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DOOHgood mobilizes for East Africa relief effort

Digital signage insiders working to get the DOOH industry help drought and famine victims in East Africa.

August 18, 2011 by Christopher Hall — w, t

It's been a rough year on planet Earth: an earthquake and tsunami in Japan, tornadoes in the U.S., and now drought and famine in East Africa, resulting in billions of dollars in damages and countless lives lost or shattered.

And the digital out-of-home industry continues to pitch in to do what it can to help.

After the latest horrible headlines, a volunteer collective of digital out-of-home operators and suppliers calling itself DOOHgood has activated an effort to help raise awareness and drive donations to help ease the drought and health crisis in the Horn of Africa.

United Nations Emergency Aid Coordinator Valerie Amos today called for another billion dollars in donations to aid drought victims in Somalia and the general region of East Africa.

According to Amos, 12 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti are suffering under the drought and resultant famine. Sending money, active volunteering or spreading the word about the need would all help, Amos said.

DOOHgood, which started out as DOOH4relief after the Japanese tsunami, is coordinating development and distribution of public service ads for DOOH networks to help raise funds and sustain awareness for the victims of disasters around the world.

A video Public Service ad for Canadian network operators is now available on the DOOHgood website, available for use by DOOH networks in Canada that have otherwise unused advertising time. The first spot was developed for the Canadian Humanitarian Coalition – consisting of several relief agencies pooling their resources. (You can view the first ad here.)

DOOHgood is also working with U.S. agencies and hopes to have spots for U.S. DOOH networks developed and available soon. DOOHgood is in need of a creative team to produce a spot for at least one agency, and would welcome any offers to help with a few free studio hours, according to an email from digital signage expert Dave Haynes, who helped start DOOHgood.

DOOHgood was formed in the aftermath of the Japan disaster in March, producing numerous free video ads and running them on dozens of networks in several countries. The effort delivered millions of free advertising impressions for the Red Cross societies in several countries. Since then, DOOHgood also has helped drive donations for local Red Cross groups helping people in the aftermath of the terrible rash of tornadoes in the Southern U.S. this past spring. DOOHgood provides a central distribution point and archive for the videos and related material, and helps to get creative produced if none is otherwise available.

"We've had tremendous support across the board," Haynes said in an email today. "The collective networks delivered millions and millions of impressions in the weeks after the Japan tsunami, and some amazing creative was developed out of that, as well, by people just looking to somehow help."

According to Haynes, the DOOH community "has been great." Haynes approached Susan Danaher, president of the Digital Place-based Advertising Association about getting a few minutes of microphone time at the DPAA summit this fall, "and she urged us to get in to see the DPAA membership months ahead of that." Digital signage consultant David Weinfeld, who also co-started DOOHgood, went to New York and presented at a DPAA meeting earlier this summer, Haynes said, "and we really appreciated the time and attention they provided to us."

"Where we could REALLY use help is on the creative side," he said in today's email. "Most of these relief organizations are great at logistics and care, but they have little or no media capability. We could really use a few donated hours from some small production houses or graphic design teams within networks to produce additional video PSAs. Most of the companies directly involved with DOOHgood have donated design time, but that's not sustainable. PSA videos are a great platform for getting creative, so we think this presents a nice opportunity."

Haynes said he's heard it suggested from network experts who would know that most DOOH networks run at 20-40 percent of sold inventory, so there is programming time available.

"If we can provide good creative, for really important causes, I think DOOHgood can live up to its name," he said.

Jose Avalos, the director of retail and digital Signage for Intel Corp. in its Embedded & Communications Group, applauded the DOOHgood effort in an email:

"This initiative illustrates the power and potential of organizations using digital signage solutions for public service announcements and other public and civic services," he wrote. "Digital signage can be deployed for more than commercial reasons and really make an impact while 'doing good.'"

And the interconnectedness of the still-growing DOOH sector comes out in the DOOHgood effort, said Dawn Rahicki, SVP and CMO for DOOH firm rVue.

"From tragic circumstances like need for Japan and African relief, the DOOH community has shown its strength and compassion by uniting for very worthy causes and leveraging the power of place-based media and the reach of our collective screens," she wrote in an email. "In this the community has shown its ability to respond quickly to raise awareness. From this need, DOOHGood.com was born and serves the sole altruistic purpose of raising awareness of causes and giving back. What an incredibly important use of a medium we hold dear."

To find out more or to learn how to help out, visit the DOOHgood website.

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