MullenLowe Profero Bucharest and Initiative Create Innovative Billboards to Fight the Crowds

As people are asked to stay home, traffic in Bucharest has decreased, although despite the Government continuously reinforcing the message, traffic has still not minimalised. At the same time, without traffic, the outdoor locations weren’t used by advertisers as much and a number of them remained empty. MullenLowe Profero wanted to put these locations to better use. 

Initiative and MullenLowe Profero Bucharest have since launched the #StayHome Campaign, using traditional and digital OOH panels in Bucharest to encourage people to not leave the house as a result of Covid-19. Instead of promoting products and services to increase traffic and sales, raise awareness or influence behaviour, the billboards have been repurposed with creative messages to draw the public's attention to their obligation to comply with the measures put in place by authorities. 

In order to support the efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the digital agency MullenLowe Profero and the media agency Initiative, have combined their own resources with those of OOH providers Euromedia and Phoenix Media, as well as with Poster Digital Printing, for production. From the 25th March, over 60 traditional and digital panels across Bucharest have delivered contextual messages that appeal to people to stay at home amid the crisis. Some of the billboards read: “If you can read this, you are too far from home", "This shouldn’t be here, neither should you” and “Don’t stay in traffic”, all accompanied by the campaign hashtag #StayHome.

“Although we can see a decrease in the city traffic, it is still far from minimal," said Andreea Dinescu, managing director at MullenLowe Profero Bucharest. "We wanted to show our contribution in raising awareness of the situation, the way we know best and together with our partners. If, under normal conditions, we intend for the outdoor messages to be seen by as many people as possible, now we have only one mission: to comply with government restrictions and in fact, we are hoping for no one to actually see these messages.”

“We all know that the best way to limit the spread of the epidemic is to stay home and avoid contact with others. We all know it, but not all of us yet fully understand how important it is to give up meetings with loved ones or various non-essential activities. At this time, the street traffic has no purpose and it is forbidden to be outside without a justified reason. Now, the best advertising is for our health, which depends fundamentally on each and every one of us. We hope to be able to get people to return to their homes,” said Cătălin Florea, head of product at Initiative.