VIDEO CALLING, FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T USE COMPUTER

 Wearing my 'rhc advantage' agency hat, I have recently had the pleasure of working with Steve McNulty, the founder and CEO of Visbuzz. Steve is a man on a mission:  a mission to end loneliness. 

The subject of loneliness has been high profile of late - and deservedly so.The statistics regarding the number of older people living alone, the lack of social contact that they have - and their feelings of isolation - make depressing reading. 'Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way', as Pink Floyd sang. 

Add to this to the educational and social mobility enjoyed by many people in the 40s, 50s and 60s, meaning that they are unlikely to live anywhere near their elderly parents, now in their 70s, 80s and 90s. 

So, we have on the hand lonely elderly parents, isolated from their busy - and on the other, their guilt-ridden adult children. Enter McNulty - a successful businessman, with an elderly mother himself - and his brainchild, Visbuzz. 

Visbuzz is cloud-based software supplied to the elderly parent on a tablet computer. All the user has to do is to touch the faces of their chosen contacts shown on the screen of the tablet, in order to hold a video call with them. That's all they have to do - and that's all that the tablet will do. 

We have worked with Visbuzz to create a brand identity, press advertising, promotional materials and a website. I've enjoyed developing a brand communications strategy from scratch (apart from the name Visbuzz) and writing copy which - I hope - makes the concept seem as logical, attractive and simple as it is intended to be.www.visbuzz.com

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