Year in Search|Google

Another powerful example of a brand using data to drive creativity is Google’s ‘Year in Search’ campaign. Much like Spotify’s data-fueled creative effort, the stars of the search giant’s annual campaign were its users.

Google creatively put insights into action, exploring the emotional story at the heart of every search term that dominated 2016.

Honing in on everything that made that year particularly memorable, including its most shocking news stories from Brexit and Trump’s election to Syria and the Orlando shooting, Google managed to turn the widespread perception of 2016 as a year of disproportionate lows on its head to spread a message of hope, ending with the words: “Love is out there. Search on.”

Aptly highlighting how Google is not just a search engine for the world at large, but a source of learning where people turn for answers, the campaign was a clever play on emotions that once again proved its dominant influence over the online world.

“From Powerball numbers to Olympic champions, whether making dessert or becoming a mannequin, this year affected us all in different ways.” says Ben Gomes, VP Search.

“Through all the highs and lows, people came to Search to learn more and understand.”

Ref:

• https://www.google.com/intl/en-GB/trends/2016records/
• https://trends.google.com/trends/yis/2016/GLOBAL/
• http://google.com/2016 | #YearInSearch

C R E D I T S: Brexit - Ruptly Trump & Hillary Supporters - Associated Press (AP) US Election map: ABC BLM Protesters - AP Dallas PD Vigil - Ruptly Dallas PD memorial - ITN News Source Orlando PD - Steven Fernandez Aleppo Wall - Russia Insider Omran Daqneesh - AP Refugees welcome - Shay Murphy Justin Trudeau at pride - Canadian Press Hillary Clinton @ DNC - CNN Doaa Elghobashy @ Olympics - AP Simone Biles performance - USA Gymnastics Prince with guitar - Richard E. Aaaron Special thanks to www.alicenter.org/ Ali with mic - AP Bowie with Lighting Bolt - Duffy Archive & Bowie Archive Aziz Ansari w/ Lighting - Photo by Crackerfarm/Under The Table Additional Lighting Makeup shot - Dade Freeman Bear and Deer - JukinMedia Secret Life of Pets available on Google Play Zianna Speaks to City Council - CNN Refugees at Sea - Vice News Border embrace - ITN/Reuters Dallas Protest - Dallas Morning News

#ProjectLiteracy |Pearson

Pearson: Project Literacy

Project Literacy, the global campaign led by Pearson and FCB Inferno, has received international praise for its inspiring message and efforts to tackle the pressing issue of illiteracy.

Based on the discovery that illiteracy impacts over 750 million people worldwide, or one in ten people alive today, Pearson set out to raise awareness that this crisis contributes to a large portion of the world’s biggest problems.

Driving the message that words have the power to end illiteracy, the campaign included a 90-minute film with a particularly harrowing narrative and a social media campaign that onboarded a whole host of influencers.

In less than a week, #ProjectLiteracy reached over 10 million people on Facebook, while the film has now earned more than 12.8 million views, with Project Literacy being asked to join the UNESCO Global Alliance for Literacy. Emilie Colker, Vice President of Brand and Social Impact at Pearson, founding partner of Project Literacy says:

“This campaign has brought a largely invisible issue to the attention of millions.”

About Pearson 

We’re here to keep the whole world learning In a fast-changing world, education is the key to success. For many people, learning is the route to a job to support their family or the skills to help them make progress in their career. For others, it’s simply a lifelong passion for discovery. For every learner, at every stage of their life, education is the path to opportunity and fulfillment. Our world-class tools, content, products, and services are designed to help people adapt to our changing world, navigate its challenges and opportunities, and ultimately make progress in their lives. Because where learning flourishes, so do people.
We want to improve access and outcomes in education for learners around the world. We do this by combining expert content and assessment, powered by our services and technology. We’re proud to be a trusted partner to schools, colleges, and students. 

• Content and platforms such as MyLab, Revel, Bug Club, enVisionMATH, and SuccessMaker, plus leading author brands such as Campbell, Hubbard, Ciccarelli, and Martin-Gay 
• Assessments such as GCSEs, A levels, BTECs, WISC-V, PTE Academic, and school assessments using TestNav 
• Services such as Pearson VUE, Pearson Institute of Higher Education, Connections, and English Language centers, e.g., Wizard and Wall Street English

Penny the Pirate| OPSM

The first children’s story that’s also an eye test

Another powerful campaign consistently noted for its originality, Penny the Pirate has won 35 major international and national awards and was named the world’s best marketing campaign of 2016 in the annual Warc rankings.

