The Campaign

Raising media and public interest in nuclear security in a positive way is a tall order when talking about the 126,500 nuclear weapons that could be made from the alarmingly large amounts of highly enriched uranium and plutonium scattered around the world. Attended by 53 heads of state and four international organizations, the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit was the largest-ever global security summit called to discuss international cooperation against nuclear terrorism. Boosting media and public interest was achieved by positioning the event as a “Peace Summit”, using simple but positive language, making complex messages clear by using visual material, appointing celebrities as honorary PR ambassadors and releasing a theme song performed by a Korean pop star. Months of meticulous strategic and scenario planning followed by smooth and accurate execution resulted in a successful hosting that saw the March 26-27 summit attended by some 3,700 journalists from all over the world. In fact, the event was praised for being extremely media friendly and generated coverage that was 90 percent positive in tone.

The Brief

Against a backdrop of disinterest among the general public, campaign objectives were to: - Heighten relevance of the event. - Provide high level understanding, with a clear and concise agenda. - Coordinate the needs of media from all over the world to maximize positive coverage. - Expand engagement from local public to the entire world via foreign media.

Results

The summit won positive exposure worldwide, thanks to media interest amounting to some 3,700 journalists covering more than 100 national press events. A total of 20,286 stories were carried by Korean newspapers between October 2011 and end of March 2012, while the three summit days generated 2,350 stories in foreign press titles and an impressive total of 13,500 articles and reports in media over the subsequent three days. In addition, a total of 884 local and foreign media titles ran feature articles, interviews and items arising from a media roundtable event, while 60 e-reporters made 6,890 SNS posts. Engagement with a wide cross-section of Korean society was highly successful in making the summit relevant, involving the active participation of 80,000 citizens. A contest to find the ideal official logo and slogan for the summit attracted 2,500-plus entries, while 11,701 people made UNICEF donations, in response to the Naver online peace campaign.

Execution

A major thrust came from an official theme song performed by one of the PR ambassadors – a Korean pop star. Simply entitled “Peace Song”, the production was aired via channels that included broadcasting organizations, café franchises and a UCC contest. Summit messaging was reinforced by a variety of celebrities acting as PR ambassadors. Their on and offline communications and media interview activities gave the event a familiar and friendly face. Media coverage was maximized on and offsite via large-scale events, supported by 27 volunteer media liaison officers, while visual materials and print collateral helped to paint a picture of the summit’s importance. Among the 750 volunteers recruited from the general public, e-reporters played a viral PR role by creating and sharing content via SNS. Meanwhile, an arrangement with Naver, Korea’s largest search portal, reinforced the “Peace Summit” labeling by inviting people to make UNICEF donations as a contribution to world peace.

The Situation

The Seoul event was organized to evaluate achievements and reinforce implementation of the “work plan” produced by the first Nuclear Security Summit, held in Washington in 2010. While the Fukushima disaster in Japan turned many against the idea of nuclear power, a large proportion of the general public remained indifferent to nuclear terrorism, which is a sobering threat to global security. An added challenge to raising interest and support from the public was that Korea’s political situation, global economic crisis and familiarity with hosting global events made the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit look like “just another conference”.

The Strategy

The Seoul event was positioned as a “Peace Summit”, labeling that was easier to remember and created a positive, friendly image more likely to generate public interest and understanding. Direct and indirect opportunities such as online events and offline campaigns were designed to increase public engagement and make the summit more relevant to audiences. Work on raising public interest began months before the event, when a contest was organized to produce the official logo and slogan for the summit, while local university students were engaged by staging a mock nuclear summit 100 days before the official event, with another to follow later. Visual imagery was employed to make easier reading of a heavy-going and complex agenda. Statistics, photos, videos, movie clips, soap operas and cartoons were used to convey key messages in a way that could be absorbed by people of all ages.