Digital Billboard Raises Funds for African Women

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Microloan has prime Westfield spot for this weekend

Running from Saturday 25 th to Sunday 26 th February, Chiswick based charity, The MicroLoan Foundation, will host an innovative digital donation billboard at Westfield London, to encourage shoppers to make contributions to help provide small loans and guidance to women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Each donation pledged will transform and build images before the eyes of donators on the billboard and work to create a piece of art that will appear in the ‘Pennies for life’ gallery at www.penniesforlife.org.uk. This groundbreaking technology will spearhead the start of the tenth anniversary year for the charity and will help to drive a new audience to donate.

The charity, which grants small business loans and offers training to women in sub-Saharan Africa so that they can support their families, came third in Ocean Outdoor’s The Art of Outdoor digital competition which celebrates ideas led campaigns.

Peter Ryan, the Founder and CEO of Microloan Foundation said:  “This innovative digital donation system is a first for the MicroLoan Foundation and we couldn’t wish for a better location than Westfield London. Not only will we be able to tell our story to a new audience, but supporters will see instant content and a thank you that they can share via their own networks. Raising money and engaging supporters is the focus for any charity and we are delighted with this opportunity to be at Westfield London this weekend.”

MicroLoan’s advertising agency DLKW Lowe created an interactive campaign using the digital billboard to encourage shoppers to become a named “artist” by completing giant portraits of African women in return for a £1 donation.

More than 30 competition entries were judged for their visually stimulating, interactive approaches, using new technologies such as full motion, layering, subtle, time sensitive, augmented reality and data streaming.

MicroLoan Foundation won a £50,000 share in a £300,000 advertising campaign pot for their campaign on Ocean Outdoor’s digital network in 2012.

Tim Bleakley, CEO of Ocean Outdoor said:“MicroLoan’s submission showcases the immediacy and versatility of digital outdoor installations as powerful advertising canvases with big audiences. It is a compelling snapshot of what’s possible and the potential for charities who are prepared to think well beyond the static image.”

An extension of the charity’s accessible Pennies For Life campaign, the MicroLoan campaign invites shoppers to complete the picture by texting the word “change” and their name for the cost of a £1 donation. The donor’s name then appears on the giant poster with a thank you message. The donation triggers a hand full of pennies which appear on the screen and topple into the uncompleted image.

The more people text, the faster the picture builds. Each completed portrait is sent to a virtual gallery on the charity’s website. Text messages tell donors where they can find their picture, complete with their credit as a named “artist”.

The judges praised the competition entry as “the strongest in terms of the video and creative submission”, and said that the concept “would make you want to do it to make the largest possible difference to women and their families in Africa.”

February 24, 2012