Save the Children and Ad Council Launch "Every Beat Matters(TM)" Campaign with Unique Soundtrack

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Launching today, Save the Children and Ad Council's Every Beat Matters^™ campaign draws on the power of music inspired by children's heartbeats to give Americans new ways to help millions more children survive.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/58026-ad-council-save-the-children-every-beat-matters-onerepublic-feel-again 

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120910/MM70727 )

Multimedia public service ads featuring the creation of OneRepublic's new single "Feel Again" debut today and will be distributed to more than 33,000 media outlets nationwide.  The ads--created pro bono by ad agency BBDO New York and filmed by Academy Award-nominated directors Sean and Andrea Fine--show how children's heartbeats collected in remote villages of Malawi and Guatemala inspired a hit song that can help bring hope to children around the world.  

A portion of "Feel Again" proceeds will benefit Save the Children's Every Beat Matters^™ campaign, which aims to bring basic lifesaving care to children around the world.  Every year about 7 million children die before their 5^th birthday--mostly from preventable and treatable causes, including pneumonia, diarrhea and newborn complications.

"We're excited to team up with Save the Children to let people know we all have the power to help children survive," said Ryan Tedder, lead singer of OneRepublic. "Feel Again is an opportunity for us to be the voices for these children. We hope the song they inspired will now inspire others to join the Every Beat Matters™ campaign."

The PSAs drive to www.EveryBeatMatters.org where people can download the song and take other actions to help save children's lives.  The website also features personal blogs of frontline health workers trained by Save the Children to prevent and treat the major causes of child death in their own communities.  Such workers, including community health workers and midwives, are often the only link to health care for children living beyond the reach of hospitals and clinics in developing countries.

"Health workers prevent a child's death somewhere in the world every 3 to 4 seconds - but we can save many more children by better supporting health workers," said Mary Beth Powers, the Director of Save the Children's campaign for child survival. 

The Every Beat Matters™ campaign includes TV, radio, print, outdoor and digital PSAs as well as a robust social media program that will broaden the reach of the campaign via Facebook at facebook.com/everybeatmatters and Twitter @EveryBeat.

"Every Beat Matters^™ is an innovative and groundbreaking extension of our efforts with Save the Children to deliver more lifesaving healthcare to children in need throughout the world," said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council. "We are very grateful to BBDO and OneRepublic for their extraordinary contributions to the campaign, and I believe this creative will have a significant impact in empowering Americans to get involved."  

"This isn't just an execution. It's a movement," said John Osborn, President and CEO, BBDO New York. "The result is something we've never seen before. It's an idea rooted in something so simple--a heartbeat--but also so massive, it has the potential to touch everyone. It's certainly touched everyone at BBDO."

The Ad Council began working with Save the Children and BBDO to improve child survival through supporting local health workers in 2010. In the two years since launch the campaign has received more than $60 million in donated media.

Per the Ad Council model, the new Every Beat Matters^™ PSAs will air and run in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.

Save the Children
Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in 120 countries, including the United States.  Save the Children works to achieve immediate and lasting change in children's lives by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. In times of acute crisis, Save the Children mobilizes rapid assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters.  Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

BBDO New York
BBDO's mantra is "The Work. The Work. The Work."  Every day, people in 289 offices in 81 countries work job by job and client by client, to create and deliver the world's most compelling commercial content.  BBDO was named 2011 Global Agency of the Year by both Adweek and Campaign magazines and, for the past six years in a row, has been recognized as the world's most creative agency network in The Gunn Report.  BBDO is also the number one ranked network across all marketing communication platforms in the Directory Big Won and has been named Network of the Year at Cannes five times.  In 2011, BBDO was named the world's most Effective Agency Network in the inaugural Effie Effectiveness Index.

BBDO is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE-OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.

The Ad Council
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has affected, and continues to affect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives. For more information, please visit www.adcouncil.org.  You can also visit www.facebook.com/adcouncil or follow the Ad Council on Twitter @AdCouncil.

SOURCE The Ad Council