2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

We wanted to give the empty plates voices and let them speak about hunger on a platform where people see millions of plates filled with delicious meals every day — Instagram. People who expected to see the usual food Instagram photos saw empty plates that tell a very different story — a story of hunger, millions across the globe are living with every day.

Creative Execution

We wanted to reach out to the audience in a unique way, that is why we asked the calligraphers who came from diverse calligraphy schools to use empty plates as canvases. The calligraphed plates were sent out to the food influencers who shared the plates on Instagram. Some influencers posted images of themselves carrying the plates, and some of them talked about the problem in a video. We gave them the freedom of speech to talk about the problem in their own personalized manner. Those who logistically could not receive the plates posted the designs on Instagram with a personalized caption, the messages carried a human touch and were highly effective as well as very aesthetically pleasing. The campaign lasted for 2-3 weeks, some influencers took the campaign further to other social media platforms. More influencers asked to be a part of the campaign.

Results

The @WFP_MENA Instagram followers’ count increased by 300%. The campaign posts received over 1,000,000 impressions organically. The campaign reached to 700,000 Instagram users organically with no paid advertising. The bond between the WFP and the food blogging community was strengthened. The empty plates’ voices reached out to hundreds of thousands of online users and more donations were made to feed the hungry.

The campaign’s great interaction managed to build and prolong the relationship between the online food blogging community and the United Nations' World Food Programme. The challenge was to create a campaign about hunger in a positive tone that can be appealing for Instagram users and reach many people without using any budget. The WFP wanted to dedicate every penny towards those who are most in need of food. Artists and calligraphers from different backgrounds added their own personal touch to create artistic plates that were sent to influential food bloggers and chefs, these plates were posted on their Instagram accounts and the engagement from their followers lead to achieving amazing results.

Since we had no budget, we needed to reach the maximum amount of people organically through using the influence of the most renowned food bloggers as well as calligraphers. The campaign was primarily targeting Instagram users who are already following these Instagram food bloggers. To highlight this problem in an appealing and eye-catching way, we wanted calligraphers to incorporate calligraphy art in writing beautiful call-to-action messages that are deeply rooted in our culture and traditions. These beautifully written messages encourage the audience to offer and preserve food in order to sustain life. The food bloggers and calligraphers are joining their hands together to help in creating a bond between food lovers and the World Food Programme.