Environmental communicators — take note of this very simple and effective advertisement from the “One Laptop per Child” people. I think it reveals how you could hit every item on the Water Words method checklist and still produce something inspired and original. Here’s the score:
- Step One: Begin With Behavior. Check! Give a laptop, get a laptop. It’s a request for a donation.
- Step Two: Foolproof photos. Check! Big eyes staring right atcha. And note how much white space there is — there’s nothing in the ad to compete with that face for your attention.
- Step Three: Swap the Shop Talk. Check! No computer or international development jargon to be found.
- Step Four: Insert the Words That Work. Check! “Change the World” and “Make a Difference” are synonyms.
Nice job.
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Simple and eye-catching. How do you find out more on getting started? Is that a url on the bottom left? I’d like to see that a bit bigger.
Wasn’t that same charity that had a very hip but terribly ineffective commercial a while back?
So…this campaign involves who, exactly? I agree with Krystal, there should be a large box with “Where to get more info” and a VERY simple-to-remember website or toll-free number. If it’s being sponsored by Amazon, they should have a larger logo. This is, after all, a billboard sign in presumably a bus station or subway station, so people will be moving past it pretty quickly.
I have to say, I disagree with the above complaints – I don’t care who’s involved with the campaign. I wanted to know what to do, glanced at the images in corner, saw amazon.com – that’s all I need to know – I’m a cusomer of theirs, know exactly how their site works; I’m confident I’ll be able to look it up there easily.
I knew I’d seen a criticism of the OLPC marketing somewhere: http://www.donorpowerblog.com/donor_power_blog/2009/02/how-deadly-are-stupid-nonprofit-ads.html
Maybe they’ve wisened up about their messaging since the John Lennon ad. That ad also took a lot of flack from his fans.
I’ve actually seen this ad several times as a billboard on the highway and I had NO idea what it was for. I couldn’t see the URL or any company logo from that far of a distance. It works a little better as a Metro station ad because you can actually stop and read the URL at the bottom, but you definitely can’t see it while driving by on the road…