JCDecaux: Still Open
JCDecaux wanted to demonstrate its commitment to local commerce following the devastating 2024 Valencia floods. With 60% of small businesses still closed months later, the brand tasked DAVID Madrid with finding a way to use its advertising infrastructure to provide tangible financial support to struggling shop owners while reminding the public that the recovery effort was far from over.
Creative Idea
Transformed subway ad spaces into life-sized virtual storefronts where commuters could buy products via QR.
JCDecaux transformed 650 premium subway ad spaces into life-sized virtual storefronts for flood-damaged Valencia businesses. By turning OOH media into active commerce channels via QR codes, they allowed commuters to support small shops that were physically closed but digitally Still Open.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A vast network of high-traffic premium advertising spaces usually reserved for global brands.
Category
OOH typically serves as a passive awareness medium for large corporations with massive marketing budgets.
Customer
People felt a lingering desire to help flood victims but lacked a direct, frictionless way to contribute.
Culture
The fading media attention on Valencia's recovery created a need to re-engage the public emotionally and financially.
Company
A vast network of high-traffic premium advertising spaces usually reserved for global brands.
Category
OOH typically serves as a passive awareness medium for large corporations with massive marketing budgets.
Strategy:
Leverage idle infrastructure to bridge the gap between distant empathy and immediate economic action for disaster victims.
Customer
People felt a lingering desire to help flood victims but lacked a direct, frictionless way to contribute.
Culture
The fading media attention on Valencia's recovery created a need to re-engage the public emotionally and financially.
Strategy:
Leverage idle infrastructure to bridge the gap between distant empathy and immediate economic action for disaster victims.
Results
The campaign achieved significant impact, including €1.5 million in donated premium media worth. It reached a daily audience of 2.1 million people in the Madrid subway. The initiative generated over 56,880 website visits. It received extensive earned media coverage, including features on national news outlets like A Punt Media and Europa Press. The campaign successfully facilitated direct donations to dozens of small businesses, with several owners reporting they were able to reopen within five weeks of the campaign launch due to the support received.
€1.5M
donated media worth
2.1M
daily audience reach
56k+
website visits
Strategy Technique
Make the Invisible Visible
It shines a light on the forgotten small business owners months after the initial disaster. By placing their life-sized images in high-traffic areas, it makes their ongoing struggle impossible to ignore.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Unexpected Utility
It repurposes traditional advertising inventory into a functional e-commerce tool. By providing a direct way for commuters to purchase goods from closed shops, the medium becomes a useful bridge for recovery.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's excellence lies in its clever use of media planning and photography to bridge a physical gap between a disaster zone and a thriving metropolis.
Strategically repurposing high-traffic subway inventory into functional 'virtual stores' based on commuter data is a masterclass in utility-driven media.
The life-sized, 1:1 scale portraits of business owners in their ruined shops create a jarring, unignorable presence in the subway environment.
The seamless integration of QR codes to facilitate direct-to-owner micro-donations turns passive advertising into an active transaction.
The 'Still Open' tagline perfectly encapsulates the resilience of the owners while providing a clear call to action for the audience.
The power of the campaign comes from the synergy between the raw, human photography and the high-tech media placement that makes the distance between Valencia and Madrid disappear.
