UN Women s HeForShe Campaign Media Relations Plan for 2014/2015

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Darren Cole
5 years ago
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1 UN Women s HeForShe Campaign Media Relations Plan for 2014/2015

2 OVEWVIEW l Launched on Sept. 20, 2014 by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the HeForShe campaign aims to mobilize men in the fight for women s rights across the globe. The campaign seeks to break barriers between the sexes and argues that gender equality is beneficial for both men and women. Celebrities Emma Watson, Kiefer Sutherland and Wolf Blitzer are the faces of the campaign. While the campaign is global, this media relations plan will specifically outline strategic communication techniques that will maximize positive media coverage of the HeForShe campaign across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) from September 2014 to September CORPORATE GOAL Position the HeForShe campaign as a central agent in the fight for gender equality across the GTA. CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES O Raise awareness about the HeForShe campaign s role in educating target audiences about gender inequalities and the communal value of men s participation in this campaign across the GTA from September 2014 to September Promote the HeForShe campaign s social events and fundraising initiatives across the GTA from September 2014 to September Communicate with target audiences about the capital raised from fundraising initiatives and the gender equality organizations that these funds will be donated to. TARGET AUDIENCE l postsecondary students attending liberal colleges and universities gender equality advocates civil society organizations men s organizations

3 CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES Celebrate men and boys in the GTA who are participating in the HeForShe campaign and pitch their stories to local newspapers, radio stations, blogs, social media outlets and television shows that privilege stories about social issues. Obtain three stories per month in relevant media outlets that promote current HeForShe events and detail their fundraising outcomes between September 2014 and September Establish a Media Room on the UN Women Canada s website ( that specifically details the mission/vision of the HeForShe campaign and provides journalists with information relevant to the campaign that they can insert into their articles. CAMPAIGN TACTICS Strategy 1: o Identify men and boys from various socioeconomic backgrounds who are participating in the HeForShe campaign and draft brief yet captivating stories about their work/opinion regarding gender equality o Craft a media list that targets reporters working for local print and online media channels that privilege stories about social issues o Prepare an interview with Kiefer Sutherland, a fellow Torontonian and one of the spokespeople for the campaign, in which he encourages men to take up the mantle of gender equality under the banner of HeForShe o Collaborate with a local men s organization (i.e. The Canadian Association for Equality, Men s Issues Awareness at the University of Toronto, etc.) and co-host an open house for the media to interview both parties regarding gender issues

4 Strategy 2: o Draft multiple press releases that detail the charitable nature of HeForShe s social/fundraising events and publish them through newswire services like CNW o Send media advisories to local journalists and bloggers who write about social issues and invite them to HeForShe s events across the GTA o Invite local celebrities (i.e. Patrick J. Adams, Rachel McAdams, etc.) to HeForShe s fundraising events and have them hold up signs that read #HeForShe: I m Fighting for Women s Rights to provide photo opportunities for the press o Pitch stories to the media about the organizations that will receive HeForShe s fundraising donations (i.e. Ernestine s Women s Shelter, The Centre for Women and Trans People, etc.) and the many ways in which this capital will stimulate positive change for women seeking refuge in these organizations Strategy 3: o Upload the aforementioned interview with Kiefer Sutherland as well as stories about other men who are participating in the campaign onto the Media Room page on the UN Women s website o Include profiles about the organizations that HeForShe s fundraising campaign supports onto the Media Room o Create infographic that depicts gender inequalities in Toronto (i.e. wage gaps, representations in pop culture, etc.) and upload it onto the Media Room o Post links to all of HeForShe s social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) onto the Media Room so the press has access to current conversations about the campaign

