#KidsToday; the least active kids in history

Background

Kids today are not experiencing life as they should be. All the free time they have is most likely spent with electronics, which are preferred by parents who wish to keep their children safe and clean of course. Research shows that, on average, children spend less than an hour a day in active play, which means 23 hours idle and inactive.

How do you provoke the mothers of the least active kids in history to do something about it? How do you change their perception of dirt, show them the benefits of active play and the importance of dirt for their children’s healthy development?

Idea

To get the conversation started in a bold way, a painfully dull 23 hour live stream was launched showing a kid doing what kids today do best: absolutely nothing (Well, apart from sitting on a couch playing video games, watching TV and ‘hover-boarding’ his way to and from the bathroom in between episodes).

The 23-hour video was live on a YouTube Masthead, Twitter/periscope and Facebook live, accumulating over millions of watch time minutes and thousands of comments from a provoked audience.

Then 2 other videos were launched, one that literally translates the fact that kids today spend on average 7 hours in front of screens, and another one to show that little girls spend 4 hours daily watching TV.

The idea was to also partner up with kidsFIRST Medical Center (KFMC), the leading children’s clinic in the UAE that works with infants and children to ensure their academic, physical, and emotional growth. The goal of this partnership was to educate parents about the importance of play and provide tips and advice from experts that we call “dirtologists”.

After shedding light on the inactivity of kids today in the first week of the campaign launch, an emotional plea was revealed from kids, delivering a powerful message to convince their moms to let them get dirty today so they can learn for tomorrow. The film encourages mothers to feel proud, not angry, when their children play and get dirty, because the lessons they learn from getting dirty last longer than the stains that can so easily be removed.

Omo made parents realise that playing and getting dirty isn’t just fun, it’s essential for kids’ learning and development.

For more updates on this campaign, connect with OMO’s social pages below:

• https://www.youtube.com/OMOArabia
• https://www.facebook.com/OMOArabia/
• https://www.instagram.com/OMOArabia/
• https://www.twitter.com/OMOArabia/
• www.omoarabia.com

Campaign Hashtags: #KidsToday #DirtIsGood

Results

In one day (well 23 hours) the live streamed video accumulated just shy of 5 million views and had an average watch time of nearly 7 minutes. Which means the target audience spent an incredible 2 billion seconds with the brand in under one day. Pretty powerful stats when you consider most ads get skipped in under 6 seconds.