Valenzuela is one of the most flood-prone cities in the Philippines, with up to 97% of it classified as severely flooded during the last major typhoon.

Each time disaster strikes here, the most immediate needs are always the same: spine boards and rafts or boats. There’s too few of them, and often too far away. To save lives, these solutions need to be deployed much faster.

The mandate of our Client, the government of the City of Valenzuela, is to look after the well-being of its citizens - more so during trying times. Our task is to find a way to help the citizens of Valenzuela City to cope better against flooding disasters.

When typhoons loom in the horizon, outdoor advertising is usually the first to go. As soon as the weather bureau releases a bulletin regarding incoming typhoons, it’s standard operating procedure for outdoor media operators to roll up the tarps signages until the skies clear.

On the other hand, rescue equipment is the last to arrive. There’s a limited amount of them and there’s not just enough to cover the entire city. Due to narrow, flooded roads, it takes forever for help to arrive, if at all.

What if, instead of getting rid of them, we can use the advertising spaces as something useful even in times of disaster?

Speaking to the entirety of Valenzuela City, one of the most common sights in this highly urbanized area is outdoor advertising. If we can make the medium the message, we will be in a position to communicate to the whole city. The ubiquity of outdoor signages ticks plenty of our boxes - there’s many of them, they cover even the narrowest streets, they’re highly visible, and they’re easy for the public to access.

For the pilot pieces, we started with Marcos Highway, the most widely-used street in the city. But that is just the beginning as Project SAVE is easy to scale up - with expansion to other cities already part of the ongoing discussions.

Introducing Project SAVE - Signage & Adspace Versatile for Emergencies - creating media spaces that serve the dual purpose of advertising and first response/rescue. The structures can be converted into boats, rafts, and spine boards by citizens themselves within a matter of minutes, even without the supervision of trained responders. As they are deployed in recognizable outdoor media spaces, they are now present in easy-to-access spots in the city, reaching even the narrowest alleys.

As long as there is a SAVE device nearby, there is a much greater chance to save lives.

Almost 300,000 people spot our signs daily. Intrigued with the prospect of it, Project SAVE generated over 250 volunteer sign-ups within 3 hours of launch. At least 4 other cities have confirmed that Project SAVE will be implemented in their areas as well.

Major brands like McDonald’s have already sponsored and purchased our sites, enabling us to create more of these devices and install them in other parts of the city. The project is widely lauded by city officials, marketing bigwigs and public servants.

Most importantly, since its implementation, there have been zero flooding casualties in Valenzuela City.