The Campaign

Change the law by changing the language: Co-creating a new word for ivory. We invited Hong Kongers to give "ivory" its own unique Chinese characters. A new word that would clearly differentiate "tooth" from "tusk" and communicate that buying ivory cost an elephant its life. "The Last Word" was a public education and petition drive effort in one. We invited public submissions for a more accurate word for ivory, judged by an expert academic and artist panel. The new word chosen compromised "elephant" and a brand new character which blended "heart" and "tooth", emphasising the critical nature of tusk to an elephant's life. Petition signatures were collected throughout this education and submission process. Media coverage of the campaign was core to raising our audience's awareness of the issue. Presentation of the final petition lobbied the Government to announce new legislation banning the ivory trade in Hong Kong.

Execution

Chinese media editors in education, environmental, lifestyle and politics were targeted to cover the campaign while our website and Facebook page worked to educate, invite entries and gather petition signatures to lobby the Government. WWF school education programs engaged teachers, students and parents supported by a homework assignment to create a new word for ivory. Young adults were targeted through Facebook content including a video of our campaign ambassador inviting word submissions and petition signatures. A microsite gathered petition signatures and new word submissions on a digital sketchpad. Tailored media stories were pitched targeting legislators through political editors. WWF made direct political representations to identified legislators. In February’16, our panel of linguists, education experts and artists chose the new word for ivory, one that means tusk, not tooth. We are submitting the word now to Chinese dictionaries, ensuring official and permanent acceptance of the character in the Chinese language.

In January 2016 the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C.Y. Leung, announced a total ivory trade ban in Hong Kong. This represented complete success against the lobbying and legislation objective. But equally important was HOW we achieved this ban. Legislation without changing public attitudes would have been a hollow victory, potentially even driving the ivory trade further underground. Against our strategy of changing public opinion, our final petition count was over 70,000, beating the 60,000 target. This result was fuelled by significant media outreach which achieved 5.9 million impressions, covering 80% of the Hong Kong population. In post campaign research over 50% of past ivory buyers now stated they wouldn’t repurchase after learning the trade killed elephants. Empowering people with the facts and allowing them to provide the solution permanently changed Hong Kong people’s attitudes for now and generations to come, potentially saving the last remaining elephants from extinction.

The Situation

We used Earned Influence to drive public opinion and submissions that helped lobby the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to change legislation and ban the ivory trade. The plight of African elephants killed for ivory is geographically and psychologically remote for our audience. We used a Chinese language-based concept that relied on influencers, media and social media to provoke submissions and petition signatures. The results pressured the HKSAR Government to announce a ban on the ivory trade.

The Strategy

We identified the most passionate target audience: local Chinese-speaking children/young adults. Vocal, driven to improve Hong Kong’s global image, unafraid to challenge the Government, they admire celebrities who’ve earned Chinese national pride. Facebook is their main media channel. “The Last Word” was a public education and lobbying effort in one. We invited public submissions for a more accurate word for ivory, judged by an expert academic and artist panel. The new word chosen comprised “elephant” + a brand new character which blended “heart” and “tooth”, emphasizing the critical nature of tusk to an elephant’s life. LOBBYING STRATEGY: Change public opinion through education to gather 60,000 petition signatures supporting an ivory trade ban in Hong Kong. This petition would be presented to the Government of the HKSAR to pressure them to introduce new legislation. Our STRATEGY tackled the root cause – the Chinese characters for ivory - with an education drive.