Brief Explanation

The 'Child for Sale' integrated campaign for the charity CSAF was based on the insight around how child traffickers don't see children as humans but as products. By using promotion and activation tactics normally reserved for selling consumer products, the juxtaposition of selling children this way managed to grab the public's immediate attention. Drawing them in before revealing the charity's mission to aid prevention and help end the trade. Shop windows in shopping malls throughout the city were taken over with 'Child for Sale' promotion messages and cages used to incarcerate the children placed on show. Charity representatives also took to the streets selling children with child menus, sales language and price promotions more akin to a used car salesman in order to grab attention before revealing the charity's mission.

The Brief

Child trafficking is still a problem in China but the public have grown apathetic so the objective was simple. Generate awareness for CSAF and shake the apathy. Instead of asking for sympathy as most charities do, inciting hatred for the perpetrators was used as the strategy instead. This was achieved by showing how the traffickers treat children as products rather than humans, and using sales language and price promotions more akin to a used car salesman. This juxtaposition immediately grabbed the public's attention. This was made more relevant by launching the campaign around shopping environments on International Children's Day.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Days after the launch, the campaign generated unprecedented online search volume, with searches for 'Child Trafficking increasing by over 20X on the same period from the previous year. The infomercial received over 50,000 views and over 5,000 mentions in discussion forums and followers increased by over 2500.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

CSAF is a charity tackling the problem of selling children so the the creative execution, showing how a child trafficker perceive children as products for sale was highly relevant. The promotion plan was to use tactics normally reserved for selling consumer products, to sell children in order to grab the public's attention. Drawing them in before revealing the charity's mission to aid prevention and help end the trade. Shop windows in shopping malls throughout Shanghai were taken over with 'Child for Sale' promotion messages and cages used to incarcerate the children placed on show. Charity representatives also took to the streets on the busiest shopping streets selling children with child menus, sales language and price promotions more akin to a used car salesman in order to grab attention for the charity. And to make these activities even more poignant, it all took place International Children's Day.