Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

This was a successful PR media strategy that utilized media sponsorship to achieve high engagement for a non-profit organization. It was probably hard to imagine spending $80,000 on the entire budget, which all went to the most important content production. We believe that quality content with terrific creative ideas is able to enable the most value in communications. Tencent expertly mobilized and integrated its resources in PR, live-streaming, social, push advertising and big data in achieving a best-example communication campaign.

Background

The UN wanted to reach out to Chinese youth and spark dialogues with them on its 2030 SDGs. Given that the UN has no funding for this campaign, it needed to work with the most resourceful partner. Covid-19 added an extra layer of difficulty to making this dialogue possible. Tencent, with its extensive prowess in technology, big data, social-networking, live-streaming and performance-based advertising, proactively approached the UN.

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

Strategy in itself is sometimes a negotiation, or to look for an ideal partner for a win-win situation. The UN has good content to offer, but lacked funding. It needed a PR partner who was willing to sponsor on a pro-bono basis. WeChat, a platform with one billion users and a super app that integrates resources of live streaming, social post on real time, Tencent Meeting and big data, is best positioned to channel resources for the campaign. It soon gathered 7 million young people to engage with Penguin & Whale, to join the live-streamed event together. In the post-covid era, Tencent, with its online and tech resources, could maximize the marketing outcomes for both sides. Tencent, who is also a great PR company, which eventually brought in around 10 million RMB worth of earned media for the campaign.

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

Given the social responsibility the campaign highly advocated, Tencent, with its PR capabilities, successfully secured national media coverage, which was a significant resource in China. The official endorsement meant that the campaign was promoted as one with strategic value. The following four media forms - social platforms, live streaming, online offices and advertising - are usually owned by different parties in countries other than China. However, Tencent has them all under one roof, thus capable of integrating all forms and centrally manage them in one place. Meanwhile, WeChat, the super app, could effectively help channel high traffic and convert high intent users for the campaign.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

Firstly, we invested the entire $80,000 budget in content production. We created an animated film that tells a story about a whale searching for an iceberg home for its friend, a penguin. This seemingly heartwarming film has a tragic ending. Once released, it immediately went viral, attracting a large number of students during the summer holidays. The film was launched as a native WeChat ad with a direct reply function. Users could click to join the live stream after watching the film, share it on their social networks, and go to the UN website to join the campaign.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

The animated short received over 40 million views online and was recommended by the UN on the front page of its official site. Thanks to the film’s widespread promotion, 7 million viewers joined the live streaming platform through the H5 page on WeChat, more than 700,000 young participants signed up for the series activities of "Chinese Youth Dialogue on the Future". The support and acknowledgment from the government brought it further into the limelight and sparked hotter discussion among youth. 1.Generated 2.47 million+ online discussions 2. 500,000 viral communications 3. 83 media coverages 4. With 10361 proposals initiated.