A digital advertising platform that pays people to watch ads

The platform pays users to watch ads, and allows them to use the money to support charities

Spotted: Digital advertising often seems like an annoyance for those being bombarded with ads. Any many readers will be familiar with the experience of looking something up online, only to find ads for a related product following them around. Now, advertising agency WeAre8 has come up with a plan to disrupt the digital ad industry through a platform that pays people to watch ads, and donates to charity.

The platform works via an app. People who want to participate download the app and can sign up to be notified when there is an ad they might be interested in. Users watch the ad, answer questions, and within 30 days anywhere from 5p-20p is deposited into their WeAre8 wallet. The money can then be used to pay a mobile phone bill, sent to a PayPal account, or donated to any of the more than 50 charities set up on the app.

The app also includes exclusive content around particular themes, such as ‘Our Precious Planet’, ‘Mental Health’, and ‘International Women’s Day’. The agency uses a ‘sustainable ad buying engine’ and promises that 55 per cent of every pound advertisers spend will be shared with users and charities. A further 5 per cent goes into a creator fund to develop unique content for the apps’ social feed.

WeAre8 hopes to be more than an advertising app – it aims to democratise digital advertising by putting people and charities, rather than corporations, at the heart of advertising. Sue Fennessy, Founder and CEO of WeAre8 explains that, “People across the UK and the world are under more economic pressure than ever before and the WeAre8 technology brings money and power back to individuals in a transformational way all while uniting them to help solve the world’s biggest issues.”

Recently, a growing number of ad firms and companies have been asking themselves whether advertising can be made to do good, as well as sell goods. Some of the innovative advertising ideas we have covered at Springwise include a florist’s campaign that encourages men to talk about mental health, and a Reebok campaign that helps users create ad hoc basketball courts just about anywhere.