The “it doesn’t have to happen campaign” was launched in May last year, so it is not new, but I think it’s a good example of an effective social media campaign aiming to affect social change.
As you are aware, there has been a rise in the number of knife stabbings in the UK. Last year, the British Home Office invested 3 million pounds on a multi-channel campaign to promote their anti-knives message.
A lot of the collateral for this campaign was used on social media platforms, and interestingly the campaign was co-created with English youth. Some more info on the non-digital components of the campaign can be found on the government Crime Reduction site.
Some executions include:
- a Bebo page with an interactive add your own brick widget, YouTube videos, related playlists, forum and other features. (Interestingly, the campaigns URL http://www.itdoesnthavetohappen.info and http://www.itdoesnthavetohappen.co.uk both redirects to it’s Bebo page.)
- interactive video banners
- user generated comp to create your own anti-knife song (vote for your fave mc)
- YouTube presence is interesting – the only seemingly official video shows a lecture by a doctor on how to treat a stab wound. There are also a lot of comp entries in there.
- There are some videos on the Bebo Page via motion box
Campiagn at the end of July 09 reported the success of this campaign as:
“Effectiveness data indicates that it has struck a chord with its target audience of ten- to 16-year-olds. Overall, the campaign generated more than 12 million views of its viral ads and more than 187,000 visits to the Home Office’s online campaign hub. And, a Mori survey showed 73 per cent of ten- to 16-year-olds agreeing the ads made them less likely to carry a knife.”
This video shows some of the off-line promotions that form part of this campaign
Jax Rant [ wonderings on the web ] 
Leave a comment