Brief:

• App-based startup Lime unveiled a campaign to connect its brand with a higher purpose as the scooter-rental industry faces complaints from city residents. The "Unlock Life" campaign aims to show how Lime has had a positive effect on people's lives by giving them more mobility choices, per a company announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
• The campaign includes three short films that will roll out this summer. Lime introduced the first two, a 90-second "brand anthem" film that aims to show how Lime's scooters open up a world of time-saving possibilities for its customers, and a four-minute short called "Carlo's Story" that profiles a Lime customer in South Los Angeles who uses a scooter to venture beyond his neighborhood.
• Lime worked with The Lab, a creative incubator at production and management company Anonymous Content, to develop the campaign, which will later include podcasts and editorial content. The Lab is helping Lime establish an in-house digital media shop called Movement to create content that will launch next month.

Insight:

Lime's "Unlock Life" campaign aims to show the transformative power of its app-based service to help customers save time commuting, open up areas of cities that were out of reach and enjoy greater freedoms. "When you unlock a Lime, you're unlocking life," a voice-over in the "brand anthem" spot says. By telling a more expansive brand story, Lime can expand awareness among current and potential riders as position itself as the top-of-mind service for the crowded scooter-rental space.

Lime lets riders unlock dockless scooters using a mobile app before dropping them off for future riders. The industry has spawned a variety of startups inspired by ride-hailing pioneer Uber. The startup's campaign comes as scooter companies face complaints about injuries, traffic law violations and blocking sidewalks with parked scooters. Dissatisfaction with scooter companies has inspired internet memes, including an Instagram account run by a seller of scooters that stokes hostility toward rentals. Lime plans to start a "Lime Academy" this summer to train users on safety, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The scooter-rental app is among the companies working to tell a more expansive brand story with short films on video-sharing sites like YouTube. Carmaker Mercedes-Benz has created similar films in the past year, including a five-minute spot this month to show its new CLA Coupe for millennial car-buyers. Nike debuted two video series in the past year for IGTV, Instagram's standalone video app, to showcase athletes and share inspiring stories about everyday people who participate in a sport. Anheuser-Busch beer brand Natural Light developed a humorous campaign aimed at finding a summer intern while also telling the story of the brand.