BBH China launches mobile push for WWF
Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) China is using a world first mobile application that literally puts the fate of wildlife in your hands. The campaign, featuring a mobile game with a conservation message, uses a groundbreaking technology - the Shijie Lens Technology - developed by social digital nature system (SDNS) company Qdero, and is the first and only mobile application where the real world and virtual world meet in real time.Central to the mobile game is a virtual bear that represents wildlife whose survival and natural habitat is constantly threatened. The bear struggles to adapt to an unfamiliar habitat - the surroundings of your office, home, or city seen through the eyes of your camera phone.
Once the application is downloaded from the WWF China homepage and the
game selected, point your camera phone anywhere and you will see the
virtual bear - that bumps into walls, trips down stairs, and runs away
from moving cars.
The technology simply tracks the real environment the bear is in and
translates this into a three-dimensional computer model that allows
the bear to calculate its position on the phone screen. The campaign was conceived to engage China's urban youth with WWF
China's campaign to raise awareness about bio-diversity protection,
calling on people to pay attention to the loss of wildlife habitat and
support the preservation of threatened eco-systems.
The mobile game ends with the message 'Wildlife's fate is in your hands' - and gives users the opportunity to get involved or spread the campaign immediately.The sign up button links you to the WWF China action webpage and the share button immediately opens your SMS address book, for easy viral sharing.
"The challenge was to get into the world of Chinese youth and engage them with the WWF cause in a fun, interactive and even infectious way. Given that fifty percent of youth in China play mobile games, our partnership with Qdero's new technology was an ideal route ,'' says Christine Ng, Managing Director, BBH China.
The game translates bio-diversity conservation into a simple visual language that is particularly appealing to the youth, whose support is increasingly vital to our conservation efforts" says Jing Hui, WWF China's Director of Communications.
The technology simply tracks the real environment the bear is in and
translates this into a three-dimensional computer model that allows
the bear to calculate its position on the phone screen. The campaign was conceived to engage China's urban youth with WWF
China's campaign to raise awareness about bio-diversity protection,
calling on people to pay attention to the loss of wildlife habitat and
support the preservation of threatened eco-systems. The mobile game ends with the message 'Wildlife's fate is in your hands' - and gives users the opportunity to get involved or spread the campaign immediately.The sign up button links you to the WWF China action webpage and the share button immediately opens your SMS address book, for easy viral sharing.
"The challenge was to get into the world of Chinese youth and engage them with the WWF cause in a fun, interactive and even infectious way. Given that fifty percent of youth in China play mobile games, our partnership with Qdero's new technology was an ideal route ,'' says Christine Ng, Managing Director, BBH China.
The game translates bio-diversity conservation into a simple visual language that is particularly appealing to the youth, whose support is increasingly vital to our conservation efforts" says Jing Hui, WWF China's Director of Communications.
Turning such a serious matter into a game trivialises it. Im sure some kids would take great delight in watching the antics of the bear as it trips and falls and bumps into stuff, which would make them of course want to play it again and again. So the plight of the bear turns into entertainment.
Theyve missed the mark by a bit but Im sure someone from there will arrive shortly to say dont take it all so seriously its only advertising.
Agree with 1:37. This feels wrong in a few different ways. The take-away isn't empathy for the animal as much as 'let's see if I can roll the goofy bear more times than you did.'
The best way to get a message as serious as conservation across is to make it accessible - and anyone who has a clue about advertising and communications can see that. Who cares if a little teddy bear is carrying the message. If kids in China need to learn about the environement, then let them play! Well done BBH China!
There's copy right after, it's in Chinese. It translates to:
In real life, it's no laughing matter.
30,000 hectares of forest disappear every minute.
Wildlife's fate is in your hands.
The sign up button links directly to the WWF sign up webpage so you can learn more about biodiversity, and how you can help.
The share button immediately opens a pre-written SMS that you can conveniently text to everyone in your address book. You can also raise awareness through other digital means.
The mobile app turns your phone into a tool to to create real change.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODY0MjU2NTI=.html
Clarification: The Shi Jie Lens technology is jointly developed by BBH China and Qdero.
When the idea came, everyone said it can't be done. So we developed the software together with digital lab Qdero, and that's how Shi Jie Lens technology and the WWF mobile app were brought to life.
Hi Carol, good point, I am sure the creative director put that line there to guard against the fun factor but I am not so sure that kids follow communication that rationally. Still, all the best to the bears.
Josie McKerrow, you sound very BBH (patronising)... is it because you're now in third world Asia?