M&C SAATCHI/MARK THROWS US A BONE
THROW US A BONE, the innovative Sydney Dogs and Cats Home fundraising campaign from M&CSaatchi/Mark Sydney, represents the first time in Australia that people can have a two-way interaction with a live outdoor ad, with your phone.
Launching Wednesday 1st October on a massive 7m x 7m outdoor cinema screen in the Customs House forecourt at Circular Quay, the quirky and playful THROW US A BONE campaign has been designed and animated by Sixty40.
This ground breaking campaign creates a fresh twist on the traditional charity calling card. Instead it rewards generous donors with a gift of hilarious branded content.
As well, by taking the initiative to create its own content, the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home now have the freedom to continue to raise funds with the THROW US A BONE campaign on and off-line. This event will also be supported by a PR push as well as an outdoor, print, direct marketing and online advertising campaign and on social networking sites.
Sixty40 have created an action-addicted character, Frankie the Wonder Dog, who when let loose on his big screen at Customs House, will playfully bark, yelp and more, for people to throw him a bone. Passers-by simply text their name to a campaign number, to throw a virtual bone onto the screen for Frankie. As he grabs the bone, the donor’s name will appear and Frankie will break out into one of his amazing stunts.
The donor will then receive an animated wallpaper of Frankie’s trick on their mobile phone, and $5 will be deducted from their phone account, proceeds from which go to the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home.
“For this idea to work we needed to create a lovable mutt that would stop people in their tracks because they wanted to interact with it. Working with Sixty40 we not only got the content we wanted, they far surpassed anything we were expecting. Basically they stopped us in our tracks,” says Gavin McLeod, Creative Director M&CSaatchi/Mark, Sydney.
Casually juggling chainsaws, break dancing or getting riff-tastic with his air guitar are some of the eight different eye-popping stunts Frankie the Wonder Dog has up his sleeve.
Client: The Sydney Dogs and Cats Home
Title: THROW US A BONE
Run Date: Wed 1st – Fri 3rd October 2008
Screening: Forecourt Customs House, Circular Quay
Advertising Campaign: Outdoor, Print, Online, Ambient, PR, Social Networking Sites
Online (from Wednesday, October 1): www.sydneydogsandcatshome.org/blog
Production Company: Sixty40
Design Director: Mark Simpson
Animation Director: Matthew Taylor
Producer: Cheryl Warbrook
Agency: M&CSaatchi/Mark, Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Ben Welsh
Creative Director: Gavin McLeod
Head of Copy: Hamish Stewart
Copywriter: Genevieve Hoey
Art Director: Hannes Ciatti
Account Management: Kirsty Smith, Megan Wooding,
Fiona Reay, Lee Bachar-Adler
Technical Director: Aaron Wallis
Production: Grant Glover
All creative, advertising, technical and venue partners in the project have contributed their time and resources free of charge. These include: M&C Saatchi/Mark (concept, campaign management and execution), Sixty40 (cutting edge animations), Moxi Music (sound design), Inspire Screens (outdoor screen and technical support), Tigerspike (SMS delivery), Access PR (consumer PR), JCDecaux (outdoor signage), McMillan (print production),Optus (screen sponsor), Hire Intelligence (technical support) and Customs House / City of Sydney (venue hire and PR support).
18 Comments
Congrats guys! Can’t wait to see it.
I am not going to judge the creative. I just hope it works. It’s a good cause.
Can my dog use his dog-pod phone or does it need a special frequency installed?
Easy there 11:38. I too have thrown my fair share of sticks and stones at the infamous radio ad, but this actually seems to have a genuine idea and benefit to the ‘interactor’ behind it. I think M&C have been hit on the nose with the rolled up newspaper enough, don’t you?
Well done HamBone! P.
tried the sms – got a link to a URL for a ‘screensaver’
first reaction was – i couldn’t be bothered
the interaction is a bit stilted IMO
woof!
Hey 12.22 upon closer examination of the media release, it seems the campaign isn’t live until next Wednesday 1 October. That might explain the ‘stilted’ interaction of your SMS – it hasn’t started yet. But good on you for throwing the first bone, the Dogs Home is a great charity to support.
