I’ve always been fascinated by the power of entertainment over the human mind, especially with the advent of Web 2.0 and the unlimited possibilities it affords for using video and the internet in the form of a highly targeted, interactive broadcast.

Since 2003, we’ve been exploring the worlds of music, dance, video games, advergames, TV programming, and cinema, and making them fully interactive Web 2.0 experiences, all the while growing our clients’ businesses, even winning a Cyber Lion along the way.

Now, it’s time for everyone in this field to take it to the next level. I recently was introduced to Rock Corps, a great initiative sponsored by Orange which marries brand entertainment with social responsibility. Rock Corps has played out in the US, the UK and France with huge success built on a simple concept: the virtuous circle.

Rock Corps is a major concert production featuring top-range artists, such as David Guetta, one of the top global DJs and winner of a Platine album for his last album, When Love Takes Over; Akon, a star in the R&B genre, six times nominated for a Grammy; Busta Rhymes,a top Hip Hop artist; and members of Razorlight, the UK rock band that was the front band for the Rolling Stones in their last tour. The catch is:
The only way to attend a concert is to give four hours of your time to a charity. No snagging tickets from a scalper or through a well-connected friend. And guess what? In every country Rock Corps has played to thousands of young adults, it has “sold out” all the while creating community involvement and some pretty good PR.

So here is my new challenge: to use branded entertainment to make brands contribute to a better society by bringing more fun and more utility to people. Rock on!

Delphine Beer Gabel, Managing Director, DDB Entertainment Paris

Posted on October 30, 2009 7:34 PM | Permalink

Mario Gascon, Executive Creative Director at DDB Barcelona, recently posed these questions to me:
Can advertising help make the world a better place?
Can one idea cause a little miracle?
Can DDB be proud of helping make that miracle happen?

Mario answered each of his own questions with a very proud “yes.” Here’s why.

DDB Barcelona’s client Bellota has made high-quality tools for over a hundred years. The tools are so durable that they are passed down through the years from father to son. Customers say Bellota tools “can be lost but never broken.”

So obviously it is a challenge to sell new tools. Plus Bellota’s marketing budget is much smaller than their competition’s.

Samanta Judez, Director of Strategic Planning, had an idea that turned into a miracle. Sam thought of offering customers 10% off the price of new tools if they donated their old ones at point of sale. It was a simple promotion under the theme “Give your old tools a longer life.” But what do you do with the old tools?

Well, with the help of a not-for-profit organization, Bellota sent those tools to villagers in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, one of the poorest on Earth. For the villagers, receiving these tools was a miracle. And the emotional reward of experiencing the gratitude of the Burkina Faso villagers has been huge for everyone involved.

In fact, some of the villagers wanted to say thanks for the tools by sending some kind of gift. And that’s why DDB Barcelona now is the proud owner of a sheep and two hens.

More importantly, as Mario pointed out, every so often our profession gives us special occasions when we can feel like more than professionals. We can feel like human beings.

Thanks to Mario, Sam and everyone at DDB Barcelona, I couldn’t agree more.

Bob Scarpelli, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide

Posted on October 13, 2009 9:15 PM | Permalink