Lights. Camera. Help. is hosting the 1st non-profit film festival July 31-August 2 at the University of Texas at Austin. Founded by David Neff (@DaveIam) and Aaron Bramley (@AaronMSB), the film festival is intended to bring attention to the “films-for-a-cause” genre by showcasing the best PSAs, shorts and feature-length films that nonprofits use to spread the word about their cause.
Out of 140 submissions, the list has been narrowed to 20, and with this line-up, you can understand why I wish I could be in two places at one time. (Bonus: The event is more affordable than most with tickets from $7-$15!)
The “judge’s winner” will receive all the proceeds and donations raised from the event. Kudos to Aaron and David for following their goals and highlighting these moving films. I wish you, all attendees and the non-profit organizations themselves, the very best. Can’t wait to hear how it goes!
flickr credit: evalin
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A real eye opener. It’s about an autistic women, and we can learn from her that there are many ways to communicate.
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As a huge fan of social advertising myself, here is one of my favorites in terms of how its powerful message combines with the video’s images. Titled: Stop the Bullet.
Come back every Thursday to see whose been nominated as the next Blogger Neighbor you need to know
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk01MXx6IfE&hl=en]
]]>Get your smokey on. This is the tagline for a new campaign sponsored by the Ad Council, USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.
It’s also the tagline for the first social marketing campaign highlighted in my campaigns series. I chose this campaign not only because of its relevance and timeliness, but also because of some of the social media promotional components integrated with the campaign.
Meet Smokey Bear: Born in 1944, a time when firefighters were serving in the war effort. Thus, fire prevention became a key wartime issue. In 1944, 22 million acres of land were lost with 9 out of 10 forest fires were accidental. Most of Smokey’s campaigns focused on specific fire-prevention behaviors with the message, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
Smokey Bear’s Make-Over: Today, Smokey Bear wants others to “Get Your Smokey On,” encouraging others to take on Smokey’s characteristics of encouraging others to practice fire safety behavior and to even intervene if necessary.
Background Research: According to the Ad Council, an average of 6.5 million acres of U.S. land was burned by wildfires every year for the past 10 years. Research also shows that many Americans believe lightning starts most wildfires. However, 88% of wildfires nationwide are started by humans. The principle causes are campfires left unattended, trash burning on windy days, careless discarding of smoking materials and BBQ coals and operating equipment without spark arrestors.
Objective: To encourage the target audience to sign the “Get Your Smokey On” Wildfire Pledge,” where signers pledge to “Be smart whenever I go outdoors.” The pledge also outlines 9 points of safety behaviors and beliefs that the reader agrees to follow.
Audience: The primary audience are adults aged 18-35 who are causal campers, hikers and bikers.
Campaign Components
Evaluation: The Smokey Bear campaign has always been evaluated based by the reduction in the number of acres lost annually in fires and based upon the campaigns recognition. Smokey Bear is currently the most recognizable image in the U.S., after Santa Claus.
Creator: Made pro-bono by DraftFCB. In the close future, Smokey will also be featured in PSAs alongside Sleeping Beauty created in partnership with The Disney Company .
Social Marketing Rating: According to the social marketing wiki, this initiative meets the requirements for social marketing. However, on the wiki it is argued that it’s not very good social marketing stating that the online pledge mixes behavior and non-behavior objectives and is too long for readers to actually follow. It’s review goes on.
However, I think it’s a great awareness and promotional campaign. In terms of taking a complicated issue, research and statistics and communicating it, especially online. I think the campaign has two most powerful components: