"If told today that you could live hundred years, what would be your reaction?"
In response to negative attitudes associated with the aging population, Atilla Cansun, CMO of Merck Consumer Health, launched the WE100 initiative. WE100 is designed to address issues concerning rising life expectancy among populations. Merck is an international developer, manufacturer, and distributor of pharmaceuticals worldwide. It is the oldest pharmaceutical company in the world, and currently operates in 167 countries. As a company based on helping people in need by providing medication, the goal of this campaign is to increase awareness to help people. Here is Merck's introduction to their movement:
Target: People of all ages - increasing knowledge in younger people to prepare for the future, and helping older people create a fun-filled and meaningful life despite their age.
Insight: In this day and age, society is not well informed on how valuable older people can be. We often think that young people are the most agile, the most energetic, and often the most valuable. However, Merck is making a move through their campaign to highlight the importance of the aging population. Most people think that they are too old to try something such as diving. Little do they know, old people can do just as much as young if they put their mind to it.
Brand Idea/Positioning: Young for Old, Old for Young. The WE100 initiative is aimed to connect the various generations together. With more and more people living longer ages (specifically past 100 years old), it is important for young people to support old, and old to support young. We can learn from each other about new things, and share new experiences.
Objective: To spread awareness and to change societies perceptions on how the older generation is viewed. Furthermore, to empower older people to do what they want to do in live no matter what stage of their life they are at.
Strengths: Some of the most powerful and insightful campaigns are those backed by facts. This commercial highlights a social experiment conducted at a diving pool in Italy. At first, the interviewees are doubtful that they could dive because they did not start learning at a young age. However, Pino Auber, 79 years old, shows them all that nothing is impossible. He started diving from the age of 57, and despite his wrinkles, he can still dive just as beautifully as a young person. I think that this ad has a great cause and demonstrates an issue that not many people are aware about.
Weaknesses: When trying to look deeper into Merck's campaign, I couldn't find much about it. The ad produced took part in Italy, and while Merck is an international corporation, I couldn't access their WE100 Facebook page, Youtube account, etc. After finding this ad on AdAge, I would love to see a series of advertisements for the US.
Watch the Italian Ad here:
