#BEATME

Silver Spike
Title#BEATME
BrandUN WOMEN
Product / ServiceANTI-DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS
CategoryA07. Talent
EntrantBBDO PAKISTAN Lahore, PAKISTAN
Idea Creation BBDO PAKISTAN Lahore, PAKISTAN
Media Placement BBDO PAKISTAN Lahore, PAKISTAN
PR BBDO PAKISTAN Lahore, PAKISTAN
Production AZADFILM Karachi, PAKISTAN
Production 2 THE VIDEOGRAPHERS Lahore, PAKISTAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Ali Rez Impact BBDO / BBDO Pakistan Regional Creative Director
Assam Khalid BBDO Pakistan Creative Director
Faisal Durrani BBDO Pakistan Managing Director
Hira Mohibullah BBDO Pakistan Creative Director
Aamna Rahim BBDO Pakistan Senior Creative Manager
Huma Mobin BBDO Pakistan Creative Manager
Haroon Rashid BBDO Pakistan Senior Art Director
Haseeb Akram BBDO Pakistan Art Director
Moiz Khan BBDO Pakistan Digital Creative Group Head
Idrees Hussain BBDO Pakistan Account Director
Jamayal Tanweer BBDO Pakistan Digital Business Director
Shah Zeb Hussain BBDO Pakistan Art Director
Insiya Syed Insiya Syed Photographer
Mian Aleem Ali BBDO Pakistan Production Designer
Zohaib Kazi Zohaib Kazi Producer
Natasha Ejaz Audio DNA Music Director
Atif Pasha BBDO Pakistan Production Manager
Maida Azmat Maida Azmat PR Coordinator
Maram and Abroo Maram and Aabroo Salon Make up
Nabila Nabila's Make up
Ali Rez Impact Impact BBDO / BBDO Pakistan Creative Director
Assam Khalid BBDO Pakistan Strategic Planning Director

The Campaign

UN Women decided to do the opposite of what was expected from a women’s rights campaign. In response to the ruling of men being allowed to beat their wives, we built the first anti-domestic violence campaign in the world that INVITED men to beat women. But at things they were good at. We cleverly startled the viewer by using the double meaning behind the term “beat,” transforming it from a violent, submissive suggestion to an empowered, inspiring one. The campaign showcased strong Pakistani women with the script not only building on their strength, but cleverly relating it to various forms of abuse. A famous singer therefore challenges verbal abuse, saying “Beat with me your voice”, a marathon winner challenges physical abuse saying “Beat me with your feet”. And so on.

Creative Execution

We launched on social media with the powerful online film during International Week of Elimination of Violence Against Women, following it with online documentary personal stories of these women's achievements and struggles. Seeded online posts and memes drove our message further. Every influential woman casted for this campaign had a specific skill set for which they were picked, and carefully matched with a form of abuse. The campaign featured a child chess prodigy, a boxing champion from one of the most violent neighborhoods, a Pakistani climber who has conquered 7 summits, the resilient journalist who took on fanatics, the football team captain and the UN Women ambassador, amongst others, thus covering different levels of mental and physical skills, and demographics. Online videos also featured live activation content in which men were challenged to beat a track star's 100m record time, or play a squash champion.

With a $0 media budget, the video racked up 2 million organic views in the first week alone(i), 296 million earned impressions(ii) and an estimated $118 million in earned media. Celebrities, talk show hosts and parliamentarians - both men and women - took up the issue. The topic of violence against women started trending in Pakistan(iii), while also being showcased on prominent global media, contributing to domestic pressure. The Pakistani government has worked in parallel to set up the largest violence against women centre in South Asia, and implemented a new women protection law (iv) The conversation became viral and we noticed a cultural mind-shift: portrayal of women in the media has started to change from weak to powerful. Ultimately, UN Women changed Pakistani men’s perception about women and inspired a large number of Pakistani women to stand up to abuse; women who now know they are unbeatable.

In a first-of-its-kind, we built an anti-domestic violence campaign that actually INVITES men to beat women. But at things they are good at. Starting with an online film launching our campaign message and featuring powerful women with unbeatable skill sets, the campaign included online documentary content featuring real life stories, and of live ground activations. The launch film was played in multiple media, including online, cinema, the UN headquarters in NYC, and violence shelters in Pakistani villages.

We had discovered a study conducted by the government claiming that 34% of Pakistani men thought it’s okay to beat women, but even more surprisingly 42% of women thought the same, which is why it became a challenge to not only talk to the men but also the women. Throughout media, TV plays, ads, and films, the role of women is limited to the stereotypes where she’s the imperfect, incapable powerless victim. Even anti-domestic violence campaigns in Pakistan made the woman feel weaker, further adding to the problem. This was the first time the scenario had been flipped to represent the Pakistani woman as a strong, empowered achiever who is able enough to challenge a man rather than be a submissive, weaker person she’s often made to believe. *(i) http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR290/FR290.pdf

Links

Video URL