THAT'S NOT COOL

Credits & Description:

Type of Entry: Corporate or Brand Identity
Category: Digital Design
Title: THAT'S NOT COOL
Advertiser/Client: AD COUNCIL
Product/Service: AD COUNCIL
Entrant Company: R/GA New York, USA
Design/Advertising Agency: R/GA New York, USA
Creative Credits
Name Company Position
Nick Law R/GA Chief Creative Officer/North America
Taras Wayner R/GA Executive Creative Director Copywriting
Jim Therkalsen R/GA Associate Creative Director/Copywriting
Erin Noonan R/GA Account Director
Eric Deichl R/GA Visual Designer
David Brown R/GA Visual Designer
Sean Farrell R/GA Producer
David Trumpf R/GA Senior Visual Designer
Marc Shillum R/GA Director Of Brand Design
Chloe Gottlieb R/GA Executive Creative Director/Interaction Design
Jean Paul Tremblay R/GA Senior Interaction Designer
Rob Khristov R/GA Line Producer
Nicolas Karlson R/GA Line Producer
Mike Roufa R/GA Senior Software Engineer
Nick Katsivelos R/GA Technical Director
Brad O’brien R/GA Print Producer
Rawle Curtis R/GA Senior Digital Advertising Lead
Ben Przespolewski R/GA Creative Director/Digital Advertising
Michael Lowenstern R/GA Group Director/Digital Advertising
Brooke-Lynn Luat R/GA Senior Planner
Details
Brief Explanation:
The main challenge was the target audience. Teens, aged 13-17, are cynical. They’ve seen hundreds of ads and dozens of PSA websites. It’s difficult to capture their attention and earn their trust. Especially about such a sensitive topic. Our objective was to design a visual language that made teens comfortable, but also could come from a place of authority when necessary.
Describe the brief from the client:
The Ad Council asked us to help curb teen dating violence. When we started talking to kids, we found that teen dating has gone digital, and abuse has followed. This problem consists of pressuring for nude pictures, and violation of social networking accounts, and controlling IMing or texting. With no laws and no defined boundaries, there was nowhere for teens to turn. We had stumbled on a huge problem that no one was addressing.
Description of how you arrived at the final design:
The product had to feel approachable. We went with a hand-crafted, yet polished design. Because we planned for user-generated content, we wanted each element to look like a teen might've constructed it. Minding our strategy to avoid preaching, this had to feel more like a site built to entertain and start conversations. We created “that’s not cool” as a brand kids could use as a platform for discussion. The speech bubble, familiar symbol, was used as a device kids could forward to peers to talk about difficult topics. This language was executed across a website, interactive videos, TV, and mobile.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market:
Between January 5th and April 8th, 2009 website visits exceeded 310,000, averaging more than 103K visitors/month. Articles in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and coverage on The Today Show ensured that the campaign generated significant interest from the target. Videos generated over 200,000 views, and about 34,000 visitors viewed the forum topics. Visitors sent over 28,000 call-out cards. The mobile site averages 800 visits daily. Every kid who comments, watches a video, sends a call-out, or reaches out for help is a successful business outcome. The influence of this campaign is measured in classrooms and homes across America.