The latest campaign from The Smith Family aims to highlight the struggles faced by disadvantaged children, while raising awareness and funds for the charity's ongoing Winter Appeal.

Interactive outdoor advertising

The campaign was designed by BMF in conjunction with JCDecaux to give people a first-hand experience on what it means to be a disadvantaged child.

A digital screen in Sydney's Pitt Street Mall encourages passers-by to interact with the child on the monitor, who runs away when approached.

Text reading “It’s hard being left out. This is how over 600,000 disadvantaged Aussie kids feel every day,” then appears.

The technology

BMF worked with JC Decaux using Microsoft’s .Net and Panasonic’s D-Imager to creating the motion-sensor advertisement that detects an approaching body.

The campaign is another example of brands moving towards more interactive, experienced-based advertising that engages the audience.

Doug Rathbone, technical director BMF, said: “Interactive-outdoor is still such a new twist on such a well-known medium; we're really excited to be involved in such an interesting technical piece for such a good cause.”