BUY OUT SLAVERY

TitleBUY OUT SLAVERY
BrandA+E NETWORKS ASIA
Product / Service'ROOTS' TV SERIES
CategoryA05. Media & Publications
EntrantGOVT SINGAPORE Singapore, SINGAPORE
Idea Creation GOVT SINGAPORE Singapore, SINGAPORE
Media Placement GOVT SINGAPORE Singapore, SINGAPORE
Production GOVT SINGAPORE Singapore, SINGAPORE

Credits

Name Company Position
Aaron Koh GOVT SINGAPORE Executive Creative Director
Katherine Khor GOVT SINGAPORE Associate Creative Director
Sean Lee GOVT SINGAPORE Copywriter
Louis Li GOVT SINGAPORE Art Director
Anand Daniel GOVT SINGAPORE Account Director
Jolene Mok GOVT SINGAPORE Senior Account Executive
Alan Ng A+E Networks, Digital Webmaster
Tan Zi Jie A+E Networks, Digital Community Management
Jeremy Seow SPRG Managing Director
Teo SueAnn SPRG Program Manager

The Campaign

Slavery is not just a thing of the past, or something that only happens in shows. To raise awareness of modern slavery, we decided to put up 'slaves for sale' on dozens of partnered fair trade e-commerce sites. By making a powerful statement about slavery (both historical and modern) through online shopping, customers were confronted with the unseen truth of fast fashion and unethical labour practices.

Creative Execution

In partnership with The CNN Freedom Project and Not For Sale, our partnered NGO, we put up 'slaves for sale' on more than 40 of our partnered fair trade e-commerce sites. To support the campaign, shoppers could add a slave to cart and checkout, with $1 of each online transaction going to Not For Sale. By sharing their purchases on social media, even more people were directed to a microsite that housed information about the campaign, how people could support it, as well as details of the show. 70 celebrities in the region lent their voice to the cause, amplifying our campaign and spreading awareness of the show even further.

Results

Partnered e-commerce site traffic increased by 84%, while the content shared from these businesses reached more than 30 million people, generating 50 million impressions, and raising $54,667 for our NGO within 3 days of the campaign - funds that went to building local economies and fair trade business ventures in the region. Through the campaign's awareness, Roots debuted as the no.1 show in its time-slot in Asia, garnering views 512% higher than primetime average. HISTORY channel (through A&E Networks USA) will be implementing the campaign in USA, Germany, Hong Kong and Philippines, with more countries to follow.

Buy Out Slavery is an idea that directly targets our specific audience by engaging with them through an inventive use of a frequently used medium, and one that has never been associated with the promotion of a HISTORY channel show.

You can't make people watch a show they don't care about. As a story taking place during historical slavery in America, 'Roots' is a niche and highly contextual show for an Asian audience (age 20-45). So to make the show matter, its themes of slavery had to hit closer to home, through a medium the region is extremely familiar with, and one that we all use every day – online shopping.

Links

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