#LazyBastard

That’s exactly what was going through my head this morning as the alarm clock was buzzing away for the 4th time, my bike sitting downstairs waiting for some love and affection and the roads empty waiting for my speed.

Needless to say, the bike ride didn’t happen and yes I am a lazy bastard, but what did happen was me thinking about an idea from years back that still to this day makes me think “I wish I had done that”.

This was not only a great idea but it used one of the most inspirational and grueling races in the world. 

The Tour de France. 

As you may or may not know, this race is a celebration of the human spirit and the “never give up” attitude we as human beings have.

A perfect fit for the Livestrong Foundation which celebrates the same sentiment in it’s fight against cancer. They had a powerful platform in the tour itself which was supported by it’s founding  ambassador, a cancer survivor and at that time the worlds greatest rider the tour had ever seen.

Then they went and combined an age old tradition of the tour that showed support and encouragement touching so many hearts in the process.

Introducing Chalkbot by Nike & Livestrong.

What I love about this idea is how the team took the tradition of chalk writing along the route of the tour. Then they made it possible for everyone in the world to be able to participate in this tradition by showing their support for loved ones who “never gave up” when it came to their fights against cancer.

They not only developed and created the Chalkbot to physically spray the messages on the route of the tour. They took all the complication out of participating with the idea and made it easy to submit your messages. 

During the tour every sports station, every news channel in the world featured the messages of hope, live and some even participated. Every press shot that appeared on every back page had the messages front and centre and the message of “never give up” was everywhere. 

It was beautiful, it was touching and it was human.

They received over 36,000 messages via twitter, sms, web banners as well as the Livestrong website. The messages of hope, support and encouragement were spread across the entire route of the tour, televised over the 3 week period.

Another nice little touch they did was the addition of being able to keep your message for all time, with a keepsake photograph which was taken in real time as the message was completed on the road, GPS tagged and sent to your inbox to remember long after the tour had finished.

This idea was so widely celebrated by the public, it not only won every award on the planet but picked up the coveted Cyber Grand Prix at Cannes. This idea showed us a new way forward where at the time digital was limited in it’s thinking to the screen. They smashed that forever and showed the convergence of digital and the real world but did it with emotion and relevance.

That is why at 4:45am this morning I was laying there in bed, smashed alarm clock, thinking

#IwishIhadDonethat