Johnson & Johnson: BENCHED

Credits & Description:

Category: Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages

Advertiser: JOHNSON & JOHNSON

Product/Service: CHILD SAFETY AWARENESS

Agency: NICKELODEON CREATIVE ADVERTISING

Date of First Appearance: Mar 3 2010

Entrant Company: NICKELODEON CREATIVE ADVERTISING, New York, USA

Director: Russ Lamoureux (Biscuit Filmworks)

Executive Producer: Colleen O' Donnell (Biscuit Filmworks)

VP, Creative Director: Pete Johnson (Nickelodeon Creative Advertising)

Associate Creative Director: Juan Carlos Gutierrez (Nickelodeon Creative Advertising)

Associate Creative Director: Jared Elliott (Nickelodeon Creative Advertising)

Executive Producer: Hafeez Saheed (Nickelodeon Creative Advertising)

Producer: David DeLuca (Nickelodeon Creative Advertising)

Editor: Debbie McMurtrey (Cutting Room)

Art Director: Michael Youssef (Nickelodeon Creative Advertising)

Copywriter: Jonathan Miller (Nickelodeon Creative Advertising)

Media placement: Television - Television - March 2010



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

Safe Kids is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting unintentional injury among children. Johnson & Johnson , one of the world’s top consumer products companies, is one of the organization’s most generous patrons. The facts:

• Experts estimate that more than 50% of these injuries can be prevented.

• According to National Institutes of Health (NIH), approximately 38 million children and adolescents play in organized sports

• Each year, more than 3.5 million children ages 14 years and under receive medical treatment for sports injuries

• Most common preventable youth sports injuries include overuse, concussion and

heat-related illness, many of which are preventable.



The physical, emotional and economic costs of youth sports injuries are estimated at over 100 billion dollars.

By partnering with us, Johnson & Johnsons, and Safe Kids sought to tackle the exploding problem of youth sports injuries by introducing prevention awareness to parents and youth athletes.



It was important to present injuries as relevant to both kids and parents. The goal was to communicate these objectives by drawing attention to the scope of what injuries entail.

The end product was a :30 PSA that communicated these objectives.

The target audience consisted of Parents with kids 8-16, their child athletes and Coaches with a Male skew.



While our target was largely unaware of Safe Kids, they were familiar with Johnson & Johnson products. Brands such as Johnson & Johnson baby care, Band Aid and Neosporin are staples of traditional American family life.



Nickelodeon has been a leader in the Family category for the past thirty years. We are the most widely distributed channel in the world, and connect with both kids and parents. (Nickelodeon has been the #1 network for Kids 2-11 for over fifteen years). We entertain, inform and educate families on a regular basis.



The target audience is familiar with Nickelodeon’s array of networks and has an affinity for the brand. They consider it to be knowledgeable about all aspects of family life and a trusted voice in this category. Nickelodeon has traditionally been a reliable thought leader family-oriented for pro-social initiatives- (e.g. The Big Help).

Our target values physical and competition-oriented activity as part of the youth experience. They are involved in many activities other than sports and relish in their busy lifestyle.



Although sports injuries are a Parent’s worst nightmares, they are viewed as being part of the game. While being “benched” with an injury can be viewed as undesirable, it is usually considered to be a temporary inconvenience.



Many of these injuries are preventable- simple behaviors such as proper and warm-up and conditioning can alleviate the problem. Education and consideration of the extent of what life with an injury is like is a key factor.



By redefining the meaning of being” benched” as undesirable and unnecessary, we changed audience behavior and encourage them to learn more.



The spot acted as a wake up call to both kids and parents by depicting real-life situations with a bit of shock value.



The awkwardness of the school scenes played on the Kid and Tween desire to fit in with their peers. The portrayal of difficult situations tugged on parent’s desire to do what it best for their children.



Johnson & Johnson’s awareness and involvement for the cause was exposed and Safe Kids was introduced to a new audience. The spot was entertaining, humorous and conveyed a language, look and feel that is exclusively Nick.



Creative Execution

Our creative solution was simple: show a kid benched with an injury attached to his bench as he goes through his day. This spot ran on Nickelodeon, Nick@Nite and on the Safe Kids website.



Results and Effectiveness

This was the first national TV PSA for this campaign, and the client was extremely content with the results. Viewers learned they could go to Safekids.org for more information. The audience opened their hearts and minds to the possibility that sports injuries can and should be preventedThe PSA put sports injuries on the radar of awareness for the target audience. The spot illustrated the relevance and the and repercussions of ignoring this issue. Johnson & Johnson’s twenty plus year investment in organization was revealed, thus elevating the brand in the eyes of the consumer. Viewers learned they could go to Safekids.org for more information. Website traffic rose about 25% from the PSA’s and the social media conversation took off. When Safe Kids announced a national webinar, people from 48 states registered and tuned in.