Tag: digital campaign

Durex: Baby App

Making the consequence tangible, not the lecture louder

In consumer health marketing, the hardest problems are rarely about information. They are about motivation in the moment. This Durex idea is a clean example of turning a behavior barrier into an experience.

Condoms are a downer. So how does one convince guys to put it on, and make Durex the favored choice.

Using the iPhone, Nicolai Villads, Peter Ammentorp and Raul Montenegro created what is called the Durex Baby application for the iPhone.

How the Durex Baby app worked as a behavioral nudge

The mechanism was simple. If the barrier is that protection feels like a mood killer, shift attention to what happens without it.

The app simulated the realities of having a baby, using the phone as a constant companion device. It turned an abstract risk into a persistent, personal experience that could be felt rather than explained.

Why simulation can change decisions faster than persuasion

Most messaging about safe sex competes with optimism bias. People assume consequences happen to someone else.

A simulation reduces that distance. It makes “later” feel like “now,” and it reframes the trade-off. Short-term inconvenience versus long-term responsibility. When the consequence feels immediate and specific, the decision calculus changes.

The intent behind building it for Future Lions

The app was created for the Future Lions 2010 competition organized by digital agency AKQA and the Cannes Lions Advertising festival.

The business intent is clear. Use mobile to translate a sensitive topic into a playful but pointed interaction that can travel socially and be discussed without heavy moralizing, while keeping the brand associated with the responsible choice.

What to steal from this idea

  • Turn abstract risk into felt experience. Simulation can outperform warnings when the audience tunes out lectures.
  • Use the device people always carry. Mobile is effective when the behavior change depends on everyday moments.
  • Reframe the trade-off. Move attention from short-term friction to long-term consequence in a way people can grasp instantly.
  • Make it discussable. Playful interaction can open conversation on topics people avoid in direct language.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Durex Baby app?

An iPhone app concept that simulates the realities of having a baby to encourage safer choices and reduce resistance to using condoms.

What was the core mechanism?

Behavioral reframing through simulation. The phone delivers an ongoing experience that makes the consequence of not using protection feel immediate.

Why does this approach work better than a warning for some audiences?

Because it reduces optimism bias. People are more likely to change behavior when the consequence feels personal and present, not distant and theoretical.

What business goal does it serve for Durex?

Positioning the brand as the responsible default choice by shifting the decision from mood-based resistance to consequence-based clarity.

What is the main takeaway for marketers?

If persuasion is failing, design an experience that makes the outcome feel real, then let the audience reach the conclusion themselves.

Xbox Lips: Jukebox Turns Photos into Videos

AKQA has taken Xbox Lips digital with the “Lips Jukebox” on Facebook, which enables users to transform their photos into music videos, in a bid to promote the new game “Lips Number One Hits”.

Xbox Lips Digital

The application is hosted at the Xbox website, and uses a combination of facial recognition technology and Facebook Connect functionality to enable people to choose a song and the photos they want to adapt from their profile before adding singing “Lips” to the faces and then creating the animated, personalized music video.

In social experience design, the winning pattern is simple: let people reuse what they already have, then return a share-ready artifact that feels personal without requiring effort.

Why this idea lands

This is a clean example of “personalisation as entertainment”. It takes something people already have, their photos, and turns it into something people want to show, a personalised music video.

  • Low friction input. Your Facebook photos are already there.
  • High novelty output. Seeing faces “sing” creates instant curiosity and share value.
  • Product-fit promotion. A singing video experience naturally aligns with a music game.

Facial recognition as a feature, not a headline

The facial recognition is not presented as “tech for tech’s sake”. It is simply the enabling layer that makes the result feel surprisingly accurate and personal. The user focus stays on selecting a song, picking photos, and getting a finished video worth sharing.

What to take from this if you build social experiences

  1. Turn existing assets into new value. Users are more likely to participate when they can reuse what they already have.
  2. Make the output share-ready. The “end product” should be something people naturally want to post.
  3. Keep creation steps short. Selection, preview, publish. The loop should feel quick.
  4. Align the experience with the product promise. A music game promoted through a music-video maker feels coherent.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Xbox Lips Jukebox?

It is a Facebook-connected experience that lets users transform their photos into animated, personalised music videos to promote “Lips Number One Hits”.

What technologies does it use?

It combines facial recognition with Facebook Connect so users can select songs and photos, then apply singing “Lips” to faces and generate a video.

Where is the application hosted?

It is hosted on the Xbox website.

Why does this work as game marketing?

It creates a playful, shareable output that matches the core theme of the game. Music and performance.

What is the transferable lesson?

When you can turn user content into entertainment with minimal effort, you can earn both engagement time and social sharing without heavy persuasion.