D&AD 2019: Creativity for good
We are now living in an age of widening financial inequality and facing a number of global challenges: climate change, food production, overpopulation, the decimation of other species, and cultural gender inequality. The creative industry is stepping up to face these challenges, and it’s uplifting to see the industry celebrate these new ideas.
A Behavioural change initiative: Palau Pledge
Project website: Palau Pledge
Agency: Host/Havas
Guest speakers: Laura Clarke, Jennifer Koskelin Gibbons (co-founders - Palau Legacy Project), Bohdi Lewis (Head of Innovation - Host/Havas)
Palau is one of world’s smallest nations. 160,000 tourists visit Palau annually, outnumbering the native population by eight to one. The islands were simply not equipped to handle the needs of this many people, and, as a result, the pristine coastlines of the islands were increasingly covered in waste, marine lives affected, and the whole ecosystem was in danger. However, tourism makes up to 85% of Palau’s GDP, so what was needed was to find a way to maintain the high number of visitors, but with a tourism that was much more sustainable, and less damaging for the local environment.
A group of volunteers teamed up with Palau’s First Lady to create the Palau Legacy Project. Havas researched the country's target market of tourists, primarily from China, South Korea and Japan. Facing the massive cultural differences, they looked to the most common ground appeals to all humanity: the children's future.
This resulted in the creation of The Palau Pledge. This campaign is far outside the realm of normal advertising, but creates a real connection with every visitor to Palau. It educates the tourists from the minute they fly in the country and land at the airport (with onboard video and OOH), then asks every visitor to sign the pledge which is stamped on the passport, committing to look after the local environment and culture for the children of Palau.
The project is now being extended to invite businesses to make a sustainable pledge and be a part of the eco-network.
Using creativity and design to solve big health challenges - Unicef
Client: Unicef
Guest speakers: Camila Garay (Art Director - Unicef), Tosh Hall (Global Chief Creative Officer - JKR)
Image source: JKR Case Study - Marble
Case Study 1: Marble, Big Data for Every Child
Project website: We Are Marble
A science and art collective that is built on the merging of data and design for social good.
UNICEF refer to data as a maze of information, challenging to navigate. JKR took this analogy on, taking inspiration from children’s marble maze games to name their initiative Marble. Open, ever changing, and colourful, it allows the system to illustrate the journey of data in a simple and approachable way, both statically and when in motion.
The model takes big data such as web search keywords and anonymised mobile records and digests it into information which is easy to understand and can serve the public good (for example investigating how search engine data can contribute to suicide prevention). Findings are used to support the creation of new initiatives (e.g. helpline popups) to contribute to social change.
Case Study 2: Every Half Counts
Many children in India don't get all the vaccines they need because their parents fail to understand the importance of full immunisation. To combat this, JWT India and UNICEF came up with the idea of half toys. They presented half a toy to children in areas with low vaccination rates, bringing a smile to their face and ensuring they’ll pester their parents to get the other half. The second half of the toy was then made available at immunisation awareness events. Unconsciously, these children were standing up for their own health and pushing their parents to a fuller understanding on the importance of vaccinations.
The toys were made of wood, with two halves that lock together when joined. The half toy served as a symbol of incomplete immunisation (as well as a literal incentive to come to the awareness camp). The campaign was supported with on-ground activation like street plays, audio announcements, posters and leaflets.
A simple way to make a powerful difference - The Lion's Share Fund
Project website: The Lion’s Share Fund
Animals are in 20% of all the advertisements we see. Yet, they do not always receive the support they deserve. 60% of wild animal species have been lost since 1970, and a further 1 million species are at risk of extinction in the next 10 years. The Lion's Share Fund is a very simple initiative: give the animal the image rights they deserve. Businesses that sign up to the Lion’s Share fund will promise to give 0.5% of their spending on any advertising campaign featuring animals to UN-backed conservation programmes. If the top 10 advertisers in the world agreed to the scheme, they would raise $47m for leading charities, with the fund targeting $100m a year in donations after three years.
The scheme was launched at the Cannes Lions festival. The video launch video features Sir David Attenborough as Special Ambassador.
Changing brand perception, defending biodiversity - The Black supermarket
Client: Carrefour
Agency: Marcel Worldwide
Guest speakers: Gaetan du Peloux (Creative Director - Marcel Worldwide), Sarah Lemarie (Senior Strategic Planner - Marcel Worldwide)
Image source: D&AD award 2018
Gaetan and Sarah told the audience their behind the scene antidotes of Black Supermarket.
Carrefour wanted to show public their commitment to food quality. While investigating why modern day supermarket fruits and vegs are less tasty, the team discovered that the agricultural seeds market is covered by European legislation, with an official seeds catalogue. It banned at least two million varieties of France-grown seeds, and 97% of seeds are illegal. According to FAO, 90% of the planet’s cultivable varieties have now died out. The result is less tasty fruit and vegetables and decreasing environmental biodiversity.
The creative team saw this as the the perfect opportunity for Carrefour to show their commitment to promoting high-quality food. They came up with a refreshing and daring campaign - to launch a 'Black Supermarket' - a place to sell illegal fruits and vegs, and call for a change of law.
However, having the idea wasn't the challenge, making it happen was.
It took a year to convince the client and to plan the campaign. The team worked with a lawyer closely to ensure that the campaign wouldn’t endanger Carrefour and the agency itself. The farmer 'Resistance' was the toughest to crack. To truly protect the producers, Carrefour signed a 5-year contract with them to commit to buy from them regardless whether the law changed or not.
European Parliament has now approved the unrestricted marketing of farmers’ seeds, organic farmers’ seeds will no longer need to be included in official catalogues. Sales are authorised for organic farmers from January 2021.
'In France if you're a big corporation you're bad', Sarah said, but the Black Supermarket even gained supporters from non-big-corporation-supporters. The campaign led to shifting perceptions about the brand, as well as a new EU-wide law.
Giving Millions a voice at the UN - The People's Seat
Client: UNFCCC
Agencies: Grey London, WPP
Guest speakers: Victoria Gill (Science Correspondent - BBC), Aisling Ryan (Chief Strategy Officer Global Clients - WPP) , Ovais Sarmad (Assistant Secretary - General Deputy Executive Secretary - UNFCCC), Henrik Ridderheim (Creative Director - Grey London) & Jonathan Marlow (Creative Director - Grey London)
The UN wanted to re-establish themselves as the platform for acts of change, and they wanted to engage 16 - 24 year olds with the Climate Change Conference where politicians were poised to make possibly the most important decision in the history of our planet.
The idea was to create a People’s Seat. It's the first seat in UN history not representing a nation, but the people on our planet. For the first time ordinary people could speak directly to the decision makers. Sir David Attenborough invited social media users using #TakeYourSeat to send their thoughts on the subject. This shaped a landmark speech, which he delivered in person at the COP24 conference.
The result:
1.3 Billion people reached wold wide.
19 Million watched the COP24 conference on Facebook & Facebook Live.
A historic climate change agreement was signed.
An increased number of UN staff now engaging with the public via social media platforms.
The process was long and challenging. Aisling said, ‘it felt more like we were lobbyists' (compared to the normal day-to-day role), nonetheless it was worth it. It brought people into a usually closed room, and rather than putting the young adults 'at the kid's table', they gave them ‘the main table'. With Sir David Attenborough’s presence, it shows that activism doesn't have an age, it's for all people.
The People’s Seat address video:
Interview with Sir David Attenborough: