“We need to help artists on the island”

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, killing nearly 3,000 people and devastating the island. The aftermath saw residents deprived of food, shelter, and electricity. But a quieter tragedy was unfolding: many arts organizations were struggling to survive.

Enter Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lin-Manuel brought Hamilton to Puerto Rico, teaming up with Prizeo, a charity sweepstakes provider. In exchange for donations to the Flamboyan Arts Fund, contestants went in the running for a trip to see Hamilton in Puerto Rico (and many other perks besides).

Promoting the contest through paid social, we wanted our ads to capture the resilience of the island and the urgency of the cause. Our creative adopted the iconic Puerto Rican flag and a stucco effect inspired by the streets of San Juan. The shape and lines of the flag draws the eye to the right, giving us a perfect template for carousel ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Young, Scrappy & Hungry

Surprises had done well for us in the past, so we planned a story arc for the entire campaign before we turned on the first ad. We gradually unveiled additions to the prize, including dinner at a celebrated restaurant, a tour of the town of Vega Alta with Lin-Manuel’s parents, and doubling the prize.

Being a sharp man, Lin-Manuel calculated that if two winners was good, 50 winners was 25 times as good. So we did it all again, this time giving away 50 sets of tickets to see Hamilton in Puerto Rico.

Hope for the Arts in PR

The response was… intense.

The excitement and spirit of generosity surrounding this campaign were extraordinary and humbling.

Our initial campaign raised $1.2 million from 65,760 amazing donors in 28 days.

The follow up, #Ham4PR50, raised $1.05 million from 53,846 donors in just 11 days.

The tight timeframes made these campaigns challenging to plan and execute - but they’ll always have a special place in my heart.

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