SELF

TitleSELF
BrandASSOCIATION OF WOMEN FOR ACTION & RESEARCH
Product / ServiceGENDER EQUALITY ADVOCACY GROUP
CategoryA06. Best Use of Other Digital Platforms in a Direct Campaign
EntrantLOWE SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Entrant Company LOWE SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Advertising Agency LOWE SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

Credits

Name Company Position
Other Credits Leigh Reyes/Chris Bautista/Hernando Rugay/Patricia Torres/Ena Escanan
Caryn Koh Account Manager
Mawar Quek Group Account Director
Mihir Dhairyawan Copywriter
Mandar Wairkar Art Director
Eranga Tennekoon Art Director
Noel Perlas Creative Technology Deputy Head
Dominic Stallard Chief Creative Officer/Executive Creative Director

The Brief

There are over 130,000 domestic violence cases in Singapore every year, but only 30% of them are reported, mainly due to lack of evidence. This app when activated, monitors for a spike in ambient decibel levels and automatically starts recording. It then saves the audio file in a secret folder to be used later by the victim applying for a protection order. The app also has an optional facility of automatically sending as SOS, via SMS to a nominated person, a secret folder for storing photographic evidence, as well as important information, such as police stations and help centres. Because of its sensitive nature, the app poses as a mirror until it’s unlocked by a secret gesture.

Creative Execution

Singapore has the highest smartphone penetration in the world, which meant that the app would always be close to hand. It was also relatively easy to implement and a cost-effective solution, without the need for costly multiple channels, which was ideal for a non-profit organisation.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

AWARE (Singapore's leading gender equality advocacy group), wanted us to find a solution to the fact that there are over 130,000 domestic abuse cases each year, of which, only 30% are reported, mainly due to lack of evidence. Our main aim was to give the victims something that would help them get a protection order, with something other than a testimonial in court. So we created the SELF app to covertly record the abuse, based on the insight that most attacks are accompanied by loud noise, like shouting and screaming.

Results

The app won 1st prize at the Singapore National Council of Social Service pitch contest, so was completely funded, without AWARE having to pay development and marketing costs. Although the app was intended for use in Singapore, due to its popularity, it has travelled to other countries in the region, such as Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, and Malaysia.