The Turkish women's volleyball players are not only successful players, but role models. Young girls look up to them as an inspiration, for example by following players like Melissa Vargas on social platforms. But by spending most of their time online, younger generations tend to get a lack of motivation for physical activity. And even if there are those who enjoy sport to begin with, according to the Eurobarometer on sport, many of them give up sport as they get older – especially women. They often don't feel as good as their friends, feel left alone or simply don't believe in themselves.

So how can we make young girls and teens think about sports when they're online, and also make them feel empowered and supported?

We target our audience where they spend most of their time, which is online, and use something they absolutely love and already understand: an emoji. That's why we reinterpret the «raised hands»-emoji and make it a global hand sign for strength and support.

Why we do this? Because until now, nobody really knew what this emoji meant. But in volleyball, the two raising hands are a clear sign of teamwork: By giving each other two-handed high-fives before and after the game, the players symbolise their support for each another. In the game, the hands are used to block a potential attack by the opposing team and thereby protect your team.

To create awareness, the Turkish volleyball team will be showing their Supportive Hands at the Olympics 2024 and grab the attention of billions of people. After that, the Turkish Volleyball Federation explains the meaning and importance of the hand sign in a documentary film on YouTube. And finally, to show how easy one can integrate «🙌» into an everyday life, our iconic players comment on posts by randomly selected girls and teens to cheer them on.

And that's how a hand sign changed the live of young girls and teens.