Useful Advertising - Lowe's & UHAC

Here are a few examples of brands providing advertising that is genuinely useful to the viewer/user.

Every few months there's a new digital marketing platform du jour that's billed as the 'next big thing' for marketers.  Oftentimes brands attempt to shoehorn their messages onto the platform in rather awkward ways.  In short, many brands and marketers forget that just because you can, doesn't mean you should.  With that in mind, it's nice to what Lowe's is doing on the latest platform du jour, Vine.  As you know Vines are restricted to 7 second clips, so Lowe's is providing convenient little tips and lifehacks through quick hit Vines.  Very nice use of the platform.  See below and head over to Digital Examples to see more examples of Lowe's Vine postings.



On a completely different note, check out the work from Draftfcb Toronto on behalf of Canadian Union Hearing Aid Center.  I won't say more as I don't want to spoil it.




Posted by: Reuben Halper

Radi-Aid - Africa For Norway

The holiday season is upon us...besides being bombarded with consumer messages and saccharine holiday songs, it's also one of the most active times of year for charity organizations soliciting aid and donations.  A little over a week ago the Norwegian Students and Academics International Assistance Fund (SAIH) released an amazing campaign, entitled Radi-Aid.  The faux charity video is a spoof on the typical Band-Aid/We Are The World type call for action videos that are often full of patronizing language and imagery.  The premise is simple...if viewers knew nothing of Norway and saw the Radi-Aid video, what would they think of Norway?  Now apply that logic towards Africa and the aid campaigns that exploit the perception and imagery of a continent full of nothing but poverty, AIDS and crime.

SAIH is trying to reframe the typical fundraising campaign and striving to 'promote a more nuanced image on countries in the global south than is usually portrayed in the media and by some charitable organisations and fundraising initiatives. While there are negative issues that need to be reported and a lot of organisations are doing very important work, we are frustrated at the constant repetition of the same negative images. Since the narrative tends to be the same as it was when development assistance first started some 50 years ago, it might give the impression that none of these efforts have produced any results and thus lead to apathy.'  Check out the video below.
The Guardian has a great article on the campaign and you can read more on the Radi-Aid: Africa For Norway site.

Movember - David's Big Problem

A bunch of us around the office raised a nice chunk of change for Movember (BTW - it's not too late to donate to the Google UK team or me directly).  I was shocked to look at the Movember.com leaderboards and see that Canada is crushing the rest of the world in terms of money raised. I suppose it should be no surprise that the best creative (IMHO) supporting November comes from the Canadian arm of creative agency, TAXI.  Check it out below...so good.
via Leon Bayliss

Water Is Life - #FirstWorldProblems

Water Is Life is an non-profit group that works to provide clean water to people in need around the world.  Many people are unaware of the fact that millions of people around the world lack access to clean water.  Faced with the challenge of how to promote this organization and the issue in general , DDB New York developed the #FirstWorldProblems campaign.  The central campaign video highlights the gap between the haves and the have-nots.  Regular Haitians, many of whom are still affected by the 2010 earthquake, are shown reading from tweets with the hashtag #FirstWorldProblems.  For those of you not familiar with the hashtag, it usually contains tweets with trivial problems such as 'I hate it when my phone charger won’t reach my bed.'


In other videos, Haitian are shown responding directly to specific tweets.  Each video also features a call to action to donate now and visit waterislife.com to find out more about the issue.

DDB New York Executive Creative Director Matt Eastwood said he hoped that the campaign would actually eliminate the #FirstWorldProblems hashtag  '#FirstWorldProblems allows its user to self-mock the petty concerns of those in so-called “first world” countries, yet seem strikingly insensitive when compared to real issues across the world.'

The campaign has received some criticism, but I think it's a fantastic example of a) hijacking a hashtag for good and b) taking the idea of personalized responses videos and using them for good (or perhaps shame?)  For me personally, I found it packed a significant emotional punch and made me reconsider the paltry things in life that I occasionally bitch about when many people in the world are unable to meet even their most basic needs.

Additional Articles: Huffington Post

BONUS: HIV/AIDS Council Finland

Here's another great PSA, though perhaps not as heavy as the Water Is Life campaign.

Developed by McCann Worldwide for the HIV/AIDS Council of Finland, these TV spots extend on the existing idea from a print campaign back in February.  The payoff is genius. Check it out below:

Refuge - Don't Cover It Up

Does something happening twice make it a trend?  Well I'm calling it one.  If you recall, a couple months back I posted about VW & DDB enlisting Youtube Star, Nikkie of Nikkie Tutorials, to create a PSA highlighting the dangers of applying makeup and driving.  That video recently took a gold for viral advertising Cannes.

