It must have been tempting for the creative team at Canada’s Bleublancrouge ad agency to indulge in word plays and double entendres when it was hired to develop the Literacy Foundation’s 20th anniversary campaign. But self-restraint proved to be the right choice, with the resulting plain-language campaign making it onto the award short-list at the 57th annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
Focusing on words, the very resources that the foundation is working so hard to share with those for whom they remain too scarce, Bleublancrouge decided to target people who understood the importance of reading and writing.
“We realized these individuals would be the same ones to participate and help promote literacy within their own networks. In other words, we needed an idea to reach our core target and give them the means to create momentum because our budget was very, very limited,” the agency explained in its award submission.
“Our insight? Words belong to everyone, but sometimes, it’s only by paying for something that we realize its true worth. The creative solution was simple: we were going to sell words to those who could read and write, and use the funds we’d collect to help those who could not.”
Bleublancrouge launched Mots Dépôt, an online store where more than 10,000 words would be put up for sale at $5 each. The agency also came up with a vending machine to sell words in a high-traffic area and a Facebook promotion during which people could write up their status by purchasing words at a cost of 10¢ per character (with minimum of 30¢ per word).
The creative concept and unique delivery piqued the media’s interest, which enabled the Literacy Foundation to gain valuable publicity via free coverage nationwide. Thus far, more than 7,000 words have been sold and the sale will continue during the summer, right through to the end of the campaign, slated for September 8. That’s when it will invite the public to join media personality and spokesperson Marie-France Bazzo and several well-known artists at an evening cocktail reception to be held at Club Soda in Montreal.
Tickets cost $100 (including a $70 donation to the foundation) and the program calls for wine, tasty bites and a few short performances by local artists.
The Trendz Twist:
If your shopping center already operates a lucrative vending machine program, try to work out a deal with your promotional partner to use the machine as a vehicle to raise funds for your charity of choice. Or better yet, involve several non-profit organizations and let your shoppers make their own donation recipient selections. To encourage participation, hide a few center gift cards or retailer vouchers inside some of the packages to be sold in the vending machines.
Dropping In On Shoppers
