This missing people Australia campaign is designed to spread the word about 1,600 people who have not been located for an extended number of years. This pre-roll campaign is was launched by VML Australia for the Australian Federal Police and Missing Persons Week.
Instead of playing an advertisement before a YouTube video, the images of missing people were displayed. The people featured in the pre-roll are geo-targeted in the areas where they were last seen. The campaign asks "Have you seen this person?" and in place of YouTube's "skip" button, the campaign requires users to respond with a "yes" or "no."
This is a simple action, but an effective way to collect information on people who have been missing for a number of years, especially since this message cannot be skipped like a regular YouTube ad.
Viral Missing Person PSAs
This Missing People Australia Campaign Spreads Across YouTube
Trend Themes
1. Geo-targeted Pre-roll Ads - The use of geo-targeted pre-roll ads on YouTube to display missing person images provides a disruptive innovation opportunity for improving awareness and gathering information on long-term missing persons.
2. Interactive Ad Campaigns - The implementation of interactive ad campaigns that require user response, like the 'yes' or 'no' button in this missing people Australia campaign, presents a disruptive innovation opportunity for engaging viewers and collecting valuable data.
3. Social Impact Advertising - The rise of social impact advertising, as demonstrated by this campaign by VML Australia for the Australian Federal Police, opens up disruptive innovation opportunities for using advertising as a tool for promoting social causes and driving meaningful change.
Industry Implications
1. Digital Advertising - The digital advertising industry can explore disruptive innovation opportunities by leveraging geo-targeting and interactive elements to create impactful campaigns like the missing people Australia campaign.
2. Law Enforcement - Law enforcement agencies can harness the power of interactive advertising campaigns to enhance their efforts in locating missing persons by engaging with a wider audience and collecting valuable leads through campaigns like the one by the Australian Federal Police.
3. Social Services - Social services organizations can adopt disruptive innovation opportunities in advertising by collaborating with advertising agencies to create impactful campaigns, like the missing people Australia campaign, to raise awareness and gather information on missing persons.