OERRR: Everyone in the mud

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OERRR celebrated their tenth anniversary and has been committed to bringing children and nature together since day one. Although parents may not like it, playing outside and getting dirty is very good for children. However, they do that far too little, says OERRR. That's why they asked Maak to develop an awareness campaign. With short videos, cut-down ads and out-of-home advertising we showed how much fun it is to play in the mud. Goal: to convince children and their parents to go out into nature more often.

Time for a big campaign

For OERRR it was time to step into the spotlight again. This youth program of Natuurmonumenten brings together young conservationists and offers educational programs and activities. In recent years they have seen a slight decrease in their brand awareness compared to the competitors. Moreover, their last big out-of-home campaign was quite some time ago. So they asked Maak to set up an awareness campaign to bring it back to the attention of the general public. The message was clear: encourage parents and children to go outside.

Pam Kolsteeg

Projectmanager at Maak

"That is the power of OERRR: making nature fun for young and old."

The more mud, the better

Before we started developing the campaign, Maak spoke with scientist Charifa Zemouri. She conducts research at the University of Amsterdam into infectious diseases and public health. Zemouri explained that mud is very good for your immune system – the bacteria in it contribute to the development of your immune system. Because children play outside less, and therefore get dirty less often, their resistance decreases sharply. Why? Parents do not stimulate their offspring enough to go out into nature. This is worrying, says Zemouri.

Images of playing children

This insight became the starting point for our campaign. Key message: you are allowed to get dirty with OERRR. We made cut-down ads and short videos of kids having fun and playing in the mud. We showed this on YouTube, social media and during the Cinekid Festival.

Check below the hero video of the campagne:

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We also opted for out-of-home advertising: on the street and at train stations we distributed digital screens with still and moving images – including a boy throwing mud directly at the screen. By playing with the fourth wall in this way, we tried to get the attention of passers-by.

Pam Kolsteeg

Projectmanager at Maak

"As soon as you are allowed to play with mud, your innerchild is awakened. That's really cool to see."

Personal touch

We worked together with a casting agency to cast the children in the photos and the videos, but acquaintances could also nominate someone. In the end, Ties became the main character of this campaign: his photos were the most fun and genuine. He is also the son of Floor Woortman, a communications officer at OERRR. That immediately gave the campaign a personal twist

Old medium with a modern twist

We wanted to use positive images to show children and parents that mud is fun and healthy. In this way, we hoped to convince them to go outside more often. With this awareness campaign, we respond to a current and relevant problem, which we addressed creatively. That makes it 'new era marketing'.

Moreover, we are using an old medium – outdoor advertising – in an innovative way, by using digital screens where we played with the fourth wall. That is also new era marketing: giving a new twist to existing forms of advertising.

More OERRR

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of OERRR, we have created a three-part podcast series. In the episodes, we take the listener back to the early years of Natuurmonumenten. The podcast includes a scientist, a forest ranger, the founder of OERRR and several children. Curious? You can listen here.

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Maak works for all kinds of interesting clients. Companies that all believe in our idea of ​​new era marketing. Curious? View our other cases.

Maak does more

In addition to this awareness campaign, we worked together with OERRR on a new marketing and communication strategy. For example, we helped them with a new and fresh tone of voice. At OERRR they had the feeling that their communication had become a bit proper and outdated. This strategy has just been completed, we are currently implementing it.