What initially drew me to Porter Novelli (PN) was its rich heritage of marketing for social good and the incredible Purpose-driven campaigns that have brought real, lasting behavior change and impactful results for organizations across the world.
Seven days into the job, I can safely attest to that.
Earlier this week, I was at Facebook’s New York office, working with the PN team and UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) to publicize a Facebook Live streaming of the WFP’s new ad – ‘Feed Our Future.’ The ad emotively delves into the human potential that is lost because of hunger and brings to life the WFP’s mission to create a world with zero hunger.
The campaign is supported by the Screen Advertising World Association (SAWA) – the global cinema advertising association – which will share the ad with new audiences in cinemas across over 30 countries. By doing so, we’ll be able to engage millennials who make up a large part of the cinema audience and are a socially aware group of people who can and will facilitate change.
The unsettling narrative of the ad depicts a bustling news conference with journalists vying to interview the recipient of a breakthrough medical research award. As it progresses, the journalists learn that ultimately there was no medical breakthrough – the chilling conclusion reveals the recipient of the award, a young woman, had in fact died of hunger when she was eight years old.
As part of the campaign, the WFP partnered up with Facebook to launch a digital integration which will use cinema as a medium to engage and motivate moviegoers to download ShareTheMeal – the world’s first mobile app against global hunger. Through a Facebook Messenger chat bot, viewers will have the opportunity to engage with the character from the ad on Messenger, learn more about hunger and donate directly from their smartphones.
Working on this campaign truly opened my eyes up to the global crisis that is world hunger. I was astonished to learn that 821 million people – roughly one -in-nine of the global population – still go to bed on an empty stomach. A little goes a long way, and a donation of just 50 cents will help put nutritious food in the plates of vulnerable populations around the world.
Feedback and engagement from participants of the Facebook Live this morning indicate that the screening has successfully raised awareness of the crisis by highlighting the potential that is lost every time a child dies of hunger. The simplicity of the digital integration is already triggering behavior change and driving significant donations via Facebook.
We’re excited to see the coverage roll through from this event that will really help to raise awareness. I encourage you all to get involved and make a difference by downloading the ShareTheMeal app.
You can view the recorded Facebook Live stream here.
I’m so proud that PN provides employees with an opportunity to be part of this type of campaign.