HumanKind ideas in action

Hi there

First, sorry for the delay in this post!

Second, I'm NOT usually writing this blog to 'sell' Leo Burnett/ARC, but this week, I'm doing so unashamedly.

Last week we had our Global Product Committee in town reviewing Q1 2009 global work, and it was fantastic for Leo Burnett Bangkok to host this event.

There was truly some inspiring work, in particular in the integrated area, that I thought was worth sharing.

Our HumanKind approach is all about putting people first - getting beyond just saying what our products do and starting to show what our products/ brands can mean in people's lives. As we say, we're more interested in delivering real purpose through creating acts, not just ads.

For me personally, what defines our new type of HumanKind work, in particular in the digital and integrated area, includes the following key elements:

- Real human insights: These campaigns have looked at what people really feel/think/do/react and have come up with something fresh and relevant.

- User at the centre of the experience: They have all gotten people involved in creating and involved in the experience. Not just speaking at people, but getting customers to participate.

- Relevant brand utility: The campaigns are about providing the brand's purpose as something practical and useful for everyone. This way the brand becomes truly involved in what people want.

- Tools for re-imagination and sharing: The campaign has not stopped at just telling a story, but actively getting people to interpret the story and add to it in the way they want. Across every media, not just online.

- Star-reaching ambition: All of these campaigns are ideas that can be as big as they want to be, can be applied globally, and extended almost indefinitely. Great campaigns are not afraid to be hugely ambitious for the products or brands they represent. They really do want to make our clients famous - in all the right ways.

Here are just a few of my favourites,

1. Earth Hour Campaign - WWF: Last year we took on Sydney, this year we've taken on the world! A campaign to help increase awareness for global warming by turning out the lights. Reached an estimated 1 billion people last 28 March. If you can think of a campaign with bigger ambitions, I'd like to know about it. Here is the site

2. Ephemeral Museum - Pampero Rum: A fantastic way to help unearth the city of Lisbon's culture and make people a part of that experience. See the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooscH571RAA

3. The Shop - Red Cross: A wonderfully simple way of making the intangible more tangible, selling 'hope' in a retail environment in Madrid. Check this great idea here, and we'll see if we can make it happen in Thailand! Stay tuned..

4. First Coke of the Year - Coca Cola: Humanity and optimism, the central themes of this integrated campaign from China. The campaign invites the public to participate, sharing their own personal stories about who they chose to share their first Coke of the year with and give their First Coke of the Year to the person of their choice, both on-line and in-store. Great use of Liu Xiang, especially given his failure during the Olympics. Apparently the site attracted more than 20 million visits. See the TVC here.

Look forward to sharing many more ideas with you, locally and from around the world, throughout the year.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com