Keep Left and Guide Dogs NSW/ACT are raising awareness of what it’s like to shop online as a person with low-vision or blindness with an activation that removes shoppers’ ability to see what they’re buying.
The Blackout Friday pop-up shop is a social experiment that puts Australians in the shoes of people with low vision or blindness, who regularly face barriers like inaccessible buttons or images with no descriptions preventing them from having the full online shopping experience.
Blackout Friday invites shoppers to browse curated, pre-loved items from fashion marketplace Uturn which are hidden with the packaging displaying only limited written descriptions, so you don't know exactly what you are buying.
The campaign aims to educate consumers and encourage retail brands to offer more inclusive online product descriptions.
Keep Left, working closely with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, produced the integrated campaign activation from concept to design, including the shop fit-out, out-of-home, social creative, web design, partnerships management, earned media and influencer engagement.
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT CMO Michael Apte said Blackout Friday is more than a pop-up shop.
"It’s a disability awareness experience that gets people thinking about the barriers in online shopping for consumers who are low vision or blind," Apte said.
"Many e-commerce brands aren’t aware of small changes that would make a significant difference to the community. We have found a way to clearly explain the issue with actionable steps to create real change."
Keep Left ECD Blair Kimber said the Black Friday retail frenzy provided the perfect backdrop to create an immersive, earned creative experience in Blackout Friday.
“We hope this activation sparks conversation among consumers and retailers to ultimately create a more accessible and inclusive world for people with blindness and low vision," Kimber said.
"While we can't fix every website this year, we can raise awareness, so businesses are inspired to prioritise accessibility and stop leaving millions of consumers in the dark.”
Credits:
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT
Dale Cleaver, CEO
Michael Apte, CMO
Sarah Watts, Campaigns Manager
Tori Larosa, Senior Event Coordinator
Keep Left
Caroline Catterall, CEO
Blair Kimber, Executive Creative Director
Ruby Gill, Senior Copywriter
Johanna Murray, GM Integration
Jessica Williams, Client Services Director
Tiffany Simon, Client Partner
Laura Agricola, Director of Strategy
Larissa Thorne, Director of Planning & Performance
Rebecca Shaw, Senior Account Manager, PR
Zach Edwards, Strategist
Harris Galloway, Strategist
Hannah Palmer, Designer
Bryce Ford, Production Design
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