WeTransfer campaign urges creative workers to limit screen time

Brief:

WeTransfer launched a global brand campaign to highlight how its cloud-based file-sharing service helps digital workers free up their time for creative pursuits, per an announcement. The "Please Leave" push includes a 60-second spot that shows a woman experiencing the joys of living away from screens while writer Roxane Gay narrates a poem that says, "Get out of your tech and make things happen."
WeTransfer accompanied the campaign with its 2018 Ideas Report, which found in a survey of 10,000 people who work in creative industries that deadlines, work and distractions from the internet are most likely to get in the way of ideas. Creatives are more likely to get ideas from real-life experiences like talking with friends, travel, nature, books, magazines and going to galleries than from blogs and social media, the report said.
WeTransfer worked with media agency Noble People and production house Stink Studios on the commercial, which will run on Hulu, Reddit, Pandora, Wired and other platforms as part of a 10th anniversary campaign to show how WeTransfer helps 50 million creatives worldwide, per Adweek.

Insight:

While WeTransfer is a software company that requires customers to be in front of a computer screen to use its services, its "Please Leave" campaign aims to show that it understands how workers in creative industries come up with new ideas in the analog world. The filter bubbles of search engines and social media mean that online users mostly see "the recognizable, the agreeable and the non-challenging," Rob Alderson, WeTransfer's vice president of content and editor-in-chief, said in a blog post by way of an explanation of why being online can limit creativity.

WeTransfer's commercial highlights inspiration from real-world experiences, although its survey also found that the top place for creativity was at work. Almost half (47%) of creative workers said they get their best ideas while sitting at a desk or in a studio, compared with commuting (29%), lying in bed (23%), bathing (17%), exercising (15%) or hanging out at a coffee shop (13%). While the workplace may be the top place for creativity, the survey indicates that inspiration can strike in offline settings.

The effort is the latest sign that the idea of putting limits on screen time, which Apple incorporated into last year's release of its latest mobile operating system, has gained traction amid studies showing technology's negative effects on mental health.

WeTransfer's campaign also highlights its values of putting people first at a time when social consciousness and authenticity are significant brand attributes that many consumers, especially millennials and Generation Z, seek. Throughout its history, the company has donated 30% of its full-page advertising inventory to artists, freelancers and other creatives to showcase their work.