promax

alex blomeley

ravensbourne college of design and communicationdesign for moving image level 2

Alzheimer’s Society

conceptThe Alzheimer’s Society are looking for a new way to connect to their demographic through the means of viral and print adver tising with a shiny new concept.

My f irst reaction to the brief was that the core demographic they are targeting (40 - 60) is not necessarily the right way to be headed. It is my opinion that because dementia in any form can affect 1 in 3 of us. The people being targeted are already in contact with the condition, if they are not already giving to the charity a new campaign is going to struggle to persuade them. So what I am doing with my concept is not ignoring the demographic but including ages down to early teens to really get people thinking about the seriousness and tragic outcome dementia has.

So what I am proposing is the application of an already existing product to the charity, which intern, opens doors for corporate sponsorship. The product I want to associate with the Alzheimer’s Society is the humble Post-it. This is how.

conceptPost-itThe Post-it brand is par t of 3M and has only been around for 29 years! It came about with the development of a low tack reusable pressure sensitive adhesive by Dr. Spencer Silver in 1968. Eventually this low tack adhesive found a home attaching Ar t Fry’s (colleague a 3M) bookmark in his hymn book. Launched in 1977 it struggled to reach markets and only after free trials did it make a global success in 1980.

Since then the Post-it brand’s canary yellow bits of paper are synonymous with memory. Seen every where from television, ar t galleries, f ilm, the off ice, viral videos and at home it has become an everyday par t of life for everybody. This is why it works for the huge demographic I am aiming for because people already have a grounded connection with the Post-It brand. What I want to do is create a new meaning to the Post-it by associating it with the Alzheimer’s charity.

Being such a simple solution is lends itself easily to many different forms of visual communication. What I am going to show you in this presentation is how successfully and simply the Post-it works, and that when the connection is made with people the Post-it will be one of the largest and simplest pieces of viral marketing ever.

web/viral

Post-it

Donate here For the Internet I am proposing 2 different applications of the Post-it concept. First would be to replace the existing ‘Donate Here’ section of the Alzheimer’s website with a Post-it version. Its only a small cosmetic addition to the website but I feel anything more wouldn’t work with the clean smart design principals already in place and with the second addition I am proposing more Post-it’s would oversaturate the web presence with the concept.

web/viralThe second application of the Post-it for the website is on a much grander scale and is my favourite aspect of the campaign. What I want to create is a new community, a new way of expressing experiences, feelings and attitudes towards dementia online.

How this would be achieved is by creating a web environment where people add their own Post-it’s to an ever growing space. The content on the Post-it’s is entirely user generated and can be either text based up to about 35 words, digitally drawn or a combination of both. Because its a simple process it works perfectly in virally as well. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter could all have an application which allows users to generate one of these digital Post-it’s which would then be placed straight into the webspace. This expands the demographic greatly, generates hype and also adds to the association of the Alzheimer’s Society with the Post-it.

The wonderful thing about this is that it emphasizes the human factor so much. Real people with real facts and stories about their lives living with or around demetia. Just having the name, age and location of the people makes it tangible and real. When developed the site will achieve an understanding of dementia that constantly relays the message that is can effect everyone no matter what age or what par t of the country or world they’re from.

For demo on how the web page would work see video web.mov on suppor t CD

tubeIn the underground there are some great adver tising oppor tunities. The ones I will be focusing on are the video cases running down the escalators, the big sheet posters seen on the platforms and the new projection system seen in some of the stations. The large sheet poster will be the same as the one’s described in the 48 sheet section later.

The video cases present a unique way to represent information with the audience being able to see sequential videos with different content on. The way I would like to exploit this concept is to work with the progressive nature of dementia. As the audience travels down the escalator they will be taken on a journey. All the screens will have similar content on one Post-it used in everyday environments with the camera slowly tracking in. The Post-it at the beginning of the escalator will have innocent everyday reminders like get milk, feed the cat etc. This is to conf irm the relationship people already have with Post-it’s. So as they travel fur ther down the escalator the Post-It’s progress until the last few where the Post-it is on a more poignant dementia topic (example used is a Post-it on a photo frame of a wedding with ‘My daughter Jenny’ written on it). This concept can be combined into a single longer video for the projection screens.

For demo on how the video case ad’s would work see video’s tube card 1, 2, 3 and tube comp.mov on suppor t CD

tube

Everybody needs a little help to remember sometimes.

Our memories are important to who we are

and 1 in 3 of us are loosing them everyday

alzheimers.org.uk

The video cases are only in some of the underground stations around London. The rest are made up of the similar sized printed cards. This is a very simple to adapt to print, using the same method of progression with the text slate inser ted after each Post-it picture.

busThe bus sides will follow the same strategy as the video cases in the underground. Using the sheer number of buses the progressive Post-It campaign will f it nicely.

What really works in these campaigns is the instant association people have with the Post-it’s. Especially if you had seasonal one’s too e.g. remembering suncream for summer and to take a scalf for winter. This campaign is all about building a relationship from the ground up into an association and an emotive understanding of dementia they never knew they had.

alzheimers.org.uk

alzheimers.org.uk

physicalPhysical brand presence is an impor tant factor in any brand nowadays. People like to have something to touch hold and interact with. There are many ways this could be done with something as adaptable as the Post-it. I have four prominent ideas though.

