A link to london's Docklonds light railway which provides an efficient mode of transport which is an alternative to a car.




http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2632.aspx

Advertising campaign uses stunt yolks to persuade motorists to use the Metro

Published: Monday, September 20, 2010 with 0 Comments

By Ramola Talwar Badam www.thenational.ae

DUBAI // Fried eggs were splattered across the bonnets of thousands of cars in the emirate yesterday.

Well, not quite. But many commuters did a double take when they found eggs seemingly sizzling in the summer heat on car hoods in Dubai Media City, Internet City and Deira.

The sunny-side-up culprits, printed on palm-sized cards and mounted on magnets, were part of a Dubai Metro advertising campaign to get people out of their cars and onto the Metro. The small lettering on the egg white read: “It’s a cool 20°C on the Metro”.

Some 3,500 cars were plastered with the magnetic cards yesterday, and about the same number of vehicles will be targeted tomorrow.

“We’re trying to get a key message across in a different way,” said Peyman Younes Parham, the director of the Roads and Transport Authority’s corporate marketing department.

“Basically, we want to get people who drive cars thinking of public transport – and the Metro specifically. The idea we’re placing is that it is so hot right now you can fry an egg on your car.”

The advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai drew up the campaign to target motorists near the Red Line between Ibn Battuta and Bur Dubai over the next few days. The agency targeted areas where there was little underground car parking.

The fried egg campaign drew laughs from many car owners. Some spotted the magnetic cards as they pulled off sun shades from the windscreen, others gave a curious glance at the eggs while walking up to their cars.

“This is so funny. It literally is baking here,” said Osadya Selen, a French national who runs a marketing firm in Media City. The temperature on her car thermometer showed 46°C.

“It should have been bigger, though, many people won’t see the egg because the sunlight is blinding.”

Mira Magd, who works with a television media company and frequently travels on the Metro, said: “It’s really cool advertising. But you can’t use the Metro every time; sometimes people need cars to get them to different places.”

Mr Parham acknowledged the campaign would not get people hopping onto the Metro immediately, but said it would get people thinking.

“It’s a new campaign style in which we are trying to send people a message: ‘See how long it takes to walk to your car? How long it takes for the air conditioning to kick in? Instead, you could have been sitting in a cool Metro station’,” he said.

Meanwhile, the RTA yesterday announced November 1 as Public Transport Day to mark the fifth anniversary of the transport body. To celebrate, free rides will be given to Nol Card holders on the Metro, buses and water taxis.

Passengers have made 30 million rail trips in Dubai since the Metro launch last year.

rtalwar@thenational.ae

A couple of english sites that promote walking rather than driving in cities.

http://www.walkingworks.org.uk/index.php

www.livingstreets.org.uk/

This is a site about campaign to make things better in the world by making them fun. Its a different way of thinking. Can we make more people use the stairs if it is more fun ect... social experiments to try and improve society.

This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.

http://thefuntheory.com/

Jan Gehl

This is a direct link to Jan Gehl's website. He is the architect/urban planner who has been asked to make recommendations for changing hobart into a more sustainable city.

http://www.gehlarchitects.com/?

Sustainable Cities

This is a link to a website which has cases, expert opinions and discussion about sustainable living in inner cities. Its a great general resource to look at to get a view2 of what other cities are doing to become greener and more car free though planning and community projects

http://sustainablecities.dk/

This is a link to a discussion about the controversial bike lane intended to be put in on sandy bay road. Handy for getting opinion on the issue.

Cycling on Sandy Bay Road- what are your thoughts?

24/08/2010 , 10:40 AM by Jayne Landsberg

A proposed cycle way on Hobart's Sandy Bay Road has generated a lot of discussion, for both positive and negative reasons.