Based on the discovery that “one in six kids have a vision problem and for many it’s undetected”, research uncovered by Saatchi & Saatchi revealed the reasons behind this statistic amounted to children’s’ fear of optometrists or the fact that many live in remote areas, far from reach.

To tackle this issue, the idea for Penny the Pirate was born, leading to the world’s first medical tool that tests children’s eye health as you read to them. Made available for free as a book and interactive app, this innovative campaign not only helped to address the growing issue at its core, but successfully positioned OPSM as a global brand committed to eye health.

On track to providing 300,000 children with an eye test, Penny has reportedly led to a huge increase in children’s’ eyewear sales.

Melinda Spencer, VP of Marketing for OPSM says: “We passionately wanted to create a useful tool that helps time poor parents to screen their children’s vision from the comfort of their own home, either through the book or through the app in a fun way and are overjoyed that it has been recognised internationally.”

Saatchi &Saatchi commented:

One in six kids have a vision problem and for many it’s undetected. This is because children don’t like coming into scary optometrists, or they live in remote areas, far from reach. As a brand that’s committed to eye health across Australia and New Zealand, eyecare provider OPSM needed to address this growing issue.

We took the eye test to children by creating Penny the Pirate, available for free as a book and interactive app, it’s the first medical tool to test children’s eye health as you a read a story to them. There wasn’t a standard eye screening tool for children, so we had to start from scratch.

We collaborated with illustrator/author Kevin Waldron, and the Department of Vision Sciences at Melbourne University, to identify three critical tests that would detect the most common vision problems for children, and then integrated them into a story. This resulted in a Therapeutic Goods Administration approved screening tool in the form of an interactive storybook. When books were finished with, parents could share their copy via a “Pass It On” program.

OneSight, a not-for-profit organization, is also using Penny to reach children across remote regions of Australia, helping them test more eyes than ever, because it’s more efficient, accurate and engaging than previous methods.

Penny is on track to give 300,000 children an eye test, which has already seen a huge increase in kids eyewear sales since launch. The app has also reached number one Health & Fitness App in the App Store

Thanks 2016, It’s been weird.|Spotify

Spotify: Thanks 2016, It’s been weird.

Spotify’s largest ever campaign push which launched in November 2016 and spread across 14 markets worldwide is a perfect example of how data can drive creativity in marketing.

Led by its in-house creative team, this innovative, global campaign was 100% fueled by insights.

Relying on data based on their users’ behaviors, the Spotify team used the information they collected to speak directly to their consumers in the most personalized way possible, creatively using listener habits to reflect popular culture.

Successfully placing a humorous spin on the ‘weird’ highlights of the previous year, the campaign proved the power that lies in creative marketing based on audience insights alone.

“There has been some debate about whether big data is muting creativity in marketing, but we have turned that on its head,” says Spotify’s chief marketing officer, Seth Farbman.

“For us, data inspires and gives an insight into the emotion that people are expressing.”

Streaming service Spotify has become the first big brand to mark the passing of 2016, a full five weeks before the calendar changes, by launching ‘Thanks 2016, It’s been Weird’ across 14 territories - its biggest global campaign to date.

The data-driven outdoor campaign will seek to draw a line under the year which gave us Brexit, Trump and a string of celebrity deaths from David Bowie to Alan Rickman by publishing localised facts and figures on billboards.

In the UK for instance, a poster reads “Dear 3,749 people who streamed ‘It's The End Of The World As We Know It’ the day of the Brexit Vote. Hang in There”. Across the pond meanwhile a similar execution displays: “Dear person who made a playlist called: 'One Night Stand With Jeb Bush Like He's a Bond Girl in a European Casino.' We have so many questions.”

Developed by Spotify’s own in-house creative team based in New York, the campaign brings insight from its regional teams to bear to generate localized copy.

Launched in the UK, US, France and Denmark yesterday (28 November) the campaign will now roll out to a further ten markets including Australia, Brazil, Germany and Sweden. Over the run up to Christmas the campaign will extend to include emails to customers on their own Spotify usage as well as digital and social ads.