'One' Campaign Expands Online

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The One campaign, which aims to raise Americans' awareness of global issues like AIDS and poverty, is making inroads online. Rich media firm Viewpoint has coordinated the donation and placement of $5 million worth of online advertising across the Web on behalf of the advocacy group.

The online component calls for people to sign up on a Web site to declare their commitment to dealing with global issues such as fair trade, debt relief, education, and health. It also has a viral aspect, asking people to spread the word about the effort. The online campaign is part of a larger endeavor -- which includes the widely publicized Live 8 free concert series -- that seeks to raise awareness in advance of the G8 summit of world leaders in Scotland next month.

To put together the creative, Viewpoint used video and still footage from an offline campaign produced by @radical.media, adapting it into rich media formats like banners and pre-roll units. Banners featured images of celebrity endorsers with text like, "One by One, we can start to make poverty history." Text also displayed the One.org URL.

Ad space was donated by AOL, 24/7 Real Media, MSN, Google, MSNBC, About.com, Burst! Media, Gamespot, Accuweather.com, Right Media, ValueClick, CBS.com, CBS News and UPN. Viewpoint says it's currently delivering 30 million online ads per day and hopes to serve a billion units before the G8 summit begins July 6.

Though publishers contributed inventory, Viewpoint served as the central coordinator for the effort. Employees have worked on the campaign during the evenings and on the weekends.

"I was afraid that if we got too many people involved, it wouldn't get done," Viewpoint CEO Jay Amato told ClickZ News.

Amato was motivated to take action after witnessing U2 frontman Bono's speech at the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design).