Mindshare, the global media agency network that is part of WPP has partnered with Rexona, a Unilever-owned brand, along with Google to help disabled people navigate around Jakarta.
The partnership encompasses raising awareness of the issue of mobility for diasabled people in the city, providing a real technological solution to help people move around and access more of the city, while engaging the public in the cause to provide contributions to the campaign.
As part of the campaign, Rexona has built Gerak, the first voice-activated mobility assistant application powered by Google. Gerak uses the latest Google Cloud AI tools such as Speech API and Dialogflow, to create a voice and text-based conversational interface on mobile for users with disabilities. It allows users to know which accessible places they should go to in advance based on their needs as well as how to get there. Anyone can contribute to make Gerak smarter by providing accessibility data about their location by joining Google Local Guides, a global community of explorers who share tips, photos, and new places with one another.
Through a partnership with Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading on-demand transportation and mobile payments platform, disabled people can also book a GrabGerak car directly that will take them to their chosen destination. Since the launch on April 25th, 2018, Grab have rolled out a fleet of 118 disabled-friendly vehicles with trained drivers available for the service.
To promote the service, a series of videos will raise awareness about the issue and highlight the impact that Gerak can have on the lives of disabled people through personalized stories.
Mindshare has also worked with Rexona to launch community run ‘Mapathons’ – with members of the public adding wheelchair accessible areas and services from Gerak. In addition, Rexona will run a series of Gerakathons – hackathons that will bring together Google developers, users with disabilities, and technology to build solutions that address the gap in accessibility and usefulness of technology for people with disabilities. One of the goals of the movement is to empower people to build products that help the disabled community in their daily lives with the overall aim being to create a true movement that grows across Indonesia.
“Aligned with Rexona’s brand identity, we are committed to invite everyone to keep moving with no exception. Although this application works for the disabled, our hope is to get everyone contributing to the cause by providing information on disabled-friendly places through the Gerak application; the more people that contribute, the more we can help the disabled. Beyond this, we’ll also have more initiatives like Mapathons and Hackathons where everyone can participate. Our hope is that this becomes a true movement for movement,” says Ira Noviarti, VP Personal Care Unilever Indonesia.
“We are excited to use the latest Google AI-powered technology to create tools such as the mobility assistant Gerak, making it easier for people with mobility challenges to navigate cities like Jakarta. Movement for Movement shows how businesses can use Google technology to provide solutions for and with the community in areas where accessibility is lacking and help solve the various difficulties that disabled people face every day,” says Veronica Utami, Chief Marketing Officer, Google Indonesia.
“At Mindshare, we love driving this kind of collaboration for our clients like Unilever. Leveraging each partner’s strength, Google with technology and Grab for mobility, we are able to deliver a one-of-a-kind solution that has never been done before and solves a real issue in Indonesia. Mindshare believes in planning for purpose where brands can truly make a difference to people’s lives. We couldn’t be more proud of this initiative,” says Crisela Magpayo-Cervantes, Head of Digital Mindshare Indonesia.
