In November 2011, the Red Cross Target Nuclear Weapons campaign flooded through Facebook and Twitter to rack up hundreds of thousands of Aussies voting to ban nuclear weapons worldwide.  Now six months on and with the campaign’s social reach continuing to grow towards the magic one million-person mark, SMK looks at the work behind this uniquely self-sustaining campaign. 

An explosive campaign

The Target Nuclear Weapons campaign harnesses the vast reach of social media to put pressure on the international community to make nuclear weapons illegal. Activated through TargetNuclearWeapons.org.au, the campaign allows users to vote against the legality of nuclear weapons and spread the word to like-minded friends. 

Featuring a minimalist, youth oriented design and an easy-to-use interface, users first vote by providing their names, email addresses and postcodes.  Once they have signed up and voted, users can spread the word to their friends via in-built Facebook and Twitter sharing functionality. 

Aims and measurements

Target Nuclear Weapons was initially conceived to get as many Australians as possible to go on-record against nuclear weapons before an international meeting of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement representatives in Geneva at the end of 2011. 

“Our key aim is obviously making nuclear weapons illegal to use,” says Nicky Kenna, Creative and PR Co-ordinator at BWM Sydney.  “The only real way to make nuclear weapons extinct is to use the power of the people who are against it.  Our first aim was to get the international Red Cross to ratify this agreement at their conference in Geneva.  This was achieved with a majority vote.”

Although this was an enormous accomplishment, the campaign refuses to rest on its laurels.  To maintain public momentum and outcry against nuclear weapons, the Red Cross campaign has promised to kick off a new ‘social explosion’ if the campaign can achieve an overall social reach of one-million individuals (it currently sits at just over 850,000).

Says Kenna, “When it reaches 1million, a simultaneous message will be sent to all 1million users.” The message will encourage the community to engage any friends who have not yet signed up.

Demographics

The campaign was conceived to primarily target the 18-35 year-old demographic, though it’s appeal was hoped to extend even further. 

“18-35 was our primary target,” says Kenna, “but of course we captured anyone who uses Facebook that is also socially connected to this core target and had a desire to have nuclear weapons made illegal.”

Key Resources

Target Nuclear Weapons was created as a collaboration between Red Cross Australia, BWM Sydney, and digital agency Pollen. 

Says Kenna, “After the initial thinking was done and Red Cross approved it, our digital department, along with our concept creator, worked with Pollen to build and improve on the core thought. We were all very like-minded in our desire to create something simple and easy to use.”

Channels Used

The campaign’s staggering success is perhaps even more astounding due to the fact that relies almost exclusively on social media channels for public engagement.

“We developed some digital banners but mostly it was the power of Facebook and the desire for people to pass it on to their friends,” says Kenna of the campaign’s success.

Outcomes

While Target Nuclear Weapons’ continues to boom six months on, its outcomes are already highly covetable with more than 850,000 people reached, convincing the international Red Cross to officially ratify an anti-nuke position, and securing an AWWWARD for BWM Sydney.

“It has been very rewarding, both socially and creatively, having already won some awards,” says Kenna.  “But the most pleasing aspect was to get the yes vote at the Geneva Convention of Red Cross delegates from across the world and it being an Aussie initiative.”