Fun is a serious factor in successful social media campaign
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Ace in Wonderland
The theme for the 31st Annual ACE (Advertising Club of Edmonton) Awards was “ACE in Wonderland”. There were several unique ways that members were encouraged and reminded of entry and ticket deadlines. Each only hinted at the theme at first, from short online videos of well-known members peering ‘down the rabbit hole’ in the most unlikely of places, to this series of apothecary bottles that invited the audience to “Drink Me”. As the months progressed the theme became more and more obvious and the metaphors related back to the creative industry.
The text on the back side of each label was legible through the blue liquid and pushed the reader to the website for additional information. Bottles were hand delivered to Ad Club members on the first Monday of the call for entries.
Holiday Fire Safety Campaign
Residential fires spike over the holiday season. Candles, unattended cooking and poorly maintained smoke alarms – it all adds up to a dangerous mix. As part of a larger campaign, we partnered with Christmas tree lots to hang fire safety-themed decorations on trees throughout the lot. The decorations made people aware that ‘Holiday Season is Fire Season’, and gave them a free 9V batter to refresh their smoke alarms.
We also sent a traditional group of carolers into communities and malls around Edmonton and instead of singing the expected carols, we re-wrote a number of classics to reflect fire safety messaging. The carolers then presented surprised listeners with a postcard outlining simple holiday fire safety tips.
Changing attitudes by confronting sensitive topics head-on
To effectively change attitudes and raise awareness surrounding sensitive public issues, a direct, no nonsense approach is needed to cut through and affect hard-to-reach audiences in order to produce real, measureable results.
The need to change behaviours facing child support in Alberta requires an even more direct approach. The Maintenance Enforcement Program team at Alberta Justice was fully onside when RED came to the table with a campaign that works hard at putting an end to the lame excuses of delinquent and late payers. The public awareness campaign seen below launched in March.
Christmas as a brand – sorely in need of refreshing?
A tongue-in-cheek brand book, X to the Mass, was the droll but dead-ringer result of the thinking at Edmonton’s RED Communications ad agency after they hit on the concept of rebranding Christmas and all its trappings. Targeting the MySpace Generation of youth 13-18, the pretend brand book has a proper logo, revised corporate colours and even updates for holiday attire.
The RED team also gave the heave-ho to three leading elements of Christmas celebrations – turkey dinner, greeting cards and lawn displays. In their place – at least virtually on RED’s site – are a branded packaged meal served in front of webcams, text messaging and large logos. Having concocted all that, the agency elves went the obligatory final step these days by posting a spot on MySpace.
Filed under: IDEAS,Self Promotion