Go the doggies!
Sorry, but what is so good about this?
People walk past a digital board and see a dog. They text and the dog does a trick and their name appears? Then they get a wallpaper?? Ooooooh.
Anybody who is excited enough to participate would’ve donated anyway.
This isn’t an exciting use of outdoor digital media. Wallpaper to your phone and seeing your name up big is not exciting.
If the dog followed your phone via GPS, now that might be cool. Or if there was some Wii technology when throwing a stick, then great. But this didn’t give me a bone I’m afraid.
Hope it works though, for the sake of the widdle fluffy animals.
Big call, Mark (6.45pm): “Anybody who is excited enough to participate would’ve donated anyway”. That’s the whole point. They’re NOT donating. SDCH is absolutely STRAPPED for cash. Go to 77 Edward Street, Carlton and have a look at the place! This way the punters don’t need to part with the cash or pull out the credit card or respond to a mailing …. Way to go, M&C Saatchi/Mark et all! And, no, I’m not an ad exec of any description. My three dogs came from SDCH. I hope this post is still active when the final figures come in. Being a journo, I will happily investigate the $$$ angle and compare the donations this promo attracts with earlier stats.
Subservient Chicken
Perhaps he can deliver pizza whilst he’s up there!!!!
Nice one fells – love the look of the animation.
MJ
7.49 – sorry, it’s et al, not et all… anyway.
Good on finding dogs a home when half the indigenous population are absolutely struggling and there is still homeless people on the streets around the corner from this installation. Not going to criticise this fact because that is a part of the society we live in and can not change, sometimes animals are treated better than human beings, i understand that. Kind of.
But what I do wish to say is…. couldn’t there be a far simpler way to do this? Find the truth, hit people over the head with it, and make them think ‘shit…. yes…. i should donate.’
I admire the ‘technological firsts’ *cough* for this campaign, but in reality, a simple, very simple flyer could have won more awards wise and done more for the dogs (and cats… hate to be in the dog & cat home, reow!).
And been, dare I say, more cost effective.
Hey Paul. Apparently you did a good gig in Sydney recently:-)
You should get someone dressed as a dog at the QVB ‘Talking Dog’ fountain to direct all the traffic back to this site:-) It’s far more exciting and a shame it cannot run longer to become an interactive icon on the Quay. Like it!
Sensitive bunch at M&C aren’t they.
This is obviously a ‘let’s bloody show them’ reaction to the flak M&C copped (and quite rightly so) for their radio ad for this same client.
I can’t believe they threw all all this time and effort into this campaign just because some bloggers posted negative comments about their radio spot.
If the press release is correct in saying that “all advertising, technical and venue partners in the project have contributed their time and resources free of charge”
then they now have quite a few people/companies they owe favours to. Favours which, Sydney being Sydney, probably won’t be repaid.
I wonder how Optus feels about M&C giving all this time and energy to a charity client. Time and energy that could have been put into helping Optus – a client that I assume pays M&C a retainer.
Interactive stuff for optus kicks ass – check this out:
http://www.optuscirque.com.au/
and the other stuff isn’t bad, compared to telstra, 3 and allphones. it has a formula but that’s optus branding. i hate it when people bag optus out then go and drop a turd like st.george into the lives of decent human beings. the optus stuff, objectively, really isn’t that bad.
Paul (2.54am)
People in glass houses …. “Good on finding dogs a home when half the indigenous population IS absolutely struggling and there ARE still homeless people on the streets around the corner from this installation. Not going to criticise this fact because that is a part of the society we live in and CANNOT change. SOMETIMES animals are treated better than human beings, I understand that. Kind of.
FYI, we know the SDCH has relied year after year on ‘simple flyers’. Got them bugga all.
We could all go on ad nauseum about all the different worthy causes … this is just one of them and one that has been handled well by a new approach to advertising and fundraising.
🙂
Greets! Really funny. keep working! Tnx! Saw!