Why has the UN Voices gimmick won so many awards?
On Friday night, Saatchi & Saatchi won yet another award for its UN Voices campaign.
And with each trophy they’ve picked up, I’ve become increasingly baffled.
I remember seeing the ad on a bus stop and being unimpressed. Then I read their press release on the Campaign Brief blog and was even more unimpressed.
But then the work started to be shortlisted for, and winning, awards – including one that I organised.
In case you’re not familiar with the work, the idea was this:
- They put up posters of various, for want of a better word, victims;
- Consumers were then invited (assuming they had an appropriate camera phone) to photograph the poster;
- They were then asked to send that image (assuming they had the right data plan) to a particular number;
- They would then receive a phone call (assuming their bus hadn’t just turned up), and be played a recording of the subject of the poster’s story;
- They would then be asked to go to a web site (assuming they were able to access the Internet from the bus stop they were standing at);
- After reading more, they were then (assuming they had something to say) asked to leave their own comments and thoughts.
The obvious question was rather than the rigmarole of photographing the face, why not just give people a number to dial to hear the story, if that was the mechanism? Or promote the website directly, if that was the action point?
The press release quoted Paul Worboys, Saatchi & Saatchi’s since departed head of digital, as saying: “Technology for technology sake is just not relevant today – however, using innovative technology that extends an idea to make it connect at a deeper level with a consumer, is. And this UN Voices campaign is a great example of this in action.”
But that’s precisely what it was – technology for technology’s sake.
And that’s not to say that this was a bad piece of work. It just didn’t deserve all of the metal it has been accumulating. And this isn’t to criticise Saatchi & Saatchi either. It was genuine work, that ran. It was in no way a scam ad. And the agency has a global history of doing great cause-related work. I cherish my signed copy of the wonderful book Social Work, edited by the network’s Ed Jones, that offers brilliant examples from the agency globally.
In this case, the execution was slightly different and the entry was brilliantly written, and awards juries went for it. So I’ve watched as over the last few months it has picked up several awards, including at Cannes.
It also won best digital campaign at the B&T Awards. At the time I was organising the event. Although I (quite rightly) had no say in the outcome, I set up the judging system, wrote (in consultation with the industry) the criteria and invited most of the jury. So I clearly have to accept that I’m part of the problem.
And as I say, on Friday it won at AIMIA too.
It’s possible to argue that awards don’t matter. But I think they do. They help agencies win new business and attract talent.
Without the performance of that one campaign at the various awards ceremonies, there’s no way that Saatchi & Saatchi, an agency that was having a bad year – with strife between the (now departed) CEO and ECD , losing clients, losing big pitches, losing staff – would have come top of Campaign Brief’s “creative heat” chart, which again has the potential to influence business.
And for the digital industry it matters because to the outside world, when the highest profile work is little more than a gimmick, it sends a message that this is where interactive is at.
But a lot of jurors have clearly disagreed with me. Am I missing something?
Tim Burrowes – Mumbrella
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin
Well I had no idea of the rigmarole that was involved in the outdoor campaign, but when I heard about the site, I visited the URL to see what the award was for… The website is totally inaccessible for visually impaired users, which is ironic since the campaign is about breaking down barriers. Surely a campaign using open, accessible standards that is beautifully executed should be topping the NGO awards? Good one, Tim! -T
User ID not verified.
Yeah, saw it presented at Media09 also. Thought the same thing regarding technology for technology’s sake. I have no idea how successful the project was/is, but question whether it would be more or less successful without the gimmick?
User ID not verified.
Looks like a long process in theory. Sounds pretty involved but hard for me to say as I haven’t been through the steps.
User ID not verified.
Tim,
Saatchi & Saatchi Australia did not come ‘top’ on the Campaign Brief Agency/Billings chart. It was one of several agencies in the ‘Hot Zone’, including our Agency of the Year, Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne.
As to why they are place where they are, it was based on the work they did in 2008, which obviously you did not see, unlike CB, AdNews an B&T. They did a lot more that the UN ‘Voices’ campaign, as I pointed out in the summary of agencies in the same issue:
Saatchi & Saatchi Australia had a massive swag of good work, including TV for Toyota Hilux ‘Cannibals’, Toohey’s White Stag ‘Air Drop’, Tooheys ‘Beer Relay’, Sony Vaio ‘Video Walls’ and Sony ‘Chicken Dan’. Interactive print for UN Voices Project’s Talking press and poster ads with online. Print for National Geographic Channel ‘Hilary’, Lexus LX570 ‘360 degrees’ and ‘Never been before’ campaigns, Sony ‘Musical Note’, ‘Underground’ and ‘Tuning Fork’, Sony ‘Map’, ADMA Call for Entries DM, Sydney Writer’s Festival ‘Trailer’, Sony ‘Net Share Cam’ online, Pedestrian Council ‘Don’t Speed’, Toyota Prius ‘See things differently’, Olay ‘Age beuatifully’, Amnesty International ‘Hands behind your back’, Old El Paso ‘Burnt mouths’, Kluger ‘Baby not bored’ ambient, Demazin ‘Big cold?’ ambient and PEN Literature Festival promotion. Then there was integrated work for Tooheys New ‘Beer Relay’ and online for Emirates ‘Musical journeys’ and Beck’s Bier ‘Soundtracks competition’.
