2016 Bronze Best writing

Agency Arthur London

Client Plan International

Campaign summary

How a video with no budget influenced the UN’s 15 year plan

Campaign overview

Girls continue to be the single most excluded group in the world, facing discrimination and abuse simply for being young and female.

Plan International’s goal was to put ‘girls’ rights’ at the top of the UN agenda as the global Sustainable Development Goals were set for the next 15 years.

Strategy

With a global supporter network but limited financial resources and no media spend, Plan International needed to reach and mobilise the widest possible audience through owned and earned media.

They sought to empower girls who suffer most from gender-based discrimination to deliver a campaign to give them a voice through a powerful piece of film.

When girls from the world’s poorest communities are encouraged to think beyond their perceived limitations, there is no limit to their potential. This was the theme of a shareable film.

The film embodied the message it was trying to communicate: ‘See what happens when you unlock the power of girls’. The authenticity and inclusiveness of this approach quickly struck a chord with supporters and politicians alike, leading to mass take-up and sharing of the idea, and ultimately influencing the UN decision makers as the set the Sustainable Development Goals for the next 15 years.

Creativity

The film was a genuine co-creation between client, agency and girls from countries around the world.

A young performance poet from London created a powerful set of words to be performed by Plan International supporters from around the world. Her response hit the brief exactly: her writing gave the girls an articulate and passionate argument for girls rights to be high on the UN agenda.

By commissioning the words of a girl who understands and shares the concerns and challenges faced by the girls that Plan International represent, The Girl4President film gave a voice to the very girls so often excluded from the conversation about their own future. To help supporters across four continents create a seamless and powerful film, the poet also featured in a ‘model’ film, speaking her own words.

This was then circulated to Plan offices overseas. Each local office contributed their own segment that was edited in London.

Results

The campaign achieved a Global Reach of more than 29 million and the video achieved the highest viewing figures of any Plan International film to date - reaching 1.8 million people on Facebook alone.

In Spain, the campaign caught politicians’ and influencers’ attention in the run up to their general election, prompting extensive media coverage.

In the US, actress Sophia Bush shared the hashtag and showed the film at the UN General Assembly where she hosted a panel of speakers including First Lady Michelle Obama.

Further tweets and shares of #Girl4President images included those by UNICEF, UNGEI, UN Women, Girl Effect, Global Partnership for Education, Girl Up, Malala Fund and Department for International Development. Influencers who joined the campaign included Sarah Brown, Klossy and Toni Garrn. Above all, girls’ rights has been included as one of the UN’s key Sustainable Development Goals for the next 15 years.

Team

Andy Kelleher (Creative Director) • Lyndsay McMorrow (Creative Director) • David Fitzduff (Copy Writer) • Neil Bazell (Art Director) • Hannah Wright (Business Director) • Michelle Booth (Digital Director) • Lara Palmer (Senior Account Manager) • Keisha Thompson (Performance Poet)

Contributors

Lyrix Organix (Sourcing performance poet and assiting with creation of ‘model’ film)