Cannes Lions
MOJO SUPERMARKET, New York / GIRLS WHO CODE / 2022
Awards:
Overview
Entries
Credits
Background
There's a massive gender gap in STEM, and Girls Who Code is on a mission to close it. But the biggest challenge is that girls don’t see themselves in coding.They think it's a boring boy’s club.
Our brief was to get girls interested in coding and show them its important role in culture. But the reality is, there’s a thousand things that girls care about more than coding. And Doja Cat happens to be, like, 999 of them. So to get girls interested, we hacked their viewing habits by creating the world’s first ever codeable music video in partnership with Doja Cat herself.
The short term objective was to show girls the fun and creative opportunities STEM has to offer. The long term objective was to create a shift in the stereotypical image of what the opportunities in tech can be—inspiring more women to pursue computer science as a career.
Idea
Girls Who Code wants to close tech’s gender gap by getting girls interested in coding. But there’s a thousand things that girls care about more than coding. And Doja Cat is like 999 of them. So to help introduce girls to the possibility of code, we teamed up with Doja Cat to create the world's first ever codeable music video.
We turned the music video for Doja’s hit single ‘Woman’ into DojaCode, an interactive experience that puts girls in the director's chair. Using snippets of introductory code, girls could manipulate hundreds of music video elements, from changing nail designs, to controlling the sky, to manifesting Doja herself out of thin air. This first-of-it's-kind experience introduced countless girls to 3 coding languages – CSS, Javascript, and Python — and did so in a fun, engaging and meaningful way that empowers the next generation of software developers.
Strategy
Girls Who Code needed to get young girls around the world interested in coding and show them its important role in culture. But the reality is, there’s a thousand things that girls care more about than coding.
So to do that, we needed to show up in the places where Girls Who Code wasn’t typically being talked about, but also where GenZ girls around the world were actually spending their time.
With zero paid media dollars behind it, we positioned Girls Who Code at the forefront of culture by partnering with one of the world’s biggest artists, Doja Cat, to create the first ever codeable music video.
Immediately outlets like Paper and Complex were hailing the project ‘the future,’ while countless girls were sharing their creations across TikTok, Twitter and Instagram - all while driving thousands upon thousands to visit the site and code.
Execution
We set out to change girls’ perceptions of code by combining the world of code with the world of Doja Cat. We worked closely with Doja Cat’s team and Active Theory to use graphic and UX design to transform Doja’s music video into an easy-to-use experience that teaches girls to code. We also took coding - typically desktop-only - and translated it to mobile, where our target audience lives.
The experience was immersive, but equally important - it was fun. Over 150,000 people coded the video within just the first week. Thousands of people shared their coded creations on social. They were freaking out on TikTok and Instagram. In the first two week, DojaCode garnered $10M in earned coverage - all with zero paid media behind it.
The short term impact of DojaCode was to show girls the fun and creative opportunities STEM has to offer, and to seek opportunities Girls Who Code can give them. The long term impact was to create a shift in the stereotypical image of what the opportunities in tech can be—inspiring more women to pursue computer science as a career.
DojaCode introduced countless girls to coding while significantly increasing Girls Who Code site traffic and newsletter signups. The work launched in December 2021 with Doja Cat’s ‘Woman’ music video, and is still running today.
Outcome
Over 150,000 people coded the video within just the first week. Thousands were capturing and sharing it. They were freaking out on TikTok, losing it on IG. In the first two weeks, DojaCode garnered $10M in earned coverage—all with zero paid media behind it.
DojaCode introduced countless girls to coding while significantly increasing Girls Who Code site traffic and newsletter signups. But most importantly, we changed the world's perception of coding and allowed girls to experience it's power through creativity, art and music. By helping girls understand that coding goes beyond hackers in hoodies, we inspired the next generation of females in STEM.