The Objective
In honour of the International Day to End Violence Against Women, international NGO ActionAid decided to launch a campaign to raise awareness about the lack of support for women in danger of domestic violence in Italy. And to reach a new younger audience with this important message, they came to TikTok for help.
The Solution
Inspired by the true story of a woman who pretended to order a pizza to escape her partner’s violence, the ActionAid campaign, called "Call4Margherita," aimed to deliver digital and real pizza boxes to the wide public and decision makers to raise awareness and call for effective policies and trackable funds to help support services for women.
To generate a wider conversation about the campaign and get young people talking, ActionAid launched #Call4Margherita as a Branded Hashtag Challenge with a Branded Effect.
Supported by official creators who explained the campaign and its aims clearly and authentically, ActionAid made use of TikTok’s most popular format to create a viral moment that engaged with users right across Italy, calling on them to share the important message that women need better tools than pizza to escape violence. The Branded Effect also added ActionAid branding and a call to action to the videos, boosting brand presence for the organisation and helping to convey their message even clearer.
ActionAid chose to promote the campaign further with an In-Feed Ad, displaying an official video from the campaign in TikTok users’ For You page as they explored their personal feeds.
The Results
Running between 24 - 30 November 2020, the ActionAid Branded Hashtag Challenge successfully engaged thousands of young people across Italy, spreading its important message around International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
More than 11 million video views were recorded during the campaign, with an impressive 1,800 videos created using the ActionAid Branded Effect.
The In-Feed Ad reached even more users, guiding thousands of potential participants to the challenge page, and further supporting the campaign and its message while generating an impressive engagement rate of 15.5%.
Barbara Antonelli, Head of Communications at ActionAid Italia, said, “The collaboration with TikTok was a great challenge for ActionAid. We already had in mind to include the platform in our organisation's digital communication strategy in 2020, with the aim of reaching audiences that we do not reach on other platforms, with traditional media or in physical spaces. The fluidity of followers on a platform like TikTok really represents an opportunity for an organisation like ActionAid that not only wants to raise awareness but also to listen and talk.”
“The # Call4margherita campaign was in fact an opportunity not only for brand awareness but also for raising awareness among the public on a theme that has always characterised our mission: a change in perception of the urgency of the issue of violence against women. Being able to do it with creative content and tone of voice different from those we usually use on other platforms has been exciting and has also led us to experiment with ways outside our comfort zone,” she said.
