A new campaign from the Trussell Trust, supported by TMW Unlimited, uses out-of-home technology to alert shoppers to the real-time needs of food banks in the local area.

The cost of living crisis has seen food prices soar and as such demand for food banks has increased dramatically over the past year. The Trussell Trust network grew by 18% last year, distributing 37% more emergency food parcels than the previous year. To meet the increased demand, food banks had to purchase 124% more food than in the previous year. As a result, food banks have experienced a shortfall in stock and are struggling to keep up with the needs of the communities they serve.

To raise awareness around the growing strain on food banks and alert shoppers to the real-time needs in their local area, Trussell Trust launched a dynamic out-of-home campaign, Put It On Your List. The campaign was made possible by winning first prize in the charity category of Ocean Outdoor’s 2022 Digital Creative Competition, which came with a prize of £100,000 free media.

The campaign was created with the help of TMW Unlimited using Ocean Outdoor out-of-home technology. Put It On Your List used geo-targeted digital out-of-home to serve contextually relevant ads to passers-by. The campaign notifies local shoppers exactly what items are most needed by their nearest food bank as creative on screen would change depending on the needs of the food banks in the local area. The screens could then serve relevant copy to audiences looking on such as ‘your local food bank in Bournemouth needs UHT milk’ and ‘your local food bank in the West End of Newcastle needs long life orange juice’.

“The food banks in our network are seeing unprecedented levels of need. While we are grateful for every donation people make, there are certain items food banks run out of far more frequently than others.” explained Lynda Battarbee, Director of Operations at the Trussell Trust. “This campaign is a great way to remind people of the ever-changing needs of our food banks and will help people to engage more effectively with what’s happening in their own local community.”

The campaign allowed the Trussell Trust to highlight exactly which items are urgently needed in specific areas and feature them on Ocean Outdoor large format digital screens. The creative also included prompts for shoppers to add those items to their shopping list and drop them off at supermarket collection points, or scan a QR code to make a direct donation to their local food bank.

“We’ve become so used to the presence of food banks that it’s easy to forget just how essential and ongoing those services are. We wanted to connect that need with local populations in a way that informs and surprises them into action. Digital OOH is a great way to tap into urgency and local pride, empowering people to solve real needs as they arise.” added Brian Brady, Creative Director, TMW Unlimited.

As the cost of living crisis continues to impact consumers up and down the UK, this campaign shows how technology can be used to help support communities and enable audiences to support causes they care about in difficult times.

Ocean’s 2023 digital creative competition opens for entries shortly. To find out more please click here.