Cheil Worldwide's 'Bridge of Life' Is A Grand Clio Winner

Cheil Worldwide's 'Bridge of Life' Is A Grand Clio Winner

The CLIO awards dished out their gongs last week at a star-studded bash in New York's LeFrak IMAX Theater. Hosted by Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet, the annual awards celebrated their 54th year of rewarding groundbreaking work and talent. Amongst the luminaries honoured were George Lois, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, will.i.am and Patricia Field, both picking up Honorary Awards and Coca-Cola collecting the Inaugural Brand Icon Award.

However, one of the campaigns that piqued our interest was the Grand Clio winning 'Bridge of Life' from Seoul-based agency Cheil Worldwide. Tasked with the valiant undertaking of reducing the number of suicides committed by jumping from Mapo Bridge on the Han River, the creatives forwent threats and barriers to put off wannabe victims and instead decided to cover the bridge's entire 2.2km length with automatically lit slogans of positivity. When passers-by walked along the footpath, one of 2,200 LED lights illuminated and the message was broadcast. Becoming a popular tourist attraction thanks to incredible media coverage AND managing to drop the suicide rate from the bridge by an incredible 85%, the campaign was a success on every level.

We took the opportunity to speak to the campaign's Creative Director, Hyung-gyun Oh, about his experience on the project, how they conceptualised the slogans and his feelings on the remarkable accomplishment.

You've just won a Grand Clio for your innovative Bridge Of Life project. How does it feel? How was the evening?

I feel truly humbled and honoured to receive this great award. Many people (including will.I.am, the 2013 CLIO Honorary Award recipient) came and talked to me about how they were strongly touched by the campaign. It is really mind-blowing that a small idea in my brain grew to save many lives. You don't have to be a doctor to save lives and you don't have to be a politician to change the world.

Did you have any idea you were creating award-winning work when the project was in development?

Not at all. I really focused on turning the suicide point into a healing place and how to use the bridge as an advertising medium. The starting point was to stop people from killing themselves, as that would benefit the world. The good faith to change the world is the most fundamental background, and it happened to win awards. Ever since the campaign started on September 26 2012, I was surprised to see such a wide reception from the general public and media. The number one meaning of this project is to help save lives. However equally important is to bring up issues of Korea's suicide rate which is one of the highest amongst developed countries, and then to come up with suicide prevention methods.

The genesis of the idea – the amount of suicides from the bridge – is a pretty heavy thing to work with. How do you approach projects with this level of social importance and resonance?

I think I have read every single book and report about suicide. Then I also interviewed rescue workers who deal with lots of suicide cases, to learn about the psychology and types of those who take their own lives. The messages on the guardrail are based on such experience. Overseas case studies, such as reports on the Golden Gate Bridge, were also helpful. In addition, the Seoul City hosted a forum with suicide-prevention NGOs and psychologists, and these experts' feedback was very useful to fine-tune messages.

The solution seemed to be an overwhelming wave of positivity. Was this approach always the plan or did you consider taking a different tact?

The first purpose of this project is to reduce the number of suicide jumpers, and the goal was successfully met, via three ways;

1 - The casual, friendly messages on the guardrail helped change the mind of those who tried to jump off.

2 - The light is turned on when a person stands on the bridge to try suicide, making it easier for other people to find such cases.

3 - The interactive lighting gives "fun" elements to passers-by. So the bridge has become a kind of hotspot, therefore cutting down on the suicide rate.

How long did it take to implement the design?

It began from May 2011. For the initial planning and prototype, it took 10 months. Once the client, Samsung Life Insurance, actively got involved, it became a little bit easier; we crafted messages and the guardrail, and took 8 months for installation. It took another 4 months to make videos. My special thanks to two copywriters, Kim youngjun and Joo youkyung, who wrote messages on the (probably) world's longest message board, which is the bridge, of 2.2 kilometers. Also thank you to two photographers Choi jiwon and Song dongik for their photos, which transformed the mundane and familiar into something special. Technical directors, Yeo changwha and Kang taejin, devoted their skills and passion to fine-tune the sensors. Director Lee jaechul and Creative Director Lee joohoon also invested their best resources to create the video. All these people worked on this project, and they deserve such an honour. Last but not least, since the bridge is a public asset, the Seoul City also took a big role in making it happen. Many teams in charge of the public safety and bridge construction helped us with this project. I am truly grateful for Samsung Life Insurance and the Seoul City.

What was the response like?

To put it simply, overwhelming. Let me tell you one episode, as opposed to coming up with the number of Twitter or Facebook postings. As you can see from the video, many of the messages on the handrail are quite casual, instead of being serious against suicide. And there was one news article which questioned the effectiveness of messages for being half-joking. Thousands of people posted replies criticizing the article for being narrow-minded, as they do understand that the toughness of life is not cured by serious messages, and that the lightly but carefully crafted messages did heal their minds. I was extremely happy, fulfilled and proud to be able to communicate with people through the bridge.

What projects do you guys have coming up next?

There are a few works lined up, however I cannot say any details at the moment. The Bridge of Life was planned to prevent suicide. Likewise, other projects will also be planned to present problem-solving solutions. However I can certainly say these are all designed to change the world into something better. Thank you for your enthusiasm about the Bridge project.