Outdoor advertising can become a functional infrastructure. That is the proposal of “Safety Ads”, the campaign promoted by Duoprint together with Groenlandia by Havas Chile and Herrera Havas Ecuador, which has transformed billboards into surveillance towers for lifeguards on the beaches of Ecuador.
The initiative has been implemented in Manta, an enclave with a high tourist influx where, especially during festive periods, the pressure on rescue teams exceeds the available capacity. In this context, the campaign redefines the use of the medium: the structures of out of home They begin to fulfill a double function, combining brand visibility with operational points of prevention and assistance.
During the three days of the Manta Carnival, the initial activation period, the system recorded 1,081 preventive actions and 19 water rescues, according to Ronald Zambrano, Director of Tourism of the Municipality of Manta. In that same interval, the city received more than 310,000 visitors, which places the initiative as a direct response to a real need for security in the territory.
The brands finance the purchase of spaces, which allow the installation of the structures and cover the salary of the lifeguards.
The model works as long as brands finance the purchase of advertising spaces that, instead of being limited to exposure, allow the installation of surveillance structures and cover the associated costs, including the salaries of lifeguards.
Thus, each support stops being only a point of visual impact and becomes an active node within the city’s security system.
“We often talk about the power of creativity to generate cultural impact. “Safety Ads” demonstrates that it can also generate human impact”said Fernando Condeza, Executive Creative Director in Greenlandia by Havas Chile. “The idea was born from a simple question: what if advertising could give something concrete back to people?”
For his part, Marco Contreras, Chief Creative Officer at Herrera Havas Ecuador, pointed out: “When we saw the idea working on the beach and heard the results, we understood that it had stopped being a campaign and had become a real solution. It is the type of creativity that the industry needs today: ideas that are seen and that serve.”
The initiative has had the support of the Municipality of Manta, led by Mayor Marciana Valdivieso, as well as the participation of strategic partners such as AdCity, Sauvalle Music, Poston and the production company Oruga Cine, in charge of execution.
After its initial implementation, the model already contemplates its expansion to other beaches in Ecuador and to markets such as Peru, Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia, which would reinforce its replicable nature in environments with high tourist activity and limitations in security infrastructure.
