2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Our goal was to shed light on the reality of kids’ lives today.To provoke parents and get them to get their kids off couches and beds, we showed them the reality of their kids’ lives in an unconventional way. To wake parents up to the fact that kids today are ‘the least active kids ever’ and spend on average 23 hours a day inactive, we created a very, very long, dull ad; i.e.the longest live stream in Facebook’s history - a 23-hour video showing a kid doing absolutely nothing, apart from sleeping, playing video games, checking in on social, watching Netflix and hover-boarding his way around. The video was long and boring for good reason, as it was a live, visual representation of kids’ lives today. Its one purpose was to depict exactly what kids spend their day doing. No exaggeration, just a literal translation based on global research.

Creative Execution

Along with the 23-hour live stream on Facebook and other social media channels (YouTube, Vimeo and Twitter via Periscope), we also made a 7-hour video about screen time. And a 4-hour one about TV time. With parents debating the inactivity of #KidsToday, we switched from provoking them, to helping them. We teamed up with child psychologists who responded online in real time, explaining the importance of active play. We launched shorter films where kids reminded their parents that if they aren’t encouraged to get off the couch, more of them will end up depressed, obese, or with learning difficulties. Webisodes were created with medical professionals to help parents overcome key challenges. And ambient messaging in playgrounds drove parents online to know more about the campaign. Finally, we turned eBay into an advertising channel by giving away kids’ swings and slides for free, to help encourage more outdoor play.

Parents spent an average of 5 minutes 9 seconds watching the ad vs the global average of 24 seconds; which makes it one of the most viewed live streams on YouTube and Facebook to date. 1.3 billion seconds in just 23 hours. But more importantly, the ads highlighted the inactive lifestyles of #KidsToday which ignited a fierce debate online, received 5.94 million interactions in just 23 hours, with 3.4 million hashtag mentions (#KidsToday), 3.3 million Twitter mentions, 1.97 million Facebook mentions and 40,000 comments on YouTube. The campaign was the most successful digital and social campaign in OMO’s history. Even leading TV channels programmed content to focus on kids' activity. By the end of the campaign, 82% of parents voted to get their kids outside more often. Now that’s good news for both kids, and washing powder brands. OMO sales increased by 98.3% vs. the same period last year.

Research shows that kids spend less than 1-hour a day engaged in physical activity, which means for 23-hours they are idle and inactive. To provoke parents, we quantified the amount of time kids spend idle or with gadgets, and brought it to life through a connected content campaign across channels, that included: (1) 23-hour livestreams on social media, (2) an online film, (3) branded content webisodes, (4) PR, (5) social media engagement between child psychologists and (1) parents, (6) ambient messaging in playgrounds, (7) an eBay partnership, and (8) influenced TV content programming.

Global research shows that kids spend less than 1-hour a day engaged in physical activity, which means 23 hours idle and inactive. They also spend an average of 7 hours in front of screens and 4 hours watching TV. Parents are aware that this generation is born into technology, but aren’t aware of the time their kids spend with gadgets, and often try to distract them by giving them screens as a bribe. So, to provoke them and give them a reality check, we decided to quantify the amount of time kids spend idle or with gadgets.We knew that if we showed them the reality as is, they would listen, even if the truth made them angry. After provoking them, we wanted to switch tactics and help them, by explaining the benefits of active and outdoor play and giving tips on how to limit gadget time, and increase play time.