• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 19, 2011

With its proven ability to deliver brief, compelling messages to consumers on the go, digital out-of-home is a powerful tool for advertisers -- but also recommends itself for charitable causes seeking to raise awareness about urgent social causes. In this vein, a dozens of DOOH networks have banded together to create a collective, DOOHgood, to help nonprofits get their messages out by donating free, unsold ad space and producing video spots. DOOHgood also provides a central distribution point and archive for the videos and related material.

DOOHgood was formed following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March, when the collective produced video ads that ran on dozens of networks, delivering millions of free ad impressions for Red Cross societies in several countries. The collective also ran ads supporting relief efforts in the wake of tornadoes in the U.S. South and Midwest.

Now DOOHgood members in Canada are mounting another charitable initiative to raise awareness (and even better, money) for famine relief in the Horn of Africa, where 29,000 children have already died, a further 600,000 children are threatened with starvation, and at least 12 million people require food aid, most of them in Somalia.

The first 15-second spot was produced for the Canadian Humanitarian Coalition, a coalition of several relief agencies which are also pooling their resources for famine relief. DOOHgood is also canvassing American ad agencies to produce more ads for the campaign, and any agency with "a few free studio hours" is invited to get in touch with DOOHgood (as are any American DOOH networks which want to join the collective). The DOOHgood Web site is available here.