The “Father of Advertising” David Ogilvy attributes the following quote to his contemporary, Howard Gossage: “ Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest; it is too powerful a tool to be used solely for commercial purposes." We agree with this statement, so we are publishing for you a selection of effective social advertising.
Victims of torture are people just like you and me.
Stop the violence: Don't drink and drive
Premature End: “If you smoke, statistically, your story will end 15% prematurely.”
WWF: This is scary. And this is even worse.
Your skin color shouldn't dictate your future.
Deforestation continues as we turn the page
Hate
Elm Grove Police Department: Radar combined with social advertising. The display displays the speed of the car passing by and the message “46 days in the hospital.” Slogan: the slower the better
Save paper - save the planet
Air pollution kills 60,000 people a year
Sympathy doesn't help. Become a volunteer. Change your life
Take care of birds: Don't throw trash
What do we see when you smoke?
Anti-cruelty. Animal Defense League: This is not football
Bangalore City Traffic Police: Don't talk while driving
Child Soldiers: It's not happening here, but it's happening now
Art director Pius Walker, Amnesty International, Switzerland
Censorship is lying
Don't be distracted while driving
Every 60 seconds a species goes extinct. Every minute counts
Innocence in danger: Where is the pedophile?
Art director: Michael Arguello. Copywriter: Bassam Tariq. Additional photos: Jason Musante
Sexual predators may be hiding in your child's smartphone
Smoking leads to premature aging
You are not a sketch. Say no to anorexia
Neglected children feel invisible. Stop child abuse
Australian Childhood Foundation, JWT Melbourne
Global Action for Animals: Plastic Bags Kill
Keep the sea clean
Not keeping your distance isn't worth it. Skip the truck
Marine Conservation Society (SSCS): When you see tuna, think panda
Sleep is stronger than you. Don't drive while drowsy
See how easy it is to feed the hungry?
Causing cancer on your own
Deforestation and the air we breathe: before it's too late
For the homeless, every day is a struggle
Warning Beer Mug: Please don't lose control of your drinking
One of the children is holding something prohibited in America. Guess what exactly?
This article will talk about how NOT to do social advertising. “Don’t” - from the point of view of logic, common sense, as well as the values promoted in advertising.
In general, we can highlight three main mistakes when creating any social advertising:
1) when advertising contains incorrect, harmful meaning;
2) when the meaning is correct and useful, but the implementation makes it incomprehensible to the majority;
3) poor design (not from a “like/dislike” point of view, but too small a font, low readability of the text, etc.)
This is the most serious ideological mistake that can be made in social advertising. Such mistakes turn it into ANTI-social advertising. Basically, these are information materials promoted by certain companies in order to increase demand for their product and attract public attention to the brand.
One of the most striking examples of such anti-social advertising is one of the videos of a beer company promoting a culture of moderate drinking. “His main idea is that modern people choose moderation. In the video beautiful girls leaving their men who drank too much. And in the finale, one of the heroines admires the visitor who refused an extra bottle,” reads the description of the video.
Under the veil of responsible drinking, the beer brand encourages people to drink. Naturally, in moderation. No one will openly say: “Drink a lot, become an alcoholic!” They will say, “Drink in moderation,” but the main thing is to drink, support the culture of moderate drinking in society, which ruins hundreds of thousands of lives a year in Russia alone (“drunken” murders and suicides, road accidents, abandoned children, broken families, fatal diseases caused by alcohol consumption, etc.) and bringing astronomical losses in the economy (according to official data - 1.7 trillion rubles per year). Contribution binge alcoholics here is small, mainly these are the consequences of moderate alcohol consumption. That's what this video calls us to do.
Every sane person, truly aware of his responsibility to himself, his family and society, makes a choice in favor of conscious sobriety. And any promotion of alcohol consumption is inherently malicious and harmful, and therefore antisocial.
Someone will say that there is actually nothing bad or wrong in this advertisement, because it still calls for protecting your health from contracting HIV infection. But in social advertising you need to be smart about emphasizing different values.
