Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
For once this is a REAL digital out of home ‘world first’ as Ocean Outdoor, Women’s Aid and WCRS collaborate an an interactive campaign where the attention of people looking at the digital billboard triggers an immediate change in the actual creative!
If this sounds familiar to you it is because domestic violence charity Women’s Aid received the Interactive Category First Prize for this idea at Ocean Outdoor’s Art of Outdoor Digital Competition held October 9, 2014.
The campaign is cleverly timed to coincide with International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8th and premieres on Thursday, March 5th at Ocean’s full motion Canary Wharf screen in London and then rolls out to the Birmingham Bullring and Westfield London on March 7th and 8th.
The creative, by the leading London advertising agency WCRS, raises awareness of the how domestic violence charity Women’s Aid saves lives and the initiative is supported on Channel 4 with a specially introduced 30 second prime time TV spot designed to amplify the message during the centre break of brand new drama Indian Summers on Sunday, March 8th. The spot, which is voiced by Women’s Aid Patron Julie Walters, is repeated at 7.20pm the following day in Channel 4 News’ ad break.
WCRS worked with famed photographer Rankin, a long-time supporter of Women’s Aid, Ocean and posthouse Smoke and Mirrors to create the interactive billboard which shows the image of a bruised woman with the simple imperative, ‘Look at me’.
The creative employs a unique use of Quividi’s facial recognition technology which allows the interactive billboards to recognise when people actively pay attention to an image of a bruised woman. Those who look at the billboard get feedback via a live video feed that runs along the bottom of the ad as a visual ticker-tape, registering an increasing number of viewers.
As more people take notice of the image of the women, her bruises slowly heal, demonstrating to passers-by that by actually taking notice they can help confront the signs of domestic violence by not turning a blind eye.
Ocean CEO Tim Bleakley told us “This is powerful stuff. The link between our premium screens as a live and changing canvas to publicly address an issue that often goes unreported demonstrates the dynamic capability of digital out of home to amplify an incredibly important issue. The TV spots on Channel 4 will promote the importance of the message and the work of Women’s Aid.”
Ross Neil, creative director at WCRS, said: “We are proud to be the first agency to demonstrate cause and effect to audiences by using facial recognition technology in this large-scale billboard format. The simplicity of the advert’s wording and image implicates passers-by in their inactivity before the advanced technology demonstrates how they personally can make a change in the fight against domestic violence by engaging with it.”
Charity ambassadors at Canary Wharf, Eat Street, Westfield London and Birmingham New Street will provide on the spot information and drive social media interaction using SMS and Tweets to encourage people to make a charity donation. Charity ambassadors at Canary Wharf, Eat Street, Westfield London and Birmingham New Street will provide on the spot information and drive social media interaction using SMS and Tweets to encourage people to make a charity donation.
In awarding the WCRS/Women’s Aid campaign the Interactive Award in Ocean’s annual Art of Outdoor competition 2014, the judging panel said: “This campaign figures out how many people are looking at the screen – and the longer you look at it the more it changes. This has not been done before. So, paying attention has a positive effect. It’s very clever.”
Full credits:
Client: Women’s Aid
Agency: WCRS
Creative Director: Ross Neil
Creative Technology: Dino Burbidge
Creatives: Mike Whiteside and Ben Robinson
Agency Producer: Sam Child
Account Handling: Torie Wilkinson and Katherine Morris
Planning: Stuart Williams
Photography: Rankin
Media: Ocean, Channel 4
Posthouse: Smoke & Mirrors
Follow DailyDOOH