Stockholm Media Award Grand Prix follows One Show Bronze Pencil

Huge congratulations to Ocean Outdoor Sweden and the creative agency Perfect Fools who have won a second prestigious prize for their immersive DOOH campaign Bullying Out of Home.

Created for the not-for-profit organisation Friends, the campaign was streamed to more than 2,000 out of home (OOH) screens across Sweden to expose the ugly face of online bullying.

Now it has taken the Grand Prix for Swedish Campaign Of The Year in this year’s edition of the Stockholm Media Awards. The most prestigious communication awards in the country is presented by the Swedish Media Agencies Association.

The winners were revealed during Stockholm Media Week at the Space Arena in Stockholm.

The independent jury citation said: “It is no news to anyone that we live in a world where it constantly gets harder to reach out, but most importantly in, with our communication. The increased fragmentation of the media landscape leads to an increased need to use more types of media and spend more money to reach through the clutter.

“However. Sometimes a genius use of ONE media channel, with a strong idea, a new innovative solution, in the right context and at the right time can turn all of the above logic upside down.”

In May the campaign was awarded a bronze pencil in the health and wellness category in The One Show Awards New York. The One Show Awards honour ground breaking ideas and creativity in advertising, design and digital marketing.

Jesper Albansson, Ocean Outdoor Nordics chief marketing officer, said: “This campaign is a masterclass in how to leverage the technical capabilities of DOOH to deliver an important message.

“Ocean has long believed in using the extraordinary broadcast power of DOOH to help charities and causes who rely on public awareness. DOOH’S very nature, and its ability to prime other media, made for a compelling solution. Our campaign was a tremendous success resulting in high engagement and demonstrative results. We are delighted this has been recognised with a second award.”

Friends x Ocean

Social media isn’t all memes and funny dances. It’s also a place of intense bullying. The bullying that once happened in the schoolyard, where adults could see it, has moved to mobile phones and computers where it happens out of sight.

The non-profit Friends conducts a vast amount of research about bullying every year. Their 2020 report found that 40% of all children and teenagers in Sweden had been bullied online. And, nearly half of them had never told an adult about it. Years of research has also shown that adults taking action is absolutely essential if bullying is to be prevented. But, for that to happen, adults actually need to be aware of the bullying. Awareness is the first step towards action.

Friends sought to reveal the hidden cyberbullying to all adults. Authentic notifications from bullied children’s personal mobile screens were streamed to thousands of Ocean screens in cities, malls and stations across Sweden. The notifications popped up on top of the regular adverts, giving adults a glimpse of an unknown reality, and the awareness needed to act.

The campaign was picked up by Sweden’s biggest TV station (SVT), Sweden’s biggest radio network (SR) and by several newspapers. The locations of Ocean’s DOOH screens had approx. 21,399,000 visits during the week of the campaign, in a country with roughly 10 million inhabitants.

Interaction on Friends social media channels increased by roughly 400% and traffic on their website by 242%.

Most importantly, the new Friends Annual Report shows that awareness of cyberbullying among adults has increased by 14%.