The Campaign

At the end of 2011, widespread flooding devastated 49 provinces of Thailand. Most of the country was submerged for a long period of time. Thai people had no choice but to keep fighting against the flood for 14 weeks. Once the waters finally receded, people lost houses, valuables, and all that was left were piles of sand bags; people’s spirits were low. The question was how to motivate everyone to get back on their feet?

Results

The Challenge: At the end of 2011, widespread flooding devastated 49 provinces of Thailand. Most of the country was submerged for a long period of time. We had no choice but to keep fighting for 14 weeks. Once the waters finally receded, all that was left were piles of sand bags; people’s spirits were low. The Objective: It was about asking how can we motivate everyone to get back on their feet and how a brand like Canon can help shifting people’s perspective about what the flood meant to them? The Strategy: Rather than just donating money to recovery efforts, Canon decided to gather sand bags from flooded areas and commemorate the fighting spirit of the Thai people, with a series of sand billboards. This simple idea helped rebuild the spirit of the Thai people, reminding us of the fighting spirit that helped us endure and survive the worst flooding in half a century. The Execution: We placed the sand billboards in locations where the fighting occurred, as tributes to Thai people who fought the flooding. Each sand billboard carried messages about the 'Flood Fighters Gallery' located in the center of Bangkok, and positioned the gallery as a symbol of Thailand’s true fighting spirit.

Rather than just donating money to recovery efforts, Canon decided to gather left over sand bags from flooded areas and commemorate the fighting spirit of the Thai people with a series of sand billboards. We placed these sand billboards in locations where the fighting occurred, as tributes to Thai people who fought the flooding. Each sand billboard carried messages about the 'Flood Fighters Gallery' located in the center of Bangkok, and positioned the gallery as a symbol of Thailand’s true fighting spirit.

The use of left over 250 sand bags in creation of the sand billboard, meant we were able to help rebuild the fighting spirit of over 200,000 Thai people who attended the “Flood Fighters Gallery”. They came to salute the flood fighters and look for more inspiration to keep on fighting. This act helped Canon to be perceived as an iconic brand that truly understands Thai people, and an inspired hero during the crucial time of 2011. More than that, it also reminded us that no matter how high the water rose, Thailand’s fighting spirit would never be broken.