The f irst idea is using another of the Post-it’s proper ties, that of it also being a pretty good f lick book! This idea works wonderfully with the brand and with the progressive nature of dementia. What I want to do is as people f lick through the Post-it’s you see the deterioration of the brain of someone who has Alzheimer’s. Star ting with a healthy brain and f inishing on the last Post-it with the deteriorated brain. The idea works strongly with the Post-it’s because as people are tearing away the Post-It’s to help them remember and the pack diminishes and the brain on the notes also diminish.

For demo on how the Flick Book would work see video f licker book.mov on the suppor t CD

The second idea is one stipulated in the brief to have something like the ribbons and bands associated with other charities. For this it just needs to be a small representation of the Post-it concept with the brand logo. What we have here is a small badge, admittedly a conventional approach but one that works is practice and perfectly with the Post-it shape. The colours make it vibrant and the shape makes it instantly recognizable. I have used the stacked logo for this because the main logo doesn’t f it well into the shape.

This is also a good point to recognise the addition of a new colour to the Alzheimer’s Society’s brand, the Post-it’s canary yellow. This is a crucial element to this concept and one that cannot be altered because the canary yellow is synonymous with the Post-it brand. As such this colour has a familiar relationship with the public.

The only place where I have used this colour in conjunction with the logo is on the badge seen here. The colour works well with the colours in the brand and is a key par t to the working relationship proposed with the Post-it brand which will be discussed in the conclusion.

physical

The third idea is a little more out there. An installation, a 20 foot Post-it f lying from someone’s house reminding them where they live. This concept can be carried into other aspects of life like your car, job and families house. Then the installations could be photographed and blown up huge for billboards and other campaigns.

The four th physical brand presence would be the last installment of the Post-it concept and its a simple one. Take every story and picture off the Post-it web page and stick them in a book. A book detailing small insights into the lives of people effected by dementia. Then put it up for sale in charity shops and bookstores for a nominal price. All proceeds going to the charity of course!

physical

48 sheetThe large print posters to go on billboards will be the f inal stage of the campaign. The idea for the posters is that they are the culmination of the progression running throughout the campaign. They will take on 2 forms.

The f irst is the use of the progressive Post-it’s as seen in the underground and bus campaigns. What will be seen in the poster can be number of things but the main two I would like to focus on are f irstly a poster depicting a room full of Post-it’s. Every space imaginable is taken up by a Post-it with something written on. The focus of the picture will be the elderly person sat in the middle of the room shoulders held high with a strong look about them. This plays with the progression of dementia and done properly, with the backing of the rest of the campaign will be a striking and powerful image cementing the association of the Alzheimer’s Society with Post-it.

The second poster will be of a elderly couple. Extreme close up with a Post-it on one of their heads stating who they are or attaching some lost memory that only the couple shared.

The second set of posters are the culmination of all the Post-it’s submitted by people on the Post-it page on the web site. Hundreds of stories and names blown up huge for everyone to see will bring the human factor closer than ever to people who are unaware or unsuppor tive of the cause.

What I have tried to do through this document and associated media is to really put forward to you a simple idea that works. It has a solid mark and deals with dementia on a humane level. Its an honest way of communicating serious messages to the public with a format they are already familiar with which makes the information so much easier to understand and believe in.

This whole concept works because Post-it notes are a common thing is society that people work with everyday. The idea would work without the corporate sponsorship from 3M’s Post-it brand but would benef it so much if this working relationship could be made. Charity sponsorship boosts recognition for the sponsor and can bring in good money and suppor t for the charity.

The biggest idea’s and the two that should be taken away from this pitch is f irstly the fact that through the website and carrying it through the later print campaigns the content and emotional factual grounding is generated by people with or affected by Dementia. Secondly the association of the Alzheimer’s Society with the Post-it. If chosen, every time someone used or saw a Post-it they would be reminded of the campaign and the cause. Just think how many Post-it’s there are out there!

conclusion

processMy working process’s are simple. Generally when sat in a brief I have an emotional response to what I am hearing then I get a visual. The Post-it was the f irst idea I had. I generally don’t keep a sketchbook or journal beings as my drawing ability is minimal and I tend not to write thoughts down, I just ponder then experiment in making them real. This process works for me but through my last year at Ravensbourne I intend to keep a journal for my disser tation. What I did do for this project from the very star t (on the train to Norwich) was write down new thoughts and idea’s on a ‘stickie’ on my laptop (I thought it was the right thing to be doing considering the campaign)!

This project has meant alot to me because its for a valid and honest cause. I struggle with my direction sometimes just because I don’t want to be involved in making content selling commodities in an already oversaturated market. This is why this project has meant so much to me and I feel I have put everything into it. So thankyou for the oppor tunity to contribute to something so worthwhile. It’s a fantastic por tfolio piece which I am proud to have.

Thankyou