The Draft brief for Wild Thing July 6th-8th

1. [Introduction]
Filmmaker DAVID BOND thinks Mother Nature needs a helping hand getting kids to
forget the distractions of the modern world and wake up to the benefits of the natural
world. Fewer children are spending time in nature and if kids don’t start to re-connect
with nature now, who will be the future custodians of the natural world?
He appoints himself the Marketing Director for Nature and with the help of experts on
nature, kids, marketing and advertising he sets out to persuade apathetic consumers,
and his family, of the benefits of this amazing, free, wonder-product.
The Nature Film is a 90-minute major feature documentary film project being made with
Channel 4 and the BRITDOC foundation for cinema, television, film festivals and public
screenings to be released summer 2013.
David has approached Good for Nothing to see how the community can help with his
quest.
We have decided to point our next London gig solely at this challenge.
To help David develop a campaign for nature and seed a people’s movement for nature,
to get nature back into people’s lives.
So, we present Wild Thing, July 6-8th, at a secret London location.
[The Brief]
[Background Context]
Nature is facing massive challenges.
Engagement with its products and services are in freefall decline.
With the kids market, a core audience and a critical one for its long-term survival,
engagement levels with Nature are at the lowest ever.

2. For many kids, Nature is an irrelevant brand.
Nature also has major supply chain issues.
Its essential resources, air, water, soil, trees, plants, and its unique biodiversity is under
immense stress, deterioration and decline through the pursuit of endless economic
material growth.
Finally to add even more tension and uniqueness to this brief, Nature’s products and
services are essential for the survival of all human life, the provision of a healthy and
stable biosphere, the operating system for all life.
Imagine a brand whose future success was actually essential for human life to
flourish, regardless of social class, age, nationality, colour, race or gender.
[The issues and challenges]
With the global spread of mega brands and materials based consumer culture, along
with always on TV and high speed internet connectivity, gaming and the endless stream
of new shiny screens and gadgets, kids around the world are growing up with little
experience of nature.
Moving through childhood without the delight, inspiration and awe of playing, inventing,
learning and doing in wild spaces, be they parks, ditches, climbing trees, swimming in
the sea, or heading down the woods.
According to UNICEF in the US and UK, we have the unhappiest kids in the developed
world. With plenty of food and no wars to worry about - what's going on?
UNICEF believes the biggest problem is that our kids are not spending enough time
playing outdoors. The lure of the indoors is creating a generation that has no connection
with nature. So why are kids so out of touch with the wild?
Mega brands have got every corner of our lives covered. We don’t have time for Nature
anymore.
Furthermore growing up in increasingly sanitised and urban environments, there is less
and less opportunity for kids and adults to engage with wildness and all things nature.

3. Alongside this is widespread parental fear about letting their children explore nature and
find solitude in wildness. More often than not this is driven by media hyped fear of safety
concerns and ultimately abduction.
[What are we launching?]
We’re working with David Bond, the self–appointed Marketing Director for Nature to re-
brand Nature and create a campaign to re-engage and re-connect kids with all things
nature and wild.
[What’s the ambition?]
Massive.
To make Nature ‘cool as’ to kids
To get kids curious, excited and engaged with outdoor play, discovery, learning,
hanging out, doing, making, inventing, stewarding and re-connecting with nature, wild
spaces and places in cities and beyond.
To get parents to get their kids out, to open up to a bit more ‘risk’ in outdoor and wild
play and discovery.
Ultimately to build a bottom up people’s movement for Nature.
[Why should they believe us?}
Nature’s been around for 3.8 billion years. Nature has already designed and created
everything that humans have done or are attempting to do. Nature provides everything
that we depend on to survive. Most leading technology brands are now looking towards
nature for learning and inspiration.
[Who are we trying to communicate with?]
Kids and their parents primarily
[Where and how will we communicate with them?]

4. Nature is everywhere. We need to find smart, interesting ways and places to talk to kids
and engage them with the joys of nature and wild play.
If we’re going to tackle the mega brands, we also need to develop a campaign using
above the line channels for TV, outdoor and press.
We need to find creative ways to make nature interventions in our increasingly urban
landscapes.
We also want to develop ideas and tools which can start to seed a longer-term
movement for engagement with nature.
Think hi tech hi nature.
How can we use data creatively from biodiversity, climate, wildlife, natural history,
biology and beyond to prototype web based ideas, games, apps and digital services
which can engage a wired generation in exploring, engaging and ultimately loving
nature?
How could the mobile phone for example help get more kids exploring and less parents
worrying about them being free-range?
[Specific communication challenges]
What can we make and develop, communications and ideas that can help nature
compete with endless consumer novelty, shiny gadgets and advertising and marketing
messages?
How do we encourage wild play, discovery, experimentation and curiosity with nature?
How do we re-engage kids and their parents in the inventiveness of the outdoors?
How might we help create a new culture of tree house building, making camps and dens
and overcome fear of safety?
How could we encourage parents to allow their kids solitude and time alone with nature
and wildness, to feel safe with play that isn’t controlled and organised, where kids could
wander out of sight...?

5. How might we nudge kids to become active stewards and nurturers of all life versus
passive consumers of endless material based experiences?
How can we make all of this as relevant to urban kids and urban communities as much
as those living in more rural places?
[How should we feel to them?]
Creative, diverse, wild, adventurous, connected, spontaneous, mysterious, awesome,
magical, powerful, peaceful, safe,
Deliverables
[What will success look like?]