Winning an award is a testament of the blood, sweat and creative juices put towards a particular campaign or project. Sometimes, these campaigns are share-worthy too, as a source of inspiration. Here are my top three digital winners for the D&AD awards in no particular order:
I Touch Myself Project
Chrissy Amphlett, lead singer of the Divinyls, lost her battle with breast cancer but before she died, Amphlett wanted her song ‘I Touch Myself’ to encourage women around the world to detect the disease at an early stage. #itouchmyselfproject was then remade as an anthem for breast cancer awareness, and supported with a microsite giving users simple instructions on how to check for breast cancer. I think this is brilliant because of the genuine collaboration of artists and cause as well as a $0 media budget—a rare example of a life-saving viral campaign with a lot of celebrity endorsements.
James Patterson’s Self-Destructing Book
Over the course of five days, 1,000 lucky fans had 24 hours to read an advance digital copy of Private Vegas until the books self-destructed in a spectacular fashion. This gave readers the additional thrill of the time-bound experience of reading the book, and the adrenaline rush needed to finish it on time. It was also a social experience as readers can keep track of where others are within the book to add to the pressure. Other features included were digital graphics like bloodstains or digital erasure as the fans went through the book online. It’s rare that an online campaign actually enhances the product, but as the book was meant to entertain, the online campaign just enhanced the reader’s entertainment value at no extra cost.
#holidayspam Campaign
Three is a mobile phone network in the U.K. which launched their ‘Feel at Home’ campaign, which allowed users to use their existing minutes in a couple of countries. They then launched the #holidayspam campaign which features Three being ‘sorry’ for causing all the pictures of people on holiday since they don’t have to pay for extra charges. This was funny to see in print, digital and outdoor as it featured humorous #holidayspam pictures and ‘educated’ users of the different types of #holidayspam. All this looked fun while doubling their customer base and allowing 1 million users to use their existing plan in selected countries (me included) at no extra cost. This is an example of a creative, entertaining yet highly effective campaign that brings ROI in hard numbers.
From these campaigns, we can be inspired to use ambassadors that already advocate for our cause, enhance the value of a product with an ad and add a bit of humor to emphasize the unique selling point of a brand to resonate better with the target market.
About the author: Jamie Tolentino works as a digital marketer at a global asset management firm. She writes for TNW (The Next Web) and blogs on the Huffington Post UK.
This article was first published in the July-August 2015 issue of adobo magazine.
