Dynamics in Social Campaign Planning : Impact of Technologies A Moment of Dyslexia

Yu Han HSIEH

British Dyslexia Association (BDA) is an organization that advocates for people suffering from dyslexia, a disorder that affects people’s memory, personal organisation and literacy. The association aims to persuade the government and other institutions to promote a dyslexia-friendly society that enables dyslexic people at all ages to reach their full potential. They have held a lot of projects to provide support and encourage dyslexic people and endeavored in raising awareness of the rights dyslexic people should receive and the disorder itself to the public.

In 2018, BDA came up with the Campaign: A Moment of Dyslexia, in cooperation with Ocean Outdoor, with the mission to encourage more dyslexic-friendly workplaces. Two large outdoor screens are installed on The Loop in Birmingham and on Ocean’s Eat Street screen at Westfield London to illustrate to passer-bys what is like to read for someone with dyslexia. The message on the screen began: “Dear employers of the UK, It’s difficult to explain dyslexia to someone who doesn’t have it.” Long form text on the screens is triggered by Look Out, Ocean’s audience detection technology, which can measure audience attention time as people stop to read the text. The longer people look at the screens, the more jumbled the words and letters become, reflecting what it can be like to be dyslexic (British dyslexia Association: A moment of Dyslexia by Leo Burnett london, 2018). The campaign made the public who saw the outdoor screen experience visual distraction when reading, which is a daily problem that affects many dyslexic people. This experience transformed peoples’ understanding on what it feels to be dyslexic and awareness of how to make simple adjustments can make a real difference to the workplace (Leo Burnett and British DyslexiaAssociation create a moment of Collective Dyslexia, 2018). The screen also showed the message “To donate text ‘￡5’ to 70070”, to encourage donation to BDA.

This social marketing campaign incorporates technology in outdoor advertising to bring public awareness to dyslexia and promotes a dyslexia-friendly society aligned with their mission. Digital out-of-home (DOOH), changes traditional out-of-home (OOH) advertising like billboards into ads that are user-interactive or with content that can change dynamically, empowering advertisers to create immersive, memorable, and often interactive campaigns (Wlosik, 2021). DOOH was practised by A Moment of Dyslexia, Ocean Outdoor’s audience detection technology has brought creativity and variety in this kind of advertising, enabling the campaign to engage with public interaction, which creates a stronger memory and brings a bigger attention from passersby. While out-of-home advertising can be easily ignored for people on the road minding their own business, DOOH can eliminate the disadvantage while creating higher ad engagement. A Moment of Dyslexia gave social campaigns a new vision, using DOOH with the fast-changing technology within and is definitely a way to enhance the public’s interaction with the goal that they seek to achieve.

Reference:

British dyslexia Association: A moment of Dyslexia by Leo Burnett london. (2018, July 17). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.thedrum.com/creative-works/project/leo-burnett-london-british-dyslexia-associat ion-moment-dyslexia

Leo Burnett and British Dyslexia ASSOCIATION create a moment of Collective DYSLEXIA. (2018, August 14). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://oceanoutdoor.com/ocean-news/news/leo-burnett-and-british-dyslexia-association-creat e-a-moment-of-collective-dyslexia/

Wlosik, M. (2021, January 28). What is dooh advertising and How does it work? – Clearcode blog. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://clearcode.cc/blog/what-is-digital-out-of-home-dooh