Now YouTube star Lauren Luke and BBH have teamed up to create a video on behalf of domestic violence charity, Refuge.  The video offers tips on how to cover up bruises, with Lauren Luke indicating that her bruises are the result of domestic violence ('if you got some bruises from a jealous type of partner, etc.).  The video abruptly ends with the sound of someone entering the house and closes with '65% of women who suffer domestic violence keep it hidden.  Don't cover it up.'  This is part of the wider Don't Cover It Up anti-violence campaign from Refuge.  More information can be found here.

It's a great way to reach Lauren Luke's nearly 500,000 regular subscribers and to highlight the silence that too often accompanies domestic abuse. The video feels particularly authentic as Lauren Luke has talked about her past experience with domestic abuse.  Contagious Magazine has a more in-depth write up with additional background and insight.

Media Bridging Examples: Red Bull, ING, & NCDV

Lately it seems like there have been an increasing number campaigns bridging different forms of media, particularly in terms of connecting smartphones with out of home digital signage (remember this McDonald's example from Sweden).  Additionally we've been seeing increasing amount of executions that use audio (particularly Shazam) to bridge between TV and a smartphone experiences.  One of the nicest executions I've seen comes from Red Bull & NBC.   Fans watching NBC's snowboarding competition - Red Bull Supernational had the opportunity to use Shazam to get video from the snowboarders POV, thus creating a nice two screen experience during the broadcast.  Check it out below:


via Digital Examples

The second example comes from Germany agency Agenta as part of their activation as sponsors of the German Basketball Federation.  Using their smartphones, people could connect to the billboard and use their phone as a virtual basketball to play a free throw challenge.  At the same time a camera snapped pictures of them competing and uploaded/shared it amongst their Facebook friends.

Really nicely done, especially in terms of linking participation offline with a sharing mechanism online.  Check out the video below for more:

The third example was created by JWT London for the National Centre For Domestic Violence.  They installed a series of interactive billboards in London's Euston station.  The first billboard shows a man shouting at a woman with a call to action encouraging users to use their phone to 'Stop This Now and Drag Him Away.'  Users could scan a QR code or go to the website to drag him away via their phone which pulled the man further and further away from the woman and across the other connected billboards while displaying anti-violence messages.

It's a laudable effort, but I'd be curious to understand how well it actually worked it and how many people took the time to participate.  Was it clear what was happening on all the connected billboards or was interaction just limited to the one and then continued across after a user began taking part?  Anyhow, check it out below:


Additional Articles: PSFK | Creativity | Digital Buzz Blog | AdFreak | Mashable

Fix At Four PSA

I really do think that some of the most clever work of the past couple months have been various public service announcements.  Here's another excellent set of PSAs encouraging pet owners to get their dogs or cats fixed at four months.

Mix Against AIDS

Back in December for World AIDS day, the Brazilian radio station Mix FM launched a campaign (developed by Quê Comunicação) to raise awareness about the dangers of HIV/AIDS 'In Brazil, surveys have shown that the number of HIV cases keeps growing among young people. The radio Station Mix FM could have an important role in this scenario: alert young people, making them feel how easy it is to a virus to spread around. So we've made our own virus.'


Mix FM posted two sexy videos (one of a hot guy, one of a hot girl) to their Facebook page with a message encouraging viewership.  The end of each video included the message:

'That's What Happens With HIV.  You Get Distracted. Get Infected. And Spread The Virus Without Even Noticing.  Take A Look At Your Wall. Always Protect Yourself.'


Once a user watched the video it was automatically posted to their Facebook page/timeline without their permission, thus driving home the 'viral' message (pun intended).  Just a genius idea to encourage condom use & demonstrate the dangers of unprotected sex in a tangible way.  Of course, it was completely against Facebook policy since it was essentially spam, so Facebook took it down within a day or so.  You could imagine doing something similar in a less spammy way by retargeting users who'd viewed the video with display ads across the web that drove home a similar message.  Would it potentially cross the 'creepiness' threshold.  Absolutely, but then again that's the point with a campaign like this.

Two Compelling PSAs - OCD & Alzheimers

Here are a couple of recent PSA's that have really impressed me.  No, I'm not talking about KONY.

The first PSA is from the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation.  Developed by McCann Digital Israel, it compels you to repeatedly watch the video to get the message.  It's a nice way to demonstrate what people afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder must go through on a day to day basis to complete even simple tasks.


The second PSA is from The Alzheimer Society of British Columbia.  Created by Rethink Canada in support of Brain Awareness Week (who knew such a thing even existed).  In this beautiful spot, we're taken through a lifetime of memories seen through the lens of neural imaging.  The spot urges the audience to protect memories and support Alzheimer's research.  Watch it below, and then watch it again. Seriously.


Supporting Articles:  AdFreak | AgencySpy