2- awards shows. This is going to win at those. A lot. And I wish it wasn’t so obviously polished up to do so. But we all know that that is how you get ahead, both as agencies and individuals, so I have nothing but respect for all involved. I know I would be doing the same.
3 – the impact we can have. Look, I get it, this has no doubt taken a long time to get up and has been watered down by 1000 stakeholders. And to be clear, it’s still better than anything else I have seen this year. But, is this it? Is this the best we are going to do? Less coins than the mint produces in a single day having a donation message on them at a time when less people use cash than ever before?
This final point is not a knock on the idea. It’s simple and great.
It’s on everyone else. This idea should be top 10-20%. But right now? What is better, seriously, anyone got any examples to point to? And I think this is where the anger above comes from. The cognitive dissonance that comes with not wanting people to praise this like its the best thing of the year when it’s YOUR job to make sure that it isn’t. HOW?
That’s easy, by having better ideas. And then. SELLLING those ideas.
So, come on children, run along and do that. Please.
Wondering what or whom this is advertising?
I would suspect this does a pretty amazing job for the Mint to prove that even in the digital age, coins can play a relevant and important role in society.
This is an initiative that makes the world a better place. There is only good that can come from it.
A big Well Done.
And as an Australian, THANK YOU.
Course, it was a great idea when I presented it to you for the Salvos at BWM, except the coin was red instead of green. Lucy Trengrove even started speaking to the mint about making it happen. Anyway, good on you both for actually making it happen now. Had you not, it would forever be in my bottom drawer. It’s way better out in the world.
Presented it to who exactly?
I remember this idea being presented at BWM and Lucy contacting the mint about it making it happen.
This is bigger than the advertising industry. Top idea. This is people coming together to elevate our humanity. Outstanding. Best I have seen in a long time. And it will keep helping people for decades, long after all the current tv commercials and billboards have disappeared. All of us in the NFP space (not just the Salvos) are delighted.
Yes this was orginally for the Salvo’s but it never got made. Bangers took the idea from all the roadblocks at BWM and actually did it. So would you rather have an idea never happen or be out there helping people?
Anyone can have an idea. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you’ve a monopoly on them. Our trade is in making ideas happen. Brining them into existence and ensuring they help position what ever it is our clients have tasked us to, effectively, measurably and enduringly. Advertising is a function of marketing, the tactics that come after the marketing and business objectives have been decided. No more. No less. If you want to make films get off the blog.
If you steal an idea wholesale in any other industry, you get sued. When you do it in advertising, you get awarded.