Brands have been using television advertisements as an essential tool to increase awareness of how customers can benefit from their products to increase their sales ultimately. But in the digital world, brands focus more on their ads as they are displayed on different social media apps and websites and not only on newspapers and television.
As a customer, what is your perspective that brands must focus only on making revenue? Don’t you think that brands should avail this opportunity of showcasing their products to discuss critical social issues? Nowadays, brands have a very positive approach, and they are completely availing the opportunity to address the nation by raising their voice against social issues.
Awareness campaigns by brands can either address the general public or a bunch of people in a region going through certain circumstances. Undoubtedly, the main motive of social issues campaigns is to obtain long-term behavioral changes by increasing knowledge. Hence, the ones whom nobody told or did not receive primary education.
In this write-up, we will elaborate on the six best campaigns by top brands covering major social issues.
Prega News: # Good News Is Gender Free
In a country like Pakistan, backward people still pray for a baby boy and become scared when they hear that it is a baby girl. People wish for a boy because they believe that a man can earn and become successful, while a woman is only suitable for managing household chores. Gender inequality is still a thing in Pakistan.
Prega News released a video campaign on International Mother’s Day with the hashtag #GoodNewsIsGenderFree to change the thinking of ordinary thinking people. They provide pregnancy detection test kits to pregnant ladies.
In the video advertisement, the mother-in-law prays that God may bless his son with a healthy child irrespective of gender. Prega News wants to give the message that instead of wishing to hear “it’s a boy”, pray that the mother safely delivers a healthy baby. This advertisement has more than 16 million views on YouTube.
UNAIDS: The Mirror Campaign
In Pakistan, transgender people are treated differently and not treated as normal human beings. Moreover, they do not have the right to primary education and very few job opportunities, so under pressure, they have to beg and face social discrimination and are ridiculed.
Besides, 98 percent of people abandon their transgender children. Therefore, committing suicide rate is much high among teenage transgender people in comparison with normal humans whose identities have been the same since birth. Even 40 of transgender women have high HIV rates.
The mirror campaign of UNAIDS, a renowned world company, is to accept their children like they are born to eradicate aids. In the video campaign, a transgender boy hesitates to play with other children during a kite festival and goes downstairs to cover himself in a woman’s scarf.
After taking a scarf, the boy dances happily afterward, and his mother and grandmother see him dancing. The boy feels scared, but the mother smiles and dances together with her son. At the end of the video is a great quote “Let’s see our children the way they see themselves”.
Besides, in the two-and-a-half-minute commercial, the motive is to push parents to let their children grow as they prefer and surround them with happiness. Transgender around the globe from countries like Australia, America, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Brazil, and Uganda found the commercial relatable and claimed that though the video is general, we can associate with the message.
Unacademy Campaign: Teach Them, Young
Are you a girl who wants all boys to respect you? If the answer is yes, you must educate boys about gender equality from childhood. Unacademy has started a video campaign on different media platforms with the title “teach them young” to educate people about gender equality.
In the video campaign of Unacademy, a father teaches his son to regard her sister’s boundaries and asks him not to interfere too much in her life. The campaign’s purpose was to teach boys that they need to respect the privacy of their sisters and stop considering them weak.
Taking care of your sisters and standing by their side is appreciable but thinking they cannot do anything without your help is a wrong notion. More than 2.5 million people have watched this video of Unacademy.
Sultan Cooking Oil
The Tv commercial shows a child who was not performing well in the school and came irritated at home all the time. Upon returning home he shows anger towards his mother by shouting and misbehaving to his mother. The ad depicts some tough love when the mother gives him “no answer” in response. Afterward, the child realized his mistake and ends up with a normal attitude. Indeed, it was a good ad that gives you goosebumps.
Dove Campaign: Stop The Beauty Test
Dove is a worldwide famous personal care brand owned by British multinational consumer goods that manufactures various products for hair, skin care and deodorants. Pakistanis have a typical mindset, and it is a norm for them to body shame someone on comment on their color.
On the other hand, they do not even think that how their hobby of just randomly passing comments on someone because they are not slim like a model or have dark skin tones will negatively affect them. Their confidence will drop to a low level, and they will become mentally disturbed.
Dove aims to eradicate this practice, so they have launched a video campaign with the hashtag #StopTheBeautyTest. In the video advertisement, women are ridiculed for their weight, height, hair length and skin color. Dove wants its viewers to understand that a person’s inner beauty and skills matter, and we should see that.
Kids Cancer Awareness- Soya Supreme Oil
Soya Supreme Oil in collaboration with Indus hospital worked on the kid’s Cancer Awareness Program. The campaign first started with Childhood Cancer Survivor’s Day in September 2018. The campaign was about generating funds the cancer survivors by contacting Indus Hospital. It was a great initiative by the brand to bring the child’s cancer issue into consideration.
Bisconni #Complete Others
Bisconni played a vital role in creating awareness for disabled children. Although the campaign was admirable and strikes the mark, #complete others.
If we look all around the world we have so many examples of big brands who have contributed their efforts to make society a better place to live. Another example is Stella Artois, which isn’t a brand but contributed a lot for the sake of this society by running a campaign for constantly three years. The campaign was named “buy a lady a drink” which brought awareness to the global water crisis.
It was led by Matt Damon who worked with water.org.It involved the public by running TV commercials. To motivate them toward a good cause. It brought awareness by giving a prize that on purchasing of every limited pack of bottles. A woman and her family are provided with clean water for a month.
As more and more people want to make a difference in the world, these awareness programs by the brands help youngsters to design such activities for the betterment of their country.
Conclusion
However, these social media campaigns need a lot of planning and research before starting. The campaign needs to be very well-versed and thoughtful as it leaves a great impact on people’s minds. Companies need to look at analytics and what their competitors are doing while planning a campaign for any cause.
These brands have used their power to reach a large audience. To convey positive messages instead of just thinking about their revenues. The audience has appreciated these famous brands for making this society a better place to live.
Brands can release video campaigns or use the power of social media to spread awareness. About social issues like racism, gender inequality, poverty, mental health, and many more. Furthermore, brands can also arrange webinars and conduct conferences.
In conclusion, these social media campaigns should have given you some inspiration for your own. In 2021, Harris Poll conducted research and said that 80% of people use social media. People buy from different media platforms therefore, social media plays a vital role. In a way to create an impact and help in changing the youth mindset in a positive way. Highlighting any social issue and sorting it out through different campaigns will help to develop a better society.
Read more:
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- Federal Govt to Review Social Media Rules
