The Campaign

Akanksha, an NGO, provides free education to over 5000 underprivileged kids. They needed teachers but didn't have money for advertising. The objective was to increase awareness about their need for teachers. Since Akanksha's recruitment drive is aimed at people who are educated and upwardly mobile, we aimed to increase conversations around Akanksha's cause on social media. Insight - Can you say 'NO' to kids when they do something cute for you and ask for a small thing in return? 'Message Barter' brought together Akanksha's kids, India's biggest celebrities and millions of their fans. The kids spread promotional messages for celebrities and asked them to spread one for them in return. Almost all the celebrities responded and spread the message that Akanksha needs teachers, to all their fans. And in doing so, they turned into Akanksha's brand ambassadors, for free. This success of this idea was based on the following considerations from a PR point of view - 1. Making sure the celebrities somehow saw the activity videos (from amongst all the requests they get every day) 2. Follow up once the celebrity likes the idea and is willing to complete his side of the barter, and then check, guide and manage how they spread Akanksha's message. 3. Their tweets/messages had to be timed, preferably in line with the buzz around that celebrity, to attain maximum impact. 5. Engage with celebrities who really liked the idea and got them to pledge support for future Akanksha programs.

The Brief

Akanksha, an NGO, provides free education to over 5000 underprivileged children. They didn't have enough funds for advertising their need for teachers. Since our target audience was the upwardly mobile educated youth, we focused on social media. And who better to spread our message on social media in India than celebrities. Points researched to shortlist celebrities- 1. Celebrities active on social media with most fans/followers 2. Who would be in the news during the recruitment drive. 3. Matching celebrities' values/perception to that of Akanksha to avoid improper associations. 4. A list of major bloggers/influencers to help RT the tweets.

Results

- Almost all the celebrities responded - Over 18 million people were reached - Coverage worth almost 1 Mn USD at no cost - Traffic to Akanksha's website went up 4 times - Teacher applications went up 2.5 times 2 of the celebrities - namely Hrithik Roshan and Chetan Bhagat, have pledged to support future campaigns by Akanksha too!

Execution

The campaign started on 5th September - India's Teacher's day. The first barter was conducted during Farhan Akhtar's biopic 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'. The second barter was conducted during superhero actor Hrithik Roshan's Krissh 3. The third during the new book release of India's best selling author Chetan Bhagat. The next barter was just before Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan's TV show, KBC - India's 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' The next was with top actor Shahrukh Khan, and his movie 'Chennai Express'. The last barter was with cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar - while he was promoting his league team Mumbai Indians. The campaign lasted for 3 months - started just before and then overlapped with Akanksha's recruitment phase.

The Situation

Akanksha, an NGO, didn't have enough funds for advertising their need for teachers. Since our target audience was the upwardly mobile educated youth, we decided focus on social media. And who better to spread our message on social media than celebrities, in a celebrity-worshiping country like India. Hence PR.

The Strategy

We planned the activity depending on which celebrity would be in the news at what time during the recruitment drive. For example, we did the barter with India's most loved superhero actor Hrithik Roshan, just when his new movie was releasing. This ensured each of the barters got amplified due to the buzz around those celebrities, both online and offline.