UNHCR is the United Nations’ refugee agency. Every day, they provide shelter and support for people forced to flee their homes. The ever-increasing number of people needing their help meant raising awareness among a new audience was vital to attracting donations.
We combined the insight that refugees walk more than two billion kilometres every year in search of safety, with the global exercise-tracking trend. The Step with Refugees campaign encouraged people to connect their fitness apps to our global challenge in a show of solidarity.
I was involved in creating and presenting the concept, executing the English language campaign, and developing a marketing toolkit for local markets across 26 territories. I worked with the UN team to set a tone that remained within brand guidelines, but wasn’t typical of its charity work.
The campaign won a Digital Impact Award for Best Use of Digital by a Charity and reached more than 200 million people worldwide.
We positioned refugees as heroes, rather than victims, shining a light on the incredible things they achieve under the ultimate pressure. Telling their stories gave us the platform to engage with a new audience, using the native functionality of Strava and other fitness apps to create a uniquely personal connection between user and refugee.
Users could learn about a refugee’s journey, complete challenges and opportunities to raise funds.
More than 55,000 people signed up in the first three months.
When some time in Ben Stiller’s schedule became available, I had about an hour to write a script. He decided to ad-lib some of it anyway.