Why is this work relevant for PR?

In a year when violence against women took up more of the conversation than ever, UN Women Australia connected with their intended audience of Australian girls aged 11-17 using TikTok and a targeted PR strategy to create awareness, encourage participation, generate a positive conversation around women's safety, and forge a new association with the organisation amongst younger women and girls. A demographic whom up until this campaign had a low awareness of UN Women Australia and what they stand for – women’s rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Background

In Australia, by age 15 one in 6 girls have been stalked or followed. In a year when women’s safety took up more of the conversation than ever, UN Women Australia (UNWA) wanted to provide a practical way for girls to feel less vulnerable and take control of their experience. The theme for International Day of the Girl was ‘Digital Generation’ and UNWA tasked us with finding a way to reach girls in their element through a new creative campaign. Our challenge was that awareness of UN Women Australia was extremely low amongst that age group, there was no prior association. So we had to create a captivating campaign that put UN Women Australia and women's empowerment on the map, connecting UNWA with this new audience.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

#EmpowerMoves is the first TikTok dance made of self-defence moves, launching on International Day of the Girl. Created by working with a self-defence expert Rita Matty from SheFightsBack, and a choreographer Karla Mura, the dance was cleverly based around a sequence of four simple easy to remember self-defence moves. We launched this organically as a TikTok dance trend, prompting users to jump on board and learn the moves for themselves, before revealing in detail the moves behind the dance. The choice of format and medium was intrinsic to the idea, leveraging a native behaviour. We needed girls to get involved in a way that felt positive and empowering rather than fearmongering, so the tone, aesthetic, and energy of the creative, and the authenticity and relatability of the instructor was paramount.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

The theme for International Day of the Girl (IDOTG) 2021 was ‘Digital Generation’ and with over a quarter of Australia's Generation Alpha, and 20% of Gen Z on TikTok (skewing female) it was the perfect mobile platform to educate and empower young women. We needed to do this without being didactic or preachy – and speak in a language they understand.  We intentionally released the campaign on TikTok without mentioning UNWA to get girls on board, before the big reveal. The issue of gender violence isn’t a simple one, #EmpowerMoves wasn’t intended to solve the problem entirely, its aim is to create awareness and help girls feel less vulnerable and more empowered. The unique campaign assets were created by us in collaboration with our talent, shared organically and in TikTok media, as well as shared by participants on TikTok as part of the Hashtag Challenge.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

Phase 1- We launched the dance on TikTok a few days before International Day of the Girl (IDOTG) via our choreographer Karla Mura and other influencers on the platform making it look like a typical trending dance. Phase 2: The day before IDOTG we released our Hashtag Challenge, revealing to the world that hidden within the dance was a selection of self-defence moves created by martial arts expert Rita Matty of She Fights Back. On the Hashtag Challenge we released breakdown videos that talked you through each move and how to successfully execute them. On IDOTG we extended the campaign via channels, partnering with entertainment pages such as Nova and Girlfriend to reach our target audience. Media were briefed and interviews ensured further support in TV and radio which ran UNWA branded assets to further raise awareness. Influential Australians, like Grace Tame, participating ensured the challenge and message spread further.

List the results (30% of vote)

The dance took off, the song became number 3 on the viral TikTok chart, and Australian of The Year Grace Tame was among the 7,847 people globally who created and shared #EmpowerMoves videos. We achieved 500 million views of the Hashtag Challenge page (177% above benchmark), 130 million video views worldwide, plus a reach of 62.5 million people worldwide - including 68% of all monthly active TikTok users in Australia. The #EmpowerMoves campaign video had a completion rate of 100%, 81% higher than TikTok’s benchmark for their ‘One Day Max’ placement. Social and media coverage delivered a ROI of 4,924%, with 40 pieces of coverage and over 300,000 media impressions. #EmpowerMoves opened UN Women Australia to an entirely new audience, generating 6,890 followers and over 100,000 likes on their posted videos – reaching their goal of growing awareness among a younger audience on IDOTG

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

Through ethnographic research we found that our target age group of girls, aged 10-17 had a new way to hang out with friends – it wasn't hanging out at the mall anymore, but learning and filming TikTok dances to share online. This was a unifying way girls were spending time after school and on the weekend, a way for them to shape their identity and share it with their own safe community. We tapped into this by creating an easy to learn dance and hid it within TikTok for girls to learn, then revealed it was actually some basic self-defence moves that will help start the conversation about female empowerment at a time when vulnerability and risk was the dominant narrative in the media.