Pereira & O’Dell Tells Story of the ‘World’s First Climate Change Refugees’ for Skype

Pereira & O’Dell continues to produce intriguing work for Skype, with their latest, “Turning the tide” marking a shift in approach.

Last year, the agency focused on the emotion of the personal connections it helped foster, through its “Stay Together” campaign and its highlight, “The Born Friends Family Portrait.” With “Turning the tide,” Pereira & O’Dell focuses instead on how the service helps a pair of journalists tell the story of Kiribati, the island nation that is in danger of being wiped off the map by 2040, thanks to rising oceans caused by climate change. Indeed, the people of Kiribati are already becoming the “world’s first climate change refugees” as the rising ocean levels have contaminated their food and water.

The “modern mobile news team” of Anna Therese Day and Gianluca Panella are telling the island’s story, and utilize Skype as an important. “…Skype is second nature to us,” Anna says, “Being able to instantly share information, images, files…it means you can get to the heart of the story quickly.”While this inserts Skype into the conversation, it doesn’t do a whole lot to differentiate the brand from its competitors. Still, Pereira & O’Dell crafted an affecting spot, allowing Skype to tell an important story that many viewers might be unfamiliar with (although the story has been covered by a few major news outlets, including CNN). The agency seems to have made a choice to value storytelling and allying Skype with an important cause over overt branding. How effective you view the spot as will largely depend on which of these factors you place the most value on. (more…)

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Droga5 Celebrates ‘Not Broken’ Families for Honey Maid

Earlier this year, Droga5 and Honey Maid celebrated families of all kinds with a campaign called “This Is Wholesome.”

Now, Droga5 is continuing its celebration of diversity in families with a new ad entitled “#NotBroken,” a reference to the outdated phrase “broken home” to refer to families of divorce. As the two-minute ad points out, “More than 40% of Americans are part of a blended family,” so it seems odd that we so few of them in advertising that this spot is noteworthy for including one.

“#NotBroken” is constructed as a sort of two-minute documentary (it will also debut as a 30 second broadcast spot today). “Sometimes it’s hard to explain our family to people. I have two moms, and I’ve got two dads,” says a boy named Isaac, at the opening of the ad. We then follow Isaac and his family, which is celebrated as well-functioning and supportive. “At first I didn’t think there were a lot of families like ours, but now I realize that we aren’t that different,” he eventually concludes. The spot ends by inviting people to celebrate their own blended families with the #NotBroken and #ThisIsWholesome hashtags, which are sure to get some love.

So far, the “This Is Wholesome” campaign has proven to be a success for the brand, with both increased sales figures and Google searches for “Honey Maid,” as Adweek points out.
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Pereira & O’Dell Shows the Power of Skype with ‘Stay Together’

The onion alert is in full effect. Skype has been promoting their global capabilities with a “Stay Together” campaign produced by Pereira & O’Dell, and the fourth video in the series, “The Born Friends Family Portrait,” is a smart showcase of the program’s utility. Two girls, Sarah from Indiana and Paige from Auckland, were both born without fully developed left arms and formed a long distance friendship over the years. Sarah and Paige are now teenagers, and as you can see in the accompanying clip, finally met in-person. It’s touching and respectfully filmed.

The three prior videos cover similar stories – a father talking to his family still in Africa, a zookeeper in America keeping tabs on an animal family in Australia, and a two young cousins (common theme) closing the gap between Brazil and America. We should probably expect more tearjerkers from Skype, because these are the kind of tales that sell themselves. No misdirection or exploitation, just a documentary setup that has the right kind of appeal. Credits after the jump.

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