BAOBEIHUIJIA | Search for Free WiFi, Search for Missing Children | 2015
Searching for Free WiFi, Searching for Missing Kids / BAOBEIHUIJIA "Search for Free WiFi, Search for Missing Children"
What if the WiFi network you were about to connect to was named "Help, Find Me"? In China, more than 200,000 children go missing every year, and this was the answer TBWA/Shanghai came up with.
The problem
In China, more than 200,000 children go missing every year, and countless parents keep searching on their own, yet only about 0.1% are ever found. The biggest problem was that information simply wasn't reaching people. At the same time, China has 600 million mobile users, and searching for WiFi wherever you go has become second nature. What if that everyday act of "searching" could be connected to the desperate search for missing children? BAOBEIHUIJIA bet on that idea.
The insight
When people look for WiFi, they actually read the list of network names on their screen. If one of those names looks unusual, they pause, even if just for a second. That moment of pausing can become the doorway to learning about a missing child. And because it's tied to something people want—WiFi access—it also gives them a reason to spread the information further. Suddenly, the whole city has the potential to become a network of searchers, anytime, anywhere.
The idea
TBWA/Being Shanghai developed original WiFi hotspots equipped with a special signal-broadcasting system. When someone turned on their WLAN, the network name that appeared was an SOS message like "Help, my name is ___." Tapping it brought up a pop-up with the missing child's photo and details. To actually get connected to the WiFi, users had to share the information on WeChat Moments or Sina Weibo first. It was a gentle kind of pressure: no share, no internet.
What happened
Through this WiFi system, more than 400 million people were exposed to information about missing children, and more than 37 million people shared it on social media. As a result, several families were reunited. At the 2015 Cannes Lions, the campaign won a Gold Lion in the Media category. It was covered by more than 230 media outlets at home and abroad, across TV, newspapers, radio, blogs, and social media, dramatically raising public awareness of the issue of missing children.
Afterthought
Taking WiFi, something everyone unconsciously searches for, and turning it into someone else's desperate plea to be searched for—that's the idea here. The technology and the user experience are both simple, but behind them lie countless parents' tears and children's silence. It feels like a moment where advertising became something that doesn't just communicate, but actually connects people. This, I think, is the real strength of advertising.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2015