In this poster, we are essentially seeing a substitution of values, aimed at people with the desire to protect their health. That is, instead of talking about morality, love and fidelity, which are the best protection for human health in the sphere of love relationships, we are told: “Check the tires.” That is, we are not even talking about love relationships, but purely about sexual ones, and the concept of love is replaced by the concept of sex.
Compare this ad with the poster pictured to the right. The purpose of the poster seems to be the same - a call to think about protection from HIV, but the meaning turns out to be completely different. If on the first poster we are called to “test the rubber,” then on the second they talk about love and fidelity to a partner. There is a difference?
Let's give another example of anti-social advertising. This time the poster is trying to show us that family is not only when it’s “man + woman”, but also when it’s “man + man”, and regardless of whether they have children or not. And the caption: “love has no labels.” I don’t even know if anything needs to be explained here? Let’s just note that the poster replaces the concept of family, and therefore this advertisement is antisocial.
2. Correct meaning, but poor choice of slogans or images.
This mistake when creating social advertising is also of an ideological nature and lies in the fact that the author of the advertisement wanted to convey the correct and useful meaning, but selected the text and/or images for the information material in such a way that the advertisement is not perceived as intended by the author. This can be expressed in the ambiguity of the text or image, high susceptibility to superficial emotional assessment on the part of people, hanging various labels by highlighting individual words or phrases and other forms of distortion of the transmission and reception of the essence of the information message.
Let's look at examples. The first example is an anti-drug poster containing the phrase “It's easy to get confused when using drugs! Be careful!”, which may be received ambiguously. Namely, it can be interpreted to mean “Be careful not to get confused when using drugs.” It is better to avoid such ambiguity and use phrases that can only be taken in one sense. For example, “Drugs will destroy you. Be careful".
It’s even better if the emphasis is not on drugs and their use, but on sobriety and healthy way life, creating a positive, attractive image of the right values.
Below is an example of another anti-drug advertisement, this time against the use of spice. Again, I believe that the authors of the video wanted to convey the message about the dangers of drug use, but the implementation left much to be desired.
Firstly, the video demonstrates the process of drug use, which also forms a model of behavior in a person’s mind. Secondly, it is shown how a young man consciously makes a choice in favor of a drug, knowing about the consequences of its use (a bad example is demonstrated). Thirdly, it shows not the most correct relationship between the child and the parent. The mother is full of doubts about her son: is he taking drugs? The son deceives his mother over the phone. At the end of the video we are advised to call home phone to check if the child is at home. Well, they called... he, let’s say, also lied to us, because the bad company is already sitting at his house and preparing syringes for use, and how will this help? Here, however, completely different methods of education should have been shown. And as recommendations, give advice not on monitoring whether your child is taking drugs, but on raising children correct settings, aimed at health and safety, including when communicating with peers.
Another example of the awkward implementation of an idea was presented to the world by the creative minds of the traffic police, who are concerned about the widespread problem of the lack of child seats in cars. Apparently, traffic police officers often heard the following argument from drivers as an excuse: “There is no money for a seat.” And then, as they say, things boiled over...
The problem really exists and it requires a solution, since the issue of the safety of transporting children in vehicles is a serious matter. Risking the lives of children is the highest level of irresponsible parental behavior. But still, the idea did not find the most acceptable form of implementation, touching upon the issue of having children in the family in principle. Yes, chairs are needed, but children are also needed: both for the country (from a demographic point of view) and for the family (from the point of view of people’s natural desire to have children). Therefore, it was necessary to find another motivation for drivers to acquire child car seats. You just had to think better and delve into human psychology.
In addition to incidents in conveying the messages of social advertising, there are also peculiarities in the perception of its slogans and images by the population. That is, the authors of social advertising put their own meaning into the poster, and the population sees theirs in it. An example is the poster “Russian means sober,” which is perceived very ambiguously by a significant part of people.
Movement
A new stage in the development of the information environment in last years showed great interest of the Internet community in socially oriented projects. It's on everyone's lips today social media, although a few years ago few people knew what this term meant. As a result, there is a need for new approaches to the development of socially oriented products.
