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[title]It's easy to peg Khunying Chodchoy Sophonpanich as an heiress and a socialite, but that would be terribly unfair to the only daughter of Bangkok Bank founder, Chin Sophonpanich. The former PR maven put her privileged status and network to good use decades ago when she made a stand against one of the biggest social problems in the city: littering. In 1984, she established the Thai Environmental and Community Development Association (TECDA), and came up with the Magic Eyes campaign, an anti-litter project that was so successful that people still remember the jingle that was used to promote it.
Chodchoy is celebrating the 36th anniversary of the project with a relaunch, one that’s still targeted at a younger audience, but one that’s aimed at broader objectives. We sit down with her and found out how environmental awareness has changed over the last few decades, and which lessons from the past still work today.
Focus your campaign on kids; they adapt to new ideas better.
Years of working as an activist have taught Chodchoy that, oftentimes, it’s wiser to target your campaign to kids. “[When I started Magic Eyes] I went to talk to a friend who’s an ad exec, and told him that I wished to kick off a campaign that would stop people from littering. He said, that it was impossible,” she recounts.
“Later, I noticed how focused my kids were while watching cartoons, so I returned to him with a comic concept targeting kids. He instantly said yes and agreed to help. We did a marketing survey and brainstormed. The result was the Magic Eyes project, which targeted small kids, and we wanted these kids to influence their parents and adults.”
If there was anything else this campaign proved, it’s that people tend to remember memorable things from their childhood. Kids from the ’80s and ’90s still recognize the Magic Eyes logo and jingle even 30 years later. “I guess [the campaign] was very much influential,” Chodchoy says with a smile.
She adds that this truth is still relevant even today. Case in point: Her grandchild became quite serious about not using single-use polypropylene food boxes and plastic straws from a very young age.
On-ground communication is equally important for mass marketing.
For years, Magic Eyes enjoyed massive amounts of popularity because of its TV commercials were aired on major channels, powered by influential partners. But TVCs weren’t solely responsible for Magic Eyes’ success.
“I asked many people how they learned [about the Magic Eyes campaign], and they mentioned in-school education. Teachers voluntarily taught students about the project, and that’s one of the reasons behind our success.”
Chodchoy adds that, even though Magic Eyes commercials haven’t been seen on TV for years, the organization maintains its on-ground activities in schools across the city.
What worked yesterday won’t necessarily work today.
Chodchoy points out that kids of different generations don’t think the same and that what may have been successful in the past may not fly with today’s audience. This is the reason why they’re relaunching Magic Eyes this year in a fresher, cooler way.
“We’ve come up with a new campaign that goes beyond anti-littering. We relaunched [the Magic Eyes song] as a rap song, and injected lots of info about recycling and more.”
The new Magic Eyes song is written and sang by famous rapper, Daboyway. The new campaign also includes Magic Eyes papiermâché dolls that have been hand-painted by a number of known Thai artists.
When you start, start small.
When Chodchoy started Magic Eyes, other environmental activists questioned why, of the many environmental problems, she decided to focus on what they deemed was a small and insignificant issue.
“People were talking about greenhouse gasses and all. They said I was just another heiress with a hobby.” Chodchoy shrugged off their criticisms and pursued her project anyway.
“I do not call myself an environmentalist; I’m a public service figure. I started Magic Eyes because I wanted to tell everyone that if you want a cleaner Thailand, then you should start with something everyone can do; that you, yourself, can do.”