by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki) Charities are, by their nature, dependent upon support from the public; even if they do qualify for government assistance, it’s likely that most will need more. So it’s heartening to see agencies adopt causes, and put in the same creative muscle that they would with a paying client.
Most agencies do so, but I’d like to single out Ogilvy for its support of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and the stellar print campaign that not only publicises what the NSRI does but makes a very clear call to action.
Ogilvy Cape Town’s print campaign for NSRI: “Anyone can save a life”
The NSRI is a charity comprising 940 highly skilled, unpaid volunteers, with a fleet of 92 rescue craft, 27 vehicles and access to a range of helicopters. Volunteers are trained in CPR and all aspects of first aid, and run the Waterwise Academy to educate children in peer rescue and first aid. Even for the experienced, the sea can be a treacherous place, and the NSRI performs a vital role in assisting stricken vessels, rescuing jet ski operators who have run into problems, and recovering unmanned boats.
Just over a week ago, there was a story that highlighted the work of this entirely volunteer-run organisation. It probably wasn’t a typical event, and it didn’t make great headlines, yet it’s a tale full of drama and high emotion.
It all started when the Starfish, a shark longliner (shark fishing vessel) operating out of Cape Town, started taking on water in bad weather early in the morning of Saturday, 26 April 2014, about 110 nautical miles south of Plettenberg Bay. The captain, Horatio Gomes, sent out a Mayday signal and, while the crew of Capetonians, Kenyans, Angolans and Namibians frantically pumped and bailed out seawater, he drove the vessel as fast as possible towards the coast, to be closer to the shipping lanes used by commercial vessels.
The Mayday call was picked up by Telkom Maritime Services and the Mossel Bay and Knysna branches of the NSRI.
A bulk carrier, the Navios Northern Star, was the ship closest to the stricken vessel at the time, and it turned around to rendezvous with the 20-man crew at 2.30pm, by which time the crew were all aboard their life-raft, watching the nose of their boat as it sank beneath the swell. Throughout, the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre of the South African Maritime Safety Authority worked with the NSRI to co-ordinate the rescue effort, which arranged for one of its Port Elizabeth volunteer rescue crew boats, along with a Transnet National Ports Authority rescue vessel, to transfer the crew from the Navios Northern Star and take them to Port Elizabeth.
But let’s get back to the print campaign. Designed by Ogilvy Cape Town, it’s an appeal for donations, with a clever twist. Three simple but beautiful photographs, taken by Guy Neveling, portray NSRI volunteers in action, on different vessels. But the focus of each picture is an unlikely ‘volunteer’ — a grandmother in one, a young boy in another, and a young girl in the third.
The pictures are framed in such a way as to make the anomaly of these ordinary people noticeable, and in all of them the out-of-place people are looking directly at the camera. The effect is engaging — your eye is drawn to them and, at the same time, because the picture is so beautifully lit and framed, you want to know more. What is this granny doing on a ‘rubber-duck’ at dawn, heading out to sea? How can this little boy help launch a rescue vessel?
The payoff line, subtly placed in the bottom right-hand corner, reveals it all: “Anyone can save a life. All it takes is a donation.”
The copywriter was Yazeed Solomons, in a team comprising account director Ryan Rabinowitz, producer Merle Bennett, art director Delano Chengen and creative group head Prabashan Pather. Nevelling’s photos were retouched by Tim Lake, which is worth mentioning as they all have a similar haunting quality that ties them together.
Ogilvy has produced several ads for the NSRI in the past, including print and TV, and proof of the agency’s commitment is that they are always of a high standard — some even garnering Loeries and other awards.
For me, this one surpasses them all, as each picture contains a layered narrative that captures the viewer’s imagination.
Ad of the Week, published on MarkLives every Wednesday, is penned by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki), the CEO of Ornico, a Brand Intelligence® firm that focuses on media, reputation and brand research.
If you are involved in making advertising that is smart, funny and/or engaging,
please let Oresti know about it at info@ornicogroup.co.za.
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