Australian Federal Police launches new campaign on YouTube via VML to find missing persons

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printscreen.jpgVML Australia has teamed up with the Australian Federal Police to create a new method for locating missing persons using interactive YouTube pre-rolls.

 

The national campaign, titled ‘5 Seconds To Change a Life’, has been launched in conjunction with Missing Persons Week and will serve YouTube users with geo-targeted pre-rolls containing images of missing persons last seen nearby.

The videos leverage the Youtube ‘skip’ button in a unique and powerful way by prompting users to hit either ‘yes’ (indicating they’ve seen the missing individual), or ‘no’ (prompting the ad to be skipped). If users hit ‘yes’, they’ll be directed to the AFP website to provide more information.

 

36 missing individuals will be featured, and over one million Australians will see the photos.

 

Says David Jackson, VML creative lead: “People want to help but don’t really know how. This campaign gives Youtubers a simple way to assist in a worthy cause without too much effort. We hope it can really make a difference. If even only one person’s found, it will have been worthwhile.”

 

According to Roberta Macdonald, Google head of creative agency engagement, Google couldn’t be happier about their involvement.

Says Macdonald: “Millions of Australians watch YouTube every month, so the chance that even one person might recognise and help find a missing person is high. The Australian Federal Police and digital agency VML are setting an inspiring example of how to use YouTube to bring attention to important societal issues in eye-catching and effective ways.”

 

Says Aden Hepburn, VML: “We’re really proud to be finding new ways to utilise mainstream YouTube functionality to increase awareness and help the AFP with such an important initiative.”

Missing Person week began Sunday 28th July, with the campaign launched today.