Why is this work relevant for PR?

With a budget of zero dollars, Walk Like a Woman was a not-for-profit campaign relying entirely on the generosity of passionate individuals, companies and media outlets, who donated time, space and influence, to earn PR and help start a national conversation around women’s safety. It was picked up by major national radio stations who donated airtime and devoted segments to discussing it. It had dedicated articles in all major newspapers and was discussed on TV. The campaign achieved close to a million dollars in earned media and suppliers donated $115,000 in media space, leading to visits to Plan’s website

Background

In recent years several high-profile murders in Australia’s major cities have put the issue of women’s safety at the forefront of public consciousness. This environment of fear has led authorities and media personalities to suggest that women should change their behaviour to feel safe, ignoring the fact that women were already living in extreme caution. Research by Plan International confirmed what we suspected - to repair this culture of fear, it was men who needed to change their behaviour. But it’s hard to change behaviour when you can’t understand or don’t consider there’s an issue. The brief was to create a national conversation around female safety with an objective to encourage men to be more aware of how woman are feeling at night and we needed to do so with impact through earned PR channels creating a national conversation that would result in behavioural change.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

During research, we noticed many women said they would never wear headphones when walking alone at night – not willing to be so unaware of their surroundings. By contrast, men had no such worries. This helped to inspire the method to reach them, turning their safe space into the experience recognizable to so many women. A 360-degree Spotify track replicated the sensation of walking home alone, with voices calling out from the dark and even the racing heartbeat that accompanies many womens’ journeys. The partnership took Walk Like a Woman to a mass audience. Spotify changed their rules, allowing the soundscape to run as a real track, by a real artist. We then promoted the artist using street posters, radio ads and influencer marketing. Listeners were then directed to the Plan website with simple behaviour changes they could make immediately.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

The target audience were Australian men skewed towards a younger demographic. The strategy was to give them a realistic experience of of what it's like to walk alone as a woman at night, to understand why they needed to change their behavior. To reach them in an unexpected and powerful way, we partnered with Spotify, who allowed us to disguise our serious message as a real track by a real artist. This gave us a way to target men at times they would likely be walking home at night, adding another layer of realness to the experience. We then commenced a massive PR initiative, calling upon a variety of influencers to help us spread this “track”. Well-known musicians credibility allowed us to push this important message in the guise of a must-hear new track. Influencers, sports stars and celebrities with large male followings continued to spread the track.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

The campaign was run for a month, but due to the amount of PR it received, the conversation continued to grow long after. The track was launched on Spotify and PR'd through national news media across print/radio/television/online. Next, Spotify, musicians, celebrities and social influencers shared a video version of the track across social platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. A dedicated segment to the track and cause played on national youth radio station Triple J Hack and other national call-back stations followed suit. International news and media sites picked up the story, continuing the spread of earned media well beyond our original audience.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

WLAW was picked up by national radio stations (3AW, ABC Radio, FOX, etc) who donated a spot every day for a month to the track. It was discussed at length by presenters, callers and campaign ambassador Jan Fran, with the nation's largest youth station, Triple J, dedicating an entire segment to the campaign. The campaign received articles in all major newspapers and was discussed as a segment on the Channel 10 morning show, Studio 10. In total, the track was played over 50,000 times. Social media sharing and PR gave the campaign close to a million dollars in earned media. Media suppliers got on board, donating $115,000 in media space to aid the cause. Most importantly, visits to the Plan website increased by 150%. This told us that men were engaging with the message and wanted to learn how they could make a change, to help women feel safer.