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42% more mainstream engagement for UN Human Rights.

We partnered with United Nations Human Rights to build support for migrant rights beyond the echo chamber and into the mainstream.

Client
United Nations Human Rights
Timeline
3 months
Outcome
42% more engagement

Campaign videoMuted loop, sound on tap

Video slot
The challenge

Strong content, talking to the converted.

  1. 01

    Algorithmic limitation

    The algorithm only served UN Human Rights content to an echo chamber of people already committed to human rights.

  2. 02

    Inaccessible message

    The content was in-depth, academic and functional. Ideal for specialists, it didn’t cut through, which held back mainstream engagement, algorithmic performance and overall reach.

  3. 03

    Minimal social impact

    By mostly engaging people already aligned with human rights values, UN Human Rights was missing chances to shape wider public debate and speed up concrete social change.

The process

How we found the mainstream.

01 / 03
01Process

Audience mapping

  • We combined open-source polling data with stakeholder and public interviews to find the largest persuadable audience and understand their main concerns.
  • Most Mexicans recognise the importance of human rights, but the concerns we heard again and again were cartel violence, corruption, impunity and the cost of living.
STEP 01 / 03
01
AUDIENCE MAPPING
02Process

Positioning

  • Given how serious and urgent people’s security concerns are, reframing the message too hard risked seeming out of touch. So we made empathy the core of the experience.
  • Empathy is the default for most NGOs. We usually combine several strategies to reach audiences with compassion fatigue, so here we gave empathy fresh, engaging framing.
STEP 02 / 03
02
POSITIONING
03Process

Targeting innovation

  • We turned off targeting automation and AI optimisation, which tend to keep engagement inside existing echo chambers.
  • Instead we reached a broad mainstream audience through proxy cultural interests, such as pop music, TV series and films, which trends data correlated with the persuadable middle.
STEP 03 / 03
03
TARGETING INNOVATION
Strategy

Several angles into the disengaged middle.

We developed multiple messaging angles to cut through and connect with people who usually tune out.

  • We reframed the crisis through the eyes of a child, to build empathy.
  • We borrowed upbeat graphics and audio from pop culture, for a light, philosophical, meme-like feel.
  • We connected with something every parent shares: you’d do anything to keep your kids safe.

The campaignWatch with sound

0:42

The campaign video, start to finish.

Driving impact with data

We tested old against new, with both audiences.

  • We tested the original content against the new content, with both the existing audience and the new mainstream audiences.
  • We compared the cost per engagement of each piece of media with each audience.
  • We then optimised spend towards the most effective audience and message combinations.
Results

What changed.

  • R-01Mainstream
    42%

    more mainstream engagement

  • R-02Echo chamber
    =

    equal echo chamber engagement

  • R-03Budget
    0%

    increase in media spend

Why it matters

More reach, same base, same budget.

  1. 01

    Reduce polarisation, increase consensus

    The results show it’s possible to expand mainstream engagement with pro-rights content and ideas by up to 42%.

  2. 02

    Keep the base onside

    Equal cost per engagement with the echo chamber shows we can grow into the mainstream without losing existing supporters.

  3. 03

    Better cost effectiveness

    We can reach more people with more touchpoints, increase social impact and grow the potential donor pool, with no extra spend on distribution.

Next case studyExpanding mainstream traction for economic rights.Read the case study →

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