Why is this work relevant for Media?

The MTR’s “Our Journey Towards Social Inclusion” purpose-driven media campaign drove social interaction and meaningful connections. Addressing social issues through the real-life inspiring stories of 3 different minority groups, the elderly, the disabled, and young families, MTR created significant value and positive impact on the local community. The campaign was a huge success, inspiring compassion and sympathy for individual issues and increased awareness of minority groups and support for related NGOs.

Background

Hong Kong has been facing difficulties due to the social division and isolation brought by the protest and the covid-19 pandemic. Since society has been shattered and torn apart, minority groups were even more isolated than before. Being the most accessible and value-driven public transportation, MTR has always embraced its passengers from all walks of life. MTR set out to bring its brand back to the people and connect Hong Konger’s in a campaign that emphasizes a journey towards social inclusion, highlighting unique experiences in a city-wide take over to achieve the below objectives: 1. To raise awareness of MTR’s effort in driving social inclusion in the community. 2. To demonstrate that MTR is listening and responding to the needs of different passengers through various enhancements on station facilities and caring staff services. 3. To rebuild brand reputation and generate goodwill for MTR.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

The MTR used real passenger narratives to reflect their commitment to social responsibilities, revealing authentic experiences with MTR services and facilities, to showcase the benefits of the MTR on passengers’ daily lives. By listening, responding and sharing these stories, MTR could encourage social good from the wider community. To truly understand every passenger's needs, mainly the elderly, the disabled, and young families with infants, The MTR reached out to relevant NGOs; to solicit their inputs for barrier-free facility enhancements and development, leading to MTR enhancing their services and facilities. The campaign will be distributed into two phases. In phase 1, three stories regarding to the minor groups will be launched and in phase 2, a video of the indomitable wheelchair dancer will be launched on several platforms.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

From a railway system accessible for everyone, the MTR nurtures the uniqueness of HK and its community, enables fair inclusion, and helps empower all HK citizens on their life journeys. Serving massive commuters every day, the MTR noticed there were minority groups who needed extra care, especially the elderly, disabled, and young families with infants. By demonstrating different ways, the MTR can show it doesn’t leave any citizen behind and communicate how it has and continues to care for HK citizens. We choose video to deliver our message with the below approach: 1. Partner with relevant NGOs to truly understand the unique needs of minorities. 2. Use authentic stories in videos to drive empathy, goodwill, and connection. 3. Partner with leading TV station Viu TV for mass distribution and exposure. 4. Utilize 3rd Paid Party Social Pages to drive positive engagement and relevancy.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

In phase 1, Creating three stories titled “Brand Spirit Never Ages”,” Super Nanny Daddy” and “Travelling with a Guide Dog”. The MTR shares the stories of “Raymond” focused on the elderly, “Mickey” focused on young families with infants, and “Sharon with her Guide Dog” focused on the disabled. The videos show how the MTR’s improvements help benefit user journeys. The videos were cut in both 1.5 min and 3 min segments for different channels and occasions to maximize the content's usage and cater to the environment. In phase 2, MTR launched a video of the indomitable wheelchair dancer across different platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and more. The video has shown that MTR facilitates the journeys of people with different needs, they strive to create a barrier-free environment and improve the facilities at stations to provide a more convenient and smoother journey when people travel on MTR.

List the results (30% of vote)

The MTR's social inclusion campaign results were tremendous in both efficacy and reach serving to rehabilitate the MTR's public perception across different age groups and citizens. The perception of the MTR as a "Socially Responsible Company" jumped 26 pts. The videos reached over 80% of Hong Kongers and the online campaign exceeded the estimated video views by 50%, with over 9.5 Million views collectively. In general, the video launched in phase 2 was performing well with a high VTR achieved at 43.87%, which is better than Phase 1 (avg. VTR 28.32%) and other MTR campaigns (avg. VTR around 22 29%). By leveraging both in-market and prospecting audiences on YouTube, the View Through Rate peaked at 40.3% and gained over 1.1M earned views. Relevant channel selection & authentic content generated 99.9% positive reactions and grabbed the audience's interest with a click rate that peaked at 2.9% on social.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

As the political and social unrest had affected the public perception towards the MTR, the vital transportation hub of the city. With a significant drop of positive sentiment, the MTR rolled out the media campaign "Our Journey Towards Social Inclusion" in order to emphasize the commitment to social responsibility and demonstrate MTR's care and support from all walks of life, especially the minority groups in Hong Kong. Their purpose for this campaign is to rebuilt the social responsible image and affirmed its commitment to diversity and inclusion, lifting Hong Kongers' perception as a Socially Responsible Company.