THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF GREENWICH | THE POWER OF CUTE | 2013
The More Shutters Came Down, the Kinder the Street Felt / THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF GREENWICH "THE POWER OF CUTE"
An ad where the street gets cuter as night falls. The moment those tough, no-nonsense security shutters close, they turn into a baby's face.
The problem
After the 2011 London riots, both residents and shop owners in the Royal Borough of Greenwich felt uneasy as safety in the area worsened. The metal shutters in front of shops were meant to prevent crime, but their cold, impersonal look ended up inviting trouble instead.
The insight
Ogilvy focused on research showing that seeing a baby's face naturally makes people want to protect it and be gentle. Rather than trying to stamp out antisocial behavior with force, they chose to appeal to people's instinctive feelings.
The idea
They painted graffiti of local Greenwich babies' faces onto the shutters of shops on the high street. Every time a shop closed and its shutter came down, the cold iron wall transformed into a baby's smiling face. At night, rows of giant baby faces lined the dark street—not intimidating at all, but giving off a sense that someone was quietly watching over the place.
What happened
The campaign won a Gold Lion (Best Use of Guerilla Marketing) in the Promo & Activation category at Cannes Lions 2013. It also won Silver and Bronze in the outdoor advertising category at the London International Awards.
Afterthought
What's so satisfying is that the answer to crime prevention wasn't "make it harder, make it stricter"—it was "make it cuter." It's touching to think that just by gently tapping into something instinctively human, the whole feel of a street can change this much.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2013
