The Spotlight Initiative is a global, multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030. The Spotlight Initiative is responding to all forms of violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on domestic and family violence, sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices, femicide, trafficking in human beings and sexual and economic (labour) exploitation.
Project Information
We developed a strong partnership with ZN over the course of the last year. The team has been invaluable in providing us with ongoing support and out-of-the box ideas. We appreciate the professionalism from everyone in the team and how agile and flexible they were during the collaboration to meet all the deadlines. The cooperation has been great and that extra eye on quality control is always a plus. The #WithHer campaign is a testament for the unique digital advantage ZN has successfully brought with its expertise and knowledge.
#WithHer is a digital engagement campaign designed to raise awareness of the Spotlight Initiative and challenge the harmful gender norms and stereotypes which perpetuate violence against women and girls worldwide. It features real stories of people touched by violence from Spotlight programmes – from survivors and activists to family members and local leaders. By raising awareness of the issue, the campaign aims to mobilize people to become positive bystanders and allies in tackling violence against women and girls, in the European Union and in partner countries.
The creative concept revolves around the idea of empowering women and girls. The aim is to reveal stories and issues that in some cases are unknown or hidden to society. Thus, by uncovering the stories – the faces of the protagonists- we bring light to an issue that affects us all.
We launched the campaign by organising a high-visibility event in Brussels on 5 March 2020, in partnership with GL events Live EU. The invite-only event took place at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts and featured stories and testimonials from advocates, EU and UN leaders, UN Goodwill Ambassadors, social influencers and members of the media. Event elements included short speeches and statements, video screenings, an online activation of the campaign, a photo gallery exhibition, live social media content generation, a musical performance and a VIP cocktail reception. EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen and UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem attended the event.
Following the creative concept we also developed a series of videos, which serve as key content drivers to generate engagement throughout the campaign. We brought stories from survivors of violence as a driver of the whole content structure. We showed real stories: not only the fatal ones but also the inspiring ones. All these stories were shot as documentaries, creating a deep narrative and illustrating the main claim of the campaign.
To spread our message effectively, we designed and developed a landing page, which hosts a series of videos, testimonials and articles to build a better understanding of the issues at stake and the solutions. It also includes a donation section for anyone who wants to support women’s funds and movements, a section with social media assets to ‘Share on social’ as well as the social media conversation.
To amplify the campaign efforts we also created visuals for JCDecaux digital screens and posters, including a magazine advert and an animated video that were displayed at Brussels Airport and in b.inspired magazine – Brussels Airlines’ monthly inflight magazine.
The content we developed for the #WithHer campaign includes static and animated social media assets as well as videos in line with the branding to bring coherence and unity to the whole campaign.