In my article I will touch on the principles of creating effective social advertising. Every marketer knows that the goal of any advertising is to encourage the target audience to perform some action: purchase a product, register on a forum, attract friends and acquaintances to participate in a project. In the same way, social advertising is created with the aim of implementing some action. As a rule, the very concept of “social advertising” implies that this action is aimed at improving life and developing society. Save the environment, help homeless animals, street children, the elderly - this is not a complete list of the most common appeals of social posters and videos. The history of the development of social advertising goes back decades. It is all the more surprising that so far no technology has been created that would allow us to evaluate the quality of created advertising products and predict its effectiveness. Let’s try to analyze from this point of view the principles of constructing the plot of two social videos that are similar at first glance.
In 2010, the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, a campaign by the English city of Sussex, released a beautiful and very touching public service announcement to promote well-being on the roads. The video, shot using Slow Motion technology, reminds the viewer of the responsibility for their lives to those closest to them, encouraging them to see the creative action in fastening their seat belts.
Embrace Life. Always wear your seat belt" (“Embrace Life. Always fasten your seat belts”)
In the video, a dad gets into an imaginary accident in an imaginary car, and his daughter and mom save him, holding him with their own hands, like seat belts. From the point of view of the effectiveness of social advertising, this video is simply ideal! This is evidenced by the number of approvals from viewers - over 15 million positive ratings.
For contrast, let's look at another video shot by Russian authors.
"Buckle up or they'll buckle you up"
The plot of this video is dedicated to those who neglected seat belts.
“Buckle up, or they’ll buckle you up” - these words are heard at the moment when doctors secure plastic bags containing the bodies of those killed in a car accident on stretchers.
Which of the two examples of social advertising given is better is up to you to decide. Let me just say that I specifically looked at hundreds of social videos and graphic illustrations, domestic and foreign. Conclusion: there are very few truly positive, creative creations that motivate people to action; they can be counted on one hand. Based on the analysis of the materials I reviewed, I identified the following principles for creating effective social advertising.
1. In social advertising there should be no obvious demonstration of problems (including the one for which the advertisement was created). Only hints of the problem are allowed (for example, the use of metaphors, “childish” imitation-playing out a problem situation). The problem should appear to the viewer as easily surmountable.
2. The social video must pose a task to the target audience, representing a solution to the identified problem or one of its stages.
4. The viewer should see personal benefit from participating in the process of completing the task. That is, a motive must arise in the viewer’s mind that encourages him to constantly and voluntarily contribute to the achievement of the goal defined in social advertising.
5. Social advertising should form a symbiosis between its goal and the target audience. Advertising shows the viewer how he can fulfill his needs by completing the task. In turn, the viewer, by completing the assigned task, provides a solution to a certain social problem.
6. The video should show what the situation should be, and not what it is now in reality (that is, set some ideal, benchmark, model the process of achieving it, show an algorithm for completing the task).
Interestingly, the social videos shown on Russian TV in the mid-90s: “Dima, wave your hand to mom!”, “We love you,” “I love you,” “Everything will work out for us,” were built precisely on these principles . Many people still remember them today because they took the positive view of social problems described above. Maybe the creators of the videos were influenced by the ideals of the Soviet period in the development of our country? Maybe they were just creative people who intuitively felt how to film social media and what society needed? I do not know this. But I know one thing for sure - they hit the bull's eye. That advertisement was (and is now) received with “Hurray!”
“Dima, wave your hand to mom!”
"We love you"
"I love"
“Everything will work out for us”
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the principles described above can be used not only to create social advertising, but also applied in the commercial promotion of the company’s products. After all, the psychology of a person’s perception of the method of presenting information does not depend on the specific area of its application.
I In what cases is this instruction needed?
1. You have decided to place an order for the development of social advertising.
2. You have been ordered to develop social advertising.
3. You decided to make good social advertising yourself, becoming both the customer and the developer in one person.
II How to proceed?
