UNMUTE

Silver Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleUNMUTE
BrandMOVEMBER
Product / ServiceSUICIDE PREVENTION
CategoryD02. Use of Branded Content created for Digital or Social
EntrantCUMMINS & PARTNERS Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation CUMMINS & PARTNERS Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Production REVOLVER/WILL O'ROURKE Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Sean Cummins Cummins & Partners Global Chief Executive Officer
Doogie Chapman Cummins & Partners Creative Director
Adam Slater Cummins & Partners Copywriter
Connor Beaver Cummins & Partners Art Director
Chris Moore Cummins & Partners Head Of Broadcast
Karley Cameron Cummins & Partners Broadcast Producer
Tom Ward Cummins & Partners Chief Strategy Officer
James Bennett Cummins & Partners Strategy Planner
Sally Kingi Cummins & Partners Senior Integration Director
Kara Brumfit Cummins & Partners Senior Integration Manager
Johnny Corpuz Cummins & Partners Head of Connections Strategy
Calvin Lyons Cummins & Partners Connections Strategist
George Groves Cummins & Partners Connections Strategist
Will Millar Cummins & Partners Media Manager
Monique Gerada Cummins & Partners Media Manager
Georgia Pedersen Cummins & Partners Digital Media Manager
The Glue Society The Glue Society Director
Michael Ritchie Revolver/Will O'Rourke Managing Director/Executive Producer
Josh Mullens Revolver/Will O'Rourke Executive Producer/Head of Projects
Jasmin Helliar Revolver/Will O'Rourke Producer
Isabella Vitelli Revolver/Will O'Rourke Producer
The Glue Society's Luke Crethar The Glue Society Editor
Scott Stirling The Glue Society Colourist/Online Editor
Jason White Revolver/Will O'Rourke Director of Photography
The Glue Society Studios Revolver/Will O'Rourke Post Production
Otis Studios Otis Studios Sound Studio

The Campaign

Men spend 40% more time watching videos online than women. And of all the forms of content shared by men, how-to-videos are consistently among the most popular. This insight led us to a simple idea: to create a how-to video that teaches men how-to speak up. Knowing that 85% of all Facebook video views occur without sound, we decided to create videos that, without sound, appeared to look and act like any other how-to film. But when the viewer unmuted the video, and listened instead of reading the subtitles, the twist was revealed; it was the man in the video who really needed help.

Creative Execution

To ensure maximum impact, we released the films on World Suicide Prevention Day. We created a separate video for each of Movember's 3 biggest markets: USA & Canada, Australia and NZ and the UK. The films were supported with a small amount of paid media, but were designed primarily to be easily shared by key influencers and media publications. To make the films appear as though they were user-generated, we deliberately employed low-key production design and casting. Everything down the to the post copy on the videos was designed to be unbranded, with the Movember logo at the end of the film the only recognisable branded element. This was key for ensuring authenticity. We also sent influencers instructions asking them to post the videos as if they were sharing their own how-to content – ensuring they did not give away the surprise twist.

The video became one of the most viewed pieces of content in Movember’s history; with our hero film becoming the number one trending video on Reddit for 24 hours. By the end of the campaign, the three videos had amassed a combined 3 million views, and was shared by media outlets such as Mashable, Relevant, UniLAD The Australian Newspaper and The Irish Times. Most importantly though, the campaign has currently directed 58,000 people to support services on Movember.com. Each one of these interactions is the start of a potentially lifesaving conversation.

It's often said that the greatest limitation of online, social and mobile video is the fact that, most of the time, it's consumed it without sound. But instead of this medium limiting our message, we actually found a way it could enhance it. Knowing that last year, over 200 million hours of how-to videos were consumed online, we created a our own series of handy tips for men. But unlike the usual, masculine how-to films we're used to seeing in our news-feeds, this piece of content demonstrated another kind of tip –how to speak up when you're struggling.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Last year, over 200 million hours of how-to content was consumed online, with the majority of views coming from our target audience – masculine men who'd rather seek help online than ask for it directly. It also helped that a change in Facebook’s algorithm has seen its video function rise in importance – making it the world's second largest video publishing channel. Given that our budget was small, we knew we needed to create content with an interesting twist, allowing us to generate shares and increase viewership beyond our paid spend. With this in mind, we decided an innovative use of Facebook video, based around a type of content we know men love to watch, was an approach with a high likelihood of success. And by asking them to 'unmute', we were offering men a modern, actionable message that was clear, masculine and within the language of the social platform.

Links

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