5 KEY MESSAGES The HeForShe campaign supports all women s rights to political, cultural and socioeconomic freedom across the globe. Women s rights are human rights. A system that limits women from freely expressing and living their political beliefs is hindering the progress of all of humankind. Mobilizing men to support women s rights is essential to dismantle oppressive structures and achieve gender equality. HeForShe is a non-profit campaign. All proceeds raised at HeForShe social and fundraising events will be donated to local organizations that strive to achieve gender equality. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS While working towards gaining press coverage of the UN Women s HeForShe campaign, it will be important to consider other women s rights campaigns that will be vying for the media s attention at the same time. The following are examples of other gender equality campaigns that will be taking place in Toronto within the same timeframe as HeForShe: Amnesty International s Stolen Sisters campaign Amnesty International s Women s Lives, Women s Rights campaign Amnesty International s My Body, My Rights campaign It is also important to identify organizations and special interest groups who might publicly challenge the HeForShe campaign s objectives, strategies and/or tactics. The following are examples of such groups of people: Cultural critics/feminists who do not trust celebrity endorsed feminism o These individuals may not believe the validity of Kiefer Sutherland or other local celebrities support Religious organizations that do not support feminism or women s socioeconomic freedom

6 PITCH ANGLES a Potential headlines and story ideas to pitch to journalists: Sutherland Supports HeForShe Campaign o Pitched to national newspapers like The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and National Post. o The article will begin with Kiefer Sutherland s personal feminist journey. He will discuss why feminism and gender equality are important to him. It will then delve into the idea that all men also benefit culturally, politically and socioeconomically from supporting campaigns like HeForShe. The story will challenge the notion that feminism is a cause that only concerns women. The element of celebrity endorsement will also help promote the HeForShe campaign. HeForShe Campaign Gives Back to Toronto s Shelters o Pitched to Toronto-based magazines like NOW Magazine and Rabble o The article will emphasize the charitable nature of the HeForShe campaign. It will detail the various women s shelters that will receive proceeds from HeForShe s fundraising initiatives. The story will feature a human interest angle by interviewing a woman who resides in Nellie s Women s Shelter. She will discuss specific ways in which the HeForShe proceeds will better her living conditions at the shelter. This story will resonate with target audiences because it will specify the tangible benefits of supporting HeForShe. HeForShe Inspires Activism Among GTA s Youth o Pitched to college/university newspapers such as UofT s The Varsity, Ryerson s The Eyeopener and York s Excalibur. o The article will narrate the efforts of postsecondary students across the GTA who are participating in the HeForShe campaign. This story will also feature a human interest angle by highlighting the participation of specific

7 students who have established independent fundraising initiatives for the campaign. CAMPAIGN EVALUATION METHODS Media Relations Rating Points (MRP) o Infomart, a marketing and social media analytics firm, will conduct indepth media monitoring analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of HeForShe. They will assign Media Relations Rating Points (MRP) to each article written about HeForShe and any other media coverage the campaign garners. This method will provide a specific numerical outcome which to measure the campaign s success. An MRP score of 70% will be deemed successful. Google Analytics o This method of evaluation will track the online routes people will take to get to HeForShe s Media Room and social media platforms. It will measure the number of visitors to each web page, which will in turn provide a snapshot of the media impressions generated by HeForShe. Most importantly, Google Analytics will track how the audience is interacting with HeForShe s web content. This will help determine whether or not the audience is internalizing the campaign s key messages. Social Mention o This social media search engine will specifically measure what people are saying about HeForShe across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and blogs. It will provide a ratio of positive mentions about HeForShe to negative mentions on the internet at any given time. This will help measure the sentiment towards the HeForShe campaign. Any ratio that contains more positive mentions than negative mentions will be deemed successful (i.e. 2:1).

8 Polls o Polls held at HeForShe s events will measure several important elements of the campaign. Firstly, they will provide head counts of the number of participants at each event. If the event has more than 30 participants, it will be deemed successful. Secondly, public opinion polls conducted at the events will help measure people s attitudes towards the campaign and the work it strives to complete. Facebook Analytics o This tool will determine which demographic is visiting HeForShe s Facebook page. Specifically, it will track the age, gender and geographic location of these people. It will also consistently measure the number of people who will subscribe to the page. Facebook Analytics will allow HeForShe to determine which month their Facebook page had the highest traffic. This information is useful in evaluating which content is most interesting to the public. Overall, this method will determine how well HeForShe s Facebook account performs.

STEP 6: TRACK YOUR IMPACT

STEP 6: TRACK YOUR IMPACT While you are planning your objectives, strategies, and tactics, it is important to think about how you will know if your initiative is successful. Developing your monitoring