User ID not verified.
Hi Lynchy,
Thanks for that very comprehensive background.
“Top” is my shorthand for the highest billing/ hottest agency. From what I can tell, you’ve got Saatchi & Saatchi in the (one would assume) most desirable top right position. (By the way, the larger jpg of the image has dropped off the CB posting I’ve linked to, so it’s a bit hard to tell.)
If I misunderstand your methodology, please do correct me, but my understanding is that an element of it is based on awards won. You’ve got S&S neck-and-neck with a couple of other agencies as furthest to the right on the chart, as far as I can tell. Without the UN work, they clearly wouldn’t be as far across. That was my point – not to question whether you’ve made the right decision scoring them highly overall. That’s clearly entirely up to you.
As to whether I missed seeing work that you say that yourself, AdNews and B&T did get to see in 2008, it’s not directly to the point about my issue with juries and UN Voices. But for what it’s worth, my last day at B&T was December 8.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Tim,
I don’t use awards won during the year as much of a guide to where I place an agency on the chart, unless that work has been created during that year (often it’s from the year prior).
I always look for the potential award winners, that’s why the CB Agency of the Year, since 1987, tends to be the agency that goes on to dominate at the awards the following year and invariably our choice is one year ahead of other trade mags. (Example: we had DDB Sydney and DDB Auckland as our Agencies of the Year in 2007, AdNews had DDB as their Network of the Year in 2008).
It’s also why there are some agencies on the chart that may appear to be better placed than the current perception, and they’re the ones that, more often than not, come through with awards the following year for that particular work.
User ID not verified.
Assuming phone technology in place … why didn’t they just use a QR code on the poster to take people to an MP3? Woulda been heaps better.
User ID not verified.
I always thought what made this campaign cool was the simple interaction. The idea of photographing the poster and receiving a direct response instantly was great. I know because I tried it at my bus stop on my cheap no frills camera phone and it worked (took about 30 secs) and I listened to the story on the bus to work. Having my phone ring was amazing. I was left feeling like I gave my time to listen and also had a photo of the person to look at while listening. I really felt like I had connected with this person.
I tried it on another 2 posters I saw with the same instant result.
My point is:
I didn’t have a special phone and it worked.
I didn’t have a special data plan and it worked.
I never thought of it as a ‘gimmick’ more a great demonstration of one on one interaction. It would not have been as powerful if i simply had to call a number.
Personally i thought it was great.
Tim, have you actually tried it?
User ID not verified.
Hi Mich,
Thanks for that point. To answer your question, I didn’t try it. At the time I had a phone/ plan that didn’t support MMS, so was unable to. I suppose that’s sort of my point…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
User ID not verified.
Tim,
I hear your frustration over the overwhelming success of the UN voices project. I’m of the opinion that injustices occur largely through complacent attitudes. Saatchi identified a need and asked the question “As far as it depends on us, what can we do to make a difference in the lives of the groups of people featured in the campaign?”
Hence, the creation of the UN voices project. The project has demonstrated that there are no barriers or limitations in what can be done to raise awareness and to inform others of the violence, poverty, hardship and neglect experienced by so many people.
The campaign is powerful and based on some of the comments that were left on the web site it appears to have made a difference in the lives of others. As the voice of domestic violence I will be forever grateful to Saatchi for giving me a voice that can’t be silenced by men who inflict pain and suffering on their victims.
Perhaps the judges see the campaign as a powerful tool for change and hence the awards.
User ID not verified.
Hi Loula,
Thanks for your comment.
Perhaps I can question your phrase “your frustration over the overwhelming success of the UN voices project”? That almost sounds like ad agency talk to me. Surely the success of the project shouldn’t be defined by how many creative awards it wins? It should be defined by what it achieves.
It’s great that Saatchi & Saatchi do their bit. As I mentioned, they’ve a history of great social issues work. But that doesn’t make the work untouchable when they choose to put it up for judging, nor the jury infallible.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Loula,
That’s a well-written comment. You clearly understand the language of campaign strategy and execution too. Amazing that someone who doen’t work in the industry happened to find this website too.
User ID not verified.
Hi Boyo,
The web site was relatively easy to find. All I had to do was to Google UN voices project.
I believe that there is nothing more powerful than the written and spoken word, and I use both when addressing social justice issues in particular.
Hi Tim,
I’m of the opinion that there is little if any work that is untouchable. If work produced becomes untouchable it leaves no room for improvement or to encourage change and creativity. A lack of creativity hinders one from moving forward and making progress.
User ID not verified.