Tony Martin Wandering Albatrosses have a 3 metre wingspan and can live to more than 60 Zoom In

Capital campaign for albatrosses

31-08-2006

The RSPB, the BirdLife Partner in the UK, is launching a multi-media advertising campaign to raise the plight of albatrosses and increase RSPB membership under the banner Once extinct, you can only imagine.

19 of the world’s 21 species of albatross are threatened with extinction, mainly because of the unsustainable numbers killed by longline fishing activites.

“Few people realise just how active the RSPB is as a conservation charity, both in the UK and around the world, says Jonathan Wright, RSPB Brand Marketing Manager.

“We need to change minds to help save the albatross.” —Jonathan Wright, RSPB Marketing Manager

Chris Arnold, Executive Creative Director at BLAC, the agency running the campaign added: “We asked schoolchildren what they thought an albatross was, what it ate, looked and sounded like. The answers we got were highly imaginative. The trouble is, if we don’t act to save these majestic birds, our children will never see a real one and can only imagine. What started out as research turned into a powerful creative idea.”

Running in and around the UK’s capital, London, the campaign uses the latest advertising technology, including bluecasting, and targets children and urban charity supporters.

Once extinct, you can only imagine features a series of eye-opening and imaginative interviews with children, and includes posters, press, TV commercials, direct mail and door drop literature. Short commercials will also appear on transvision screens in key London stations—the first time a charity has used bluecasting—and work by renowned artist Quentin Blake will also feature.

A website, which aims to collect 100,000 signatures—one for every albatross needlessly killed on a longline each year—has been established at http://www.onceextinct.com/