Global Fund Media Campaign 2004

The 2004-2005 media campaign was devised by Publicis Group, an international advertising firm. The campaign takes the challenge facing the Global Fund into the public domain, working under the belief that the whole world must be mobilised and engaged if these diseases are to be effectively addressed. The objective of this media campaign is to raise public awareness of the Global Fund as a global financing mechanism, recipient of funds from governments, institutions and other partners, and as the source of funds for agencies on the ground.

The strategy behind the print campaign conveys the idea that in order to battle a global killer, it is necessary to use a global solution, the basic principle being: "Big problems require big solutions." The print campaign includes three separate images: The Helicopter, The Ship, and The Truck. These symbols put the emphasis on the direct aid provided by the Global Fund. The objects chosen to symbolise prevention and treatment - a giant tube of anti-malaria medicine, a capsule and a syringe - inhabit differing environments (jungle, desert, ocean) and are born by different modes of transport. The print media campaign began in France on September 2 2004. Over 40 magazines and newspapers have agreed to support the Global Fund campaign, including daily newspapers, news magazines, women's publications, television magazines and leisure publications.

The film campaign is built around a similar concept, finishing with the closing line, "In a fight, size does matter", and comprises a 30-second television version (for the low-speed version: click here and a 50-second version for use in cinemas. The deliberate use of violent imagery, the gritty urban environment, sub-titles, the absence of background music and the physicality of the final confrontation all aim to contribute to the impact of the advertisement. The television campaign began on September 7 2004, and the cinema spots began in mid-September. The launch was accompanied by a public relations campaign.

Professor Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund, said of the campaign, "The Global Fund exists through both public and private funds. We have an obligation to make ourselves known, both what we do and what our goals are. This media campaign is a first step in raising our profile and gaining support for our global program."

This media campaign was created with the help of the Publicis Group, who committed in May of 2003 to support the Global Fund by helping put an international communication strategy in place. After the launch in France, an expanded media campaign was rolled out simultaneously in Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan beginning in June 2005.

HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, infectious diseases, vaccines, medicines.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created in 2002 through an initiative of the G8 and the United Nations, not only to stop the spread of these pandemics in the poorest countries, but to radically reverse the growth rate of the diseases.

In two years, more than three billion dollars have already been committed to programmes in 128 countries, enabling the saving of lives and the prevention of disease.

According to the Global Fund, six million people die each year from these diseases - 16,439 people per day - and this is one of the main reasons the Global Fund mobilises sizeable resources to enable the eradication of these epidemics.

The resources from the Global Fund allow countries to scale up existing programmes for prevention and treatment as well as to launch new programmes previously not possible due to lack of financial resources.