1. Analyze the problem situation and identify one key problem that can be solved using advertising methods.
2. Formulate the problem you have posed and determine the purpose of the upcoming advertising communication.
3. Determine the key target audiences for future advertising.
4. Set goals for future advertising at three levels of desired changes:
. what do you want to change in the views and knowledge of the target audience;
. what do you want to change in the attitudes and emotions of the target audience;
. what you want to change in the behavior and actions of your target audience.
5. Write a detailed message (internal thought, internal monologue, one to three paragraphs) on behalf of a typical representative of the target audience that you would like to “hear” after effective advertising communication.
6. Based on the message, identify several creative strategy options.
7. Based on the goal, target audience and objectives, determine the main communication channels and communication strategy.
8. In the mode of comparing communication and creative strategies, taking into account the analysis of the problem and the target audience, select several solution options - depending on the future media channels (text, illustration, video storyboard).
9. Test solution options with the target audience, focusing on message clarity, relevance to the target audience, and motivation to act. Consult with specialists. Do not use focus groups - they are intended to determine the range of opinions (can be used at stage No. 1 and to determine stability social stereotype, can be used as an assessment element at stages No. 1 and No. 9 only in conjunction with other methods).
10. Compare the obtained testing data for the purpose of advertising communication. Make a choice of one or two options and make the necessary changes.
11. Prepare promotional materials in accordance with the technical and format requirements of the media channels you have chosen.
12. Record the data of the target audience before the start of the advertising campaign, during it and following the results of the campaign. You may need to make adjustments as the campaign progresses.
13. Compare the changes that are significant to you (point No. 4) before the advertising campaign and based on its results, taking into account the assessment of communication effectiveness (assessment of creativity (item No. 9), assessment of the effectiveness of media channels) and assessment of the final effectiveness of the campaign, make a report.
14. Publish a report on the implemented campaign, indicating all the difficulties and achievements for the next communication - yours or your supporters.
III Possible risks
1. The absence of a clear, achievable, adequate goal of advertising communication - “save the environment”, “let people stop drinking, smoking, littering” guarantees the absence of results.
2. Inflated or abstract expectations of the result - “we want people to think about ...”, “make a choice - drugs or life without them” also guarantees its absence or side effects (see below).
3. Side effects - “advertising should demonstrate the results of violence, accidents, drugs, show the “truth” - but as a result of advertising, a norm is formed - that all this is part of everyday life, this is normal for society. And advertising against violence creates, as a side effect, the model of behavior of the rapist; against drug addiction, it makes drugs the norm, etc. Sometimes side effects can be caused by poor analysis of the situation or lack of testing - as a result, in the process of combating traffic violations, phobias or aggressive patterns of behavior are formed, instead of reducing social diseases, there is an increase in violence against children, etc. It is especially dangerous due to its side effects social advertising addressed “only” to adults, but broadcast to children (i.e. on channels accessible to children) - for example, advertising against alcohol or smoking using images of “using” parents or children, advertising demonstrating violent actions of people towards to each other, etc.
4. Lack of contacts and logos of the organization (usually a non-profit organization, foundation) that takes responsibility for the solution proposed in the advertisement or the problem posed - such “anonymous”, “irresponsible” advertising creates the risk of “obscuring” the topic, perceiving it as part of the information background without any significant changes for the target audience.
IV Successful examples
1. Campaign “An adopted child can become their own” by the Social Information Agency and Dialogue Studio.
2. “It’s So Simple” campaign to promote volunteerism and charity work.
3. Campaign for the employment of people with disabilities by the Perspektiva Foundation and on the same topic the campaign of the Dozhd TV channel “Everyone is different. Everyone is equal."
V Useful links
The first website about social advertising in Russia www.1soc.ru
Information and analytical portal about social advertising www.socreklama.ru
Social advertising media bank www.atprint.ru
Online testing of social advertising www.socresponse.ru
Information resources about advertising www.sostav.ru, www.adme.ru, www.advertology.ru
Personal page of Vladimir Weiner, an expert in the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of social advertising campaigns, director of the Gladway Fund for the Development of Media Projects and Social Programs.