Today a panel discussion took place on Mornings, including MLC for Nelson Jim Wilkinson, Hobart City Council Alderman Damon Thomas, Tim Stredwick, president of Bicycle Tasmania and Kathy Gates, Sandy Bay resident and regular cyclist.

http://blogs.abc.net.au/tasmania/2010/08/cycling-on-sandy-bay-road-what-are-your-thoughts-.html?site=hobart&program=hobart_mornings

Write here, right now

A video that was supposed to be part of a campaign to promote writing on designated graffiti spaces rather than someone elses property. "Would you write all over your property?"
Made by university student Gemma Atkinson as a university project. I think that what this campaign did was make the films creator famous as a young ambitious typographer rather than promote graffiti in designated spaces. The video went viral on youtube and made her a known name and face in the typography worl in her early 20's.

fortheloveoftype.blogspot.com

iPod Customer Service - the Dirty secret

This is the start of my next project on social campaigns.

This is an example of a social campaign that was quite successful it was a film by the Neistat Brothers to bring awareness to the fact that ipods great new invention: the ipod, only had a battery life of 18 months and was unreplaceable. After the campaign ipod began to sell batteries.

Info about iPod's Dirty Secret
In September of 2003 the battery in my first generation ipod would hold a charge for no longer than one hour. I brought the iPod into the Apple store in Manhattan for repair and was told they did not currently offer a battery replacement and my best option was to buy a new ipod. I then called the Apple Care 800 number regarding this issue and was told the same. I then sent my ipod to the Apple Executive office addressed to Steve Jobs with a note explaining my situation and requesting a replacement battery. The Apple Executive office contacted me via telephone to explain that Apple does not repair or replace dead ipod batteries and that it was policy of the company to recommend to the customer to purchase a new ipod when the battery fails. I then purchased a third party replacement battery, which was not endorsed by Apple. After the complicated installation, my ipod did not work at all, even when plugged in. In response to this experience my brother Van and I made the short film "iPod's Dirty Secret." After we finished production of the film, Apple began offerring a battery replacement program for the ipod for a fee of $99 and an extended warranty for the ipod for $59. We acknowledge Apple's new battery replacement policy. Our movie is a documentation of our experience. -Casey Neistat info@neistatbrothers.com

Shepherd Fairy

The Andre the giant sticker campaign was a great marketing tool for the Obey brand. It has contributed greatly to the success of the label by being an ever present feature of the urban landscape. Its meaning is derived by the viewer and was almost as much a social experiment as anything else. By putting something into a space where it doesn't belong, it changes the meaning of that space with its presence and makes the viewer question its role in that space and why it has been put there. This intrigue then makes the viewer investigate further or causes distress and anger. Either way the presence of this object has not gone unnoticed and therefor is a success no matter what the viewers response.

The OBEY sticker campaign can be explained as an experiment in Phenomenology. Heidegger describes Phenomenology as “the process of letting things manifest themselves.” Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation.

The FIRST AIM OF PHENOMENOLOGY is to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with the sticker provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer’s perception and attention to detail. The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker. Because OBEY has no actual meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities.

Many people who are familiar with the sticker find the image itself amusing, recognizing it as nonsensical, and are able to derive straightforward visual pleasure without burdening themselves with an explanation. The PARANOID OR CONSERVATIVE VIEWER however may be confused by the sticker’s persistent presence and condemn it as an underground cult with subversive intentions. Many stickers have been peeled down by people who were annoyed by them, considering them an eye sore and an act of petty vandalism, which is ironic considering the number of commercial graphic images everyone in American society is assaulted with daily.

Another phenomenon the sticker has brought to light is the trendy and CONSPICUOUSLY CONSUMPTIVE nature of many members of society. For those who have been surrounded by the sticker, its familiarity and cultural resonance is comforting and owning a sticker provides a souvenir or keepsake, a memento. People have often demanded the sticker merely because they have seen it everywhere and possessing a sticker provides a sense of belonging. The Giant sticker seems mostly to be embraced by those who are (or at least want to seem to be) rebellious. Even though these people may not know the meaning of the sticker, they enjoy its slightly disruptive underground quality and wish to contribute to the furthering of its humorous and absurd presence which seems to somehow be antiestablishment/societal convention. Giant stickers are both embraced and rejected, the reason behind which, upon examination reflects the psyche of the viewer. Whether the reaction be positive or negative, the stickers existence is worthy as long as it causes people to consider the details and meanings of their surroundings. In the name of fun and observation.

Shepard Fairey, 1990

for more on Obey and the Andre the Giant campaign visit the website: http://obeygiant.com/