The Campaign

We translated an endangered language to help save an endangered species. And gave every single person the ability to speak elephant. To reignite passion for this fading cause, we inspired people to feel for elephants in a completely new and novel way. Hello in Elephant is a world-first human-elephant translator – part utility, part sharing generator, part donation mechanism. Powered by four decades of research into elephant communication and artificial intelligence and voice recognition technology, it gave people a way to translate text, emoji, and their voice, into the corresponding elephant emotion or expression. The idea launched on World Elephant Day where other conservation organisations were hijacked to change the conversation from poaching to the growing problem of human-wildlife conflict.

Execution

Launched on World Elephant Day, an online film introduced the idea, demonstrated the humanity of elephants through their language, and pushed people to the campaign site. The website gave everyone the opportunity to speak in elephant, donate and adopt an elephant via sheldrickwildlifetrust.org, and learn about the causes of elephant population decline. Over the course of the month further assets - videos, imagery, gifs, sounds - were pushed out across DSWT’s social channels. The campaign was covered in 53 countries and generated a media reach of 230 million

In just one month, with no paid/donated media, the campaign generated global impact, garnering 400 million impressions across 53 countries, worth $6.53 million in earned media. And it wasn’t just covered, it was revered: “Incredible new tool translates human phrases into elephant calls.” via Mail Online; "The translator is a delightful site.” via Cnet. The idea was so powerful that 20 of the world's leading conservation organisations - including the UN, United for Wildlife, and Born Free - got involved, shared the idea and message, and their influence was used to start to change the conversation beyond solely poaching. Objective 2. Revenue growth of 34% Donations increased by 34%. Not only did we stop the dramatic slide but the growth represents a 234% uplift above the target. Objective 3. Adoptions increased by 35%. Hello in Elephant created an uplift in new supporters that are a critical to DSWT’s future. They’re not only new advocates for the charity and the cause but also a steady income stream.

The Situation

The idea launched on World Elephant Day where other conservation organisations were hijacked to change the conversation from poaching to the growing problem of human-wildlife conflict. In just one month, with no paid/donated media, Hello in Elephant generated global impact. And was so powerful that more than 20 of the world's leading conservation organisations got involved, shared the idea, and their influence was used to start to change the conversation beyond solely poaching. An unknown issue was brought to the fore with the majority of our media coverage covered the human-conflict / habitat-loss situation we needed to tell the world.

The Strategy

An interactive experience was created to let people experience the hidden humanity of elephants to create empathy and reignite urgency to save them from extinction. We had no paid or donated media available to create reach for the idea. DSWT had a following of supporters, but not enough scale to generate the impact needed to reignite the passion to save elephants and bring the real issue to the fore. We therefore looked to hijack the platforms of people and organisations leading the anti-poaching discussion. The idea was seeded with influencers and leading conservation organisations, priming them to share the campaign and create a burst of noise on World Elephant Day that helped shift perception. This meant we not only got exposure for the idea but got a greater chance to educate about the unknown situation.