2020 Silver Best Use of Data and Insight

Agency: RAPP

Client: Mermaids

Campaign Name: Re-educating Google

Campaign Overview

Tackling the highly sensitive finding that transgender children are twice as likely to contemplate suicide if their parents don't accept them.

Strategy

Many parents aren't equipped to deal with their child coming out as transgender. With nowhere else to turn they seek advice on Google. Sadly, they often find misleading, transphobic content instead of the support they desperately need.

To ensure parents saw the right advice at the right time RAPP took on the Google algorithm. The agency mapped out the treacherous journeys that led parents to mermaidsuk.org.uk, the UK's leading charity for trans children. RAPP identified the common behaviour patterns, terms and phrases parents search for, and unearthed two key insights:

• Googling obvious search terms like 'transgender' or 'gender dysphoria' brings up transphobic content. These are often searched towards the end of parents' journeys.
• Unexpected terms like 'bullying' or 'toys' show up much earlier in their journeys but are no less relevant - and when searched they don't bring up transphobic content.

Creativity

The insight was used to build a bank of questions parents needed answers to, from “Is being transgender just a phase for my child?” to “What should I do if my transgender child is bullied?”

RAPP ensured parents received honest answers to these questions when they turned to Google for help - critically before they encountered transphobia.

Unexpected terms that parents searched early in their journeys were used to tag honest, heartfelt content the agency created.

Insightful, supportive advice from real experts was offered. This included the headteacher of a school with numerous trans pupils answering “What should my transgender child's school be doing to help?’, and a trans teenager tackling “How do I help my transgender child tell their friends?”

More parent search journeys enabled further analysis, allowing RAPP to fine-tune tags.

Results

During the campaign Mermaids ranked higher than the NHS for the search phrase “How do I support my transgender child?”. Key results included:

6,057 organic views, the equivalent of reaching the entire audience 16 times, or giving 400 hours of life-saving advice.

Taking an average ceiling rate cost per view of £2, the earned media for the activity was £12,114.

Search has seen the lowest bounce rate of all of Mermaids' channels and communications: just 43% compared to an industry average of 60% to 70% for non-profit websites.

Most importantly, when parents search for help Google now responds differently - the search engine has been turned from hateful to helpful.

The Team

RAPP - Oliver Easthope, Copywriter - Cathy Crocker, Art Director - Jon Pollard, Strategy Director - Jess Geary, Senior Channel Strategist - Amy Marais, Senior Account Manager - Al Mackie, Chief Creative Officer - Jade Thomson, Copywriter