Turn wasted space into a mobility service during driving lessons plus..5 more campaigns that turn the unused into useful.
Turning the 'unused into the useful' is a fun tactic to keep in your thought locker. The trick is to think broadly. Whether it be unused space, food, advice, business perks, or storefront media – there are 'unused opportunities' galore to be grabbed by a smart idea and execution. Starting with this recent campaign by CER, a leading French driving school network, here are some great examples that leverage this tactic.
The Lost Ride | CER | BETC Paris | 2023
CER, a prominent French driving school network, has taken an innovative approach to address wasted space during driving lessons. Teaming up with advertising agency BETC Paris, they launched 'The Lost Ride,' a creative solution to offer free carpooling services to those in need or with mobility issues. This initiative not only optimizes the unused empty seats in driving school cars but also teaches students about responsibility and care for others while driving. After a successful beta phase, the program expanded to 450 driving schools across 17 major French cities, providing an average of 400 lost rides each week. CER has revolutionized urban mobility, offering a frictionless, free, and environmentally-conscious transportation option. Additionally, a member of parliament aims to create a legal framework to support such initiatives nationwide.
IKEA Scrapsbook | IKEA | 2021
With 63% of food wasted daily across Canada, IKEA wanted to take action to highlight this shocking statistic and to offer ideas on how to combat it. After all, they’re well known for their storage solutions so why not help store all that leftover food in bellies across the country rather than in the nearest bin.
The clever idea saw them work with top chefs from across Canada to show the general population that leftover kitchen scraps could be turned into something useful. The free cookbook was collated and made available for free on various platforms – removing any barrier for someone not to have access to it. The idea also supports their own goals of becoming a circular, climate positive business by 2030. A win-win all round.
Air Drop | Siemens | 2018
In 2018, during the busiest tourism period, Western Cape was experiencing the worst drought on record. How could Siemens help? The company identified that most domestic tourists came from (water abundant) Gauteng. So Siemens established the Airdrop Initiative, which allowed Gauteng passengers to swap 5kg of their unused luggage allowance to bring 5 litres of water to Cape Town.
Background of Support| Refuge | BBH | 2020
This fundraising campaign for women and children suffering domestic abuse turns video conferencing backgrounds into donation spaces. With millions of video calls happening every day (more so due to the increase in people working from home), BBH took advantage of this overlooked media space to increase support for those who need it most. The ‘Background of Support’ can be downloaded by anyone and used as a background on their video calls, to show support for Refuge.
Undercover Advisors | Selmark | Grey Madrid | 2016
If there’s one thing parents know, it’s that their advice to their children is often overlooked – no matter how important it is. To take advantage of the wealth of advice out there – and deliver it to teenage girls who may be most in need, Selmark stepped in. Mothers throughout Spain were invited to become ‘undercover advisors’ in order to offer wisdom and advice to their daughters. The messages were submitted and hosted across publications the teenagers may visit, such as Cosmopolitan. Selmark then matched the IP of the mother’s message to other devices on the home network so the daughter could see it – completely anonymously. Mothers were in charge of the display media in their home and could choose the messaging that their daughters read. 60,000 of these messages were published in two weeks. The oft-ignored mother’s advice may become something the daughter takes to heart.
Miles for the People | Reclame Aqui | Grey Brazil | 2019
Every week, 600 congresspeople fly to Brasilia from all over Brazil, to the tune of 5,000 plane tickets per month. The bill is paid by the taxpayer – most of whom rarely, if ever, experience air travel. So, Reclame Aqui helped citizens pressure politicians to return these unfairly gained air miles. By plastering the information of each flight and the accrued air miles onto social media, citizens were then encouraged to request these air miles back. The project reached congress, inspired change, returned air miles to the taxpayers, and even prompted a change in the law to ensure air miles were always returned. The unfairly gained air miles were taken from the privileged who didn’t need them and given to those who did – including to fly for life-saving surgery.
Want more like this?
At the time of writing, BITW has over 50 campaigns that turn 'the unused into the useful' that can be found within the Popular Tactics filter.