'Stories of change' Inspired by real residents' interviews, showcasing the power of empathy and respect in government advertising via an emotive film series for two massive urban redevelopment projects in New Taipei City.

Insight1: The swing between past and tomorrow

"I have a strong connection with the land," says one interviewee. "I can’t

bear to see this place been torn down," says another.

Insight2: Impossible to change

"We understand the need for improvement, but we have not succeeded in the past," explains one observer. Another says of their district: "Wugu is kind of like a wasteland, frankly speaking."

Taiwan is a society dominated by public opinion, and each 'urban renewal' project on

average takes more than 15 years. Local governments need to hold meetings and consult with residents for a prolonged period of time. The biggest challenge of reconstruction is not just the physical rebuilding of the city but the rebuilding of people's hearts. The situation calls for respect and understanding.

The New Taipei City Government (NTCG) is implementing two major reconstruction projects – Wenzaizun and Wugu Garbage Mountain. These projects cover a vast area and involve millions of residents who live in old and dilapidated urban spaces. Many residents have been looking forward to the reconstruction for a long time, but when facing relocation, their hearts are still filled with reluctance and doubt. How can we help this city progress and reduce the anxiety that accompanies change?

Government advertising in Taiwan does not have a great reputation. Known to be boastful, or heavily reliant on numbers or electoral candidates - it is not engaging and certainly not emotional.

Until now.

A traditional government policy campaign wouldn’t connect with residents to sway public opinion in favor of the rebuilds and relocation. Instead, we leveraged local insights to create two youthful stories that connected with the residents with empathy and understanding.

Insight1: The swing between past and tomorrow

Wenzaizun is a "iron factory village" with more than 6000 illegal buildings. In this dilapidated environment, many people are looking forward to reconstruction, while others are reluctant to leave the homes they have lived in for many years. This made them hesitant to move forward.

Insight2: Impossible to change

Wugu Garbage Mountain used to be an area with illegal dumping, high-crime rate. In the past 30 years, people believe it’s impossible to change.

Based on Taiwan's patchy track record of reconstruction efforts, many doubted the

government's capacity to realize the proposed changes as promised. This made them

unwilling participants in the scheme.

Based on these two insights, the video incorporates real interviews and dramatizes two

youth stories. We invited Golden Award Director Chin-Yen Yee and young, talented actors Huai-Yun Zhan and Chin-Yu Pan to apply dynamic style to evoke people's inner longing for the future.

EP.1 Yesterday And Tomorrow

Insight: The swing between past and tomorrow

Story:

Facing the upcoming relocation, the childhood sweethearts who grew up together started a conversation about yesterday and tomorrow. Tomorrow will always be able to carry the memories of yesterday as they move forward into the future.

EP.2 The Beginning of After

Insight: Impossible to change

Story:

A father and son, living a life of self-deception. Neither of them can face up to reality or believe that they have the power to change, until they both pick one thing to start with. We adapted the real stories to reflects the plight of the Wugu Garbage Mountain.

'Stories of change' Inspired by real residents' interviews, showcasing the power of empathy and respect in government advertising via an emotive film series for two massive urban redevelopment projects in New Taipei City.

The redevelopment of Wenzaizun and Wugu Garbage Mountain, thousands of illegal buildings and illegal dumping grounds. 'Stories of Change' film series aim to engage the public and win support for two massive urban redevelopment projects.

Many residents have been looking forward to the reconstruction, but their hearts are filled with reluctance and doubt. Based on these two insights, the video incorporates real interviews and dramatizes two youth stories:

We hope The Stories of Change series can comfort and encourage residents, make them move forward and pursue better future.

The biggest challenge in rebuilding is not rebuilding the city, but rebuilding the hearts of the people. At this time, what is really needed is not propaganda or persuasion, but understanding and respect.

Therefore, we decided to focus on people's emotions and tell stories!

Based on real interviews in the local area, they uncovered two attitudes that residents have towards change:

Insight 1: Swinging between nostalgia for the past and expectations for the future.

Insight 2: Not believing that the reconstruction will really succeed.

Based on these two insights, the video incorporates real interview cases and adapts two youth stories. We specially invited Golden Award Director Chin-Yen Yee and young, talented actors Huai-Yun Zhan and Chin-Yu Pan to use a youthful style to evoke people's inner longing for the future.

Dispensing with traditional propaganda, after the film series went online, we set a new record for the number of positive discussions in government ads.

3,000,000 views within a week, 110k likes, and 24% increase in NTCG’s Governance Satisfaction.

Rebuilding a city involves not only tangible buildings but also intangible emotions.

To make people change, we need a special kind of courage, called LOVE.

Today, Wugu Garbage Mountain has become a beautiful park, and Wenzaizun's Illegal iron factories have been torn down. Most residents restart their new life in an almost peaceful way throughout the process.