How do you "Signal For Help" when you're monitored all the time? Here's what this campaign did…

From the desk of Miles Everson:

Hello!

One of the reasons I love Thursday is because I get to talk about guerrilla marketing.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this yet, guerrilla marketing is an unconventional strategy that is simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and sometimes, inexpensive. I am personally fond of this because it reminds me that we can never run out of creative ways to get our target audience hooked.

Today, we’ll talk about a guerrilla marketing tactic that has gone viral for being so helpful especially during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Keep reading to know how one campaign gave domestic abuse victims a voice even without saying a word.

How do you "Signal For Help" when you're monitored all the time? Here's what this campaign did…

The COVID-19 pandemic was a truly tough time for everyone in terms of their physical health, mental health, and overall well-being.

While some were suffering from challenges in their physical health, others were struggling with the effects of the pandemic on their mental health.

… but did you know that during this time also, there was another group of people experiencing a different kind of problem?

We’re talking about  domestic abuse.

During the onset of the pandemic, a surge in domestic violence was anticipated by the  Canadian Women’s Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on helping women and girls.

The pandemic-induced lockdown measures furthered the problem, with victims of abuse being even more closely controlled and monitored than usual.

So, in partnership with Canadian Women’s Organization, advertising company  TBWA  was tasked with finding a way to combat this devastating increase in domestic violence.

How?

By providing a tool that victims could safely use during lockdown to seek help.

The “Signal For Help” Campaign

When women—or men—face violence at home, they aren’t free to do as they choose. Their communications are often monitored and they have little, if any, privacy.

Imagine how much worse that was during the lockdown. Victims of abuse might have not had any escape or reprieve.

For these people, asking for help was more difficult than under normal circumstances because of a cultural shift in how people communicated during the pandemic: ONLINE.

There was no simple, covert way to ask for aid since communication with the outside world was more limited than ever.

With that, Canadian Women’s Foundation and TBWA created a tool that victims used to safely signal that they needed help without being detected.

Enter the “Signal For Help”…

The “Signal For Help” is an untraceable and discreet one-handed gesture designed as a continuous hand movement that could be easily visible over a video call.

The signal involves holding your hand up to the camera with your thumb tucked into your palm, folding your fingers down and trapping your thumb in your fingers.

The gesture means,  “reach out to me safely.”

Once the signal was established and successfully promoted, Canadian Women’s Foundation and TBWA made sure people knew how to respond and intervene when someone showed them the signal.

So, they created a number—540–540, the numerical representation of each part of the hand gesture—that Canadians could text. This was where texters would receive a free action guide with the best ways to respond.

Was Canadian Women’s Foundation’s “Signal For Help” campaign effective?

Not long after it was established, the signal became viral not only in Canada but also in different parts of the world.

In fact, it received many press coverages and even helped rescue a missing girl after using the hand signal on TikTok!

Here are other results of the campaign:

• Over 5 billion organic media impressions
• Around 1,600 coverage articles across the globe
• A total of 45 countries covered the “Signal For Help” campaign
• A 2.6% increase in traffic to the Canadian Women’s Foundation website
• Five lives of women were saved, thanks to the signal
• Around 42,000 people signed up to become responders

Great job on this, Canadian Women’s Foundation and TBWA!

Clearly, these results show that a simple gesture can make a BIG difference in the lives of many people around the world.

*Applause*

—

It’s amazing how guerrilla marketing can be used not only for promoting a brand or business but also in contributing to the betterment of the society.

Take for example this strategy from the Canadian Women’s Foundation in partnership with TBWA…

The goal was not really to get the public’s attention to the non-profit organization, receive donations, and the likes; the goal was to implement something good for the welfare of domestic abuse victims, especially at a time when communication was hard.

Do you see the point?

When you think of a marketing strategy to execute, don’t just think about what’s in it for you and your brand. First think about your target market—what they need and want—and anchor your ideas on how you can address that.

You’ll see, as you prioritize your target market, your engagement rates, sales, revenue, profit, growth, etc. will come naturally… you won’t even have to force it.

YTake inspiration from the playbook of the Canadian Women’s Foundation!

With genuine concern for your target audience, you’ll be able to set your brand apart from the rest and make an impact on society.

Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.

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Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!

Do you want to know  how this brand cleverly inserted and promoted itself in a concert in 2024?

See it in next week’s article!