2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

This cross-platform multimedia mass communication national anti-bullying campaign led people to share their stories and get encouraged to speak up about bullying through a big number of channels that leads to the campaign eligibility in being integrated. Channels like: TV, radio, digital platforms (Facebook, Youtube and Instagram), National Child Helpline, outdoor billboards, publications, online articles, on-ground events and activations (at schools, camps, marathon and hypermarkets) distributing campaign branded giveaways and getting celebrities to join and voice their personal stories all under the same hashtags #ImAgainstBullying #???_??_??????

Background

Bullying is a worldwide phenomenon that takes several forms, including physical attacks and bullying among children and adolescents. In Egypt, 70% of students of age 13-15 have been subject to bullying by peers. The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) supported by UNICEF in partnership with Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MOETE) in Egypt and funded by the EU, planned to launch a multimedia mass communication national campaign #ImAgainstBullying to increase social awareness on peer violence and bullying; with the aim of sensitizing children and adolescents on the problem, providing empowering alternatives to ultimately reduce the acceptance of peer violence, enhance demand of child protection services and leading coordinated Ending Violence Against Children (EVAC) efforts in Egypt at different levels under the EVAC advocacy brand ‘Awladna’. The campaign was linked to the National Child Helpline 16000 as a referral mechanism for children, parents and caregivers seeking expert support.

Describe the creative idea.

Through this campaign we wanted to localize the concept of bullying through raising awareness against it, naming it in our own language and establishing it as an unacceptable and shameful behavior. Emphasizing on the fact that bullying does not have a grey area, its either black or white; its either bullying or not. There is no such thing as “child’s play”. Bassem a 13-year-old student finding himself in the middle of the bullying circle surrounded by bullies, bystanders and kids who are against bullying. In each copy we see the circle from a different perspective; from the Teacher's, the Family's and Bassem's perspectives. It was also very important to reveal a positive call to action in all the copies to motivate audience to take an action!

Describe the strategy

The cross-platform multimedia mass communication national campaign led the target audiences which are children and adolescents, ages 7 to 18 to share their stories and were encouraged to speak up about bullying through UNICEF’s social media Facebook and Instagram pages. The campaign communicated its positive approach message through more than 10 channels; 4 online films and infographics, 3 TVCs, 3 Radio Ads, 24/7 Child helpline, 108 outdoor billboards distributed in 18 governorates in Egypt, In-store communications done in Carrefour hypermarkets, more than 70 print and online articles spoke about the campaign in a direct way and tackling the behavior itself. Branded wristbands, t-shirts all carrying the campaign’s hashtags #ImAgainstBullying #???_??_?????? were produced as giveaways during events and activations related to the campaign. On ground, the campaign partners educated children about bullying through school activations and organizing camps. Even the national sports club supported the campaign by organizing a cycling marathon.

Describe the execution.

Before and during the creative process research and focus groups were set to make sure we are going in the right direction. In January 2018 we locked the creative output and directly proceeded with the shoot preparations and shot the Ads in Feb 2018. We casted hundreds of children for the main roles to find our main actors, scouted different schools around Egypt to choose our main location, designed the home at the school as a set so we don’t have to move to another location. The campaign included 3 TVCs, 1 infographics video, 3 online testimonies. In September 2018, It was broadcasted through TV, Radio, digital platforms, outdoor billboards as well as on-ground activities on a national scale. In its design phase, the campaign capitalized on UNICEF Egypt’s Ambassadors Actor Ahmed Helmy and Actress Mona Zaki who acted as faces and voices of the campaign.

List the results.

The target of the campaign was a reach of 80 million, which was surpassed to more than 97 million users on UNICEF digital platforms, with more than 4.4 million actively engaged with the campaign. The campaign videos reached more than 21.3 million views. The huge amount of online interactions with the campaign by children, teachers, parents and caregivers indicate that these audiences related to the campaign and were encouraged to speak up about bullying. Most importantly, we witnessed a smooth and natural rise of using the term “Tanamor” (the Arabic translation of bullying) across social media platforms, online and broadcast media. The National Child Helpline saw a surge in the average number of calls that reached 65,000 calls compared to the average 10,000 during the same period last year. Egyptian celebrities voiced their personal stories and stance against bullying in a video contribution as well.