Background

The Philippines is known to be one the hot spots for sexual predators. This is because our country is one of the highest users of social media in the world. In 2019, there was a 2000% increase in online sexual exploitation – making the Filipino youth, the heaviest Internet users, at the most risk of being trafficked for sex. Sexual predators have evolved their schemes online. They strategize effectively and can take on multiple personalities depending on the style, preference and personality of their victim. What may seem like a completely harmless chat can instantly turn into a sex trafficking situation.

Describe the strategy

Nothing beats a good story. People gravitate towards feel-good content they see online. So we used romance to hook the target market and made them involved by letting them choose the next step our lead character should take to see where this love story will go.

Describe the execution

We made an interactive thread of tweets with a fictional character in the limelight – Angelica. She asked people what she should do next on her supposed nothing-out-of-the-ordinary date. We set it up in a way to make it seem harmless – a typical story of a guy asking a girl out, looking for possible ways to meet up. The scenarios build up, bit by bit as we put Angelica’s fate in the hands of the those following and participating in the tweets. To make a point, each scenario eventually ends horribly for Angelica – showing not only how simple and easy it is to be trafficked, but the many ways it is accomplished each time.

List the results

In just a few days, hundreds shared Angelica’s story. Even local celebrities joined in the advocacy. The page earned an 18% engagement rate, beating industry engagement rate benchmark by almost 500%. The campaign reached a total of 2,000,000 impressions on Twitter. During the campaign, Called To Rescue’s website traffic also saw a 77% increase. Utilizing social media became a successful avenue in raising awareness on the grave issue of sex trafficking. It served as reminder that sex trafficking can happen to anyone. Even the simplest of tweets can take a turn for the worse. The campaign has put a deeper meaning into the saying – think before you click.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

Called-to-Rescue has been committed to fighting sex trafficking in the Philippines. Given the alarming growth rate of sexual exploitation online in 2019, Called-to-Rescue wanted help the Filipino youth, who is the most vulnerable to be trafficked for sex, be more vigilant when they engage online. The brand wanted a simple yet shocking effort that makes the potential target aware of the different modi operandi of sexual predators online. Our solution is to engage the Filipino youth in a platform most used by sexual predators: social media. Through the story of the fictional character we created on Twitter, we were able to create awareness on how easy it is to be trafficked for sex, warning the youth to always remain vigilant online.