Every year, more than 3000 children go missing in Pakistan, a large number of whom are kidnapped and trafficked quickly to various parts of the country, with countless cases of abuse and mutilation. There are few mechanisms to aid in the recovery of children, including the fact that traditional media to raise awareness does not penetrate into remote regions.

Roshni Helpline is an NGO that is dedicated to recovering missing children and reuniting them with their families. As a non-profit, Roshni needed a unique communication tactic which would help them with their mission. Berger Paints also has a vision to contribute to social good through a relevant use of their products.

Our brief was to come up with an exceptional idea that would not only connect directly with audiences in raising awareness about missing children, but would also directly help in recovering them.

To address the problem, we knew we would need a device that was non-stationary and highly mobile: a traditional poster of a missing child in one location will not help as much as a message that travels through the country.

"Truck Art" is a unique form of art found in Pakistan: goods trucks traveling across the country are customarily painted and decorated with elaborate floral patterns, animals, icons, portraits and calligraphy. These brilliantly painted works of art often include portraits of famous personalities - actors, sportspersons, military chiefs, and politicians.

This was the unique local media platform we used: instead of famous personalities, we painted portraits of missing children on these trucks in the style of truck art, with a helpline number. We collaborated with conceptual artist Samar Minallah Khan and regional trucking companies to ensure that not only would the art look authentic, but would be properly disseminated.

We collaborated with a renowned artist who in turn worked with local "truck artists" - painters who specialise in the unique skill of illustrating on trucks. Using paints supplied by Berger Paints, the artists replicated the last photograph of the missing child and painted the backs of these trucks with the portrait, a helpline number and information about the child.

Trucks were selected to ensure the routes would be covered in every direction possible, starting from the original location where the child went missing; the vehicles drove through both urban and rural areas.

We started with a first wave of 20 trucks, and painted the portraits of the most recently reported cases. The campaign plans to paint a total of 100 trucks in the next six months.

Within only the first 4 weeks, three children have been recovered and reunited with their parents due to callers noticing the trucks - and mentioning so on the call. 1,015 calls were received on the helpline in these 4 weeks from 39 different cities in all parts of Pakistan, of which 104 were solid leads for missing children.

The trucks have covered almost all parts of Pakistan, making hundreds of thousands aware of the campaign and Roshni Helpline: a beacon of hope for parents who search for their missing children but have nowhere to turn to when the police ignore them.

Local police have acknowledged the efficacy of, are now collaborating in implementing, this new technique.

For the Berger brand itself, visits to their Facebook page rose by 395% in the first week alone.