Cannes Lions

Girls Who Code's #MarchForSisterhood

GIRLS WHO CODE, New York / GIRLS WHO CODE / 2020

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Overview

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Credits

Overview

Background

The organization works to close the gender gap in technology with computer science programming for girls of all ages, and through campaigns that aim to change stereotypes around who belongs in computer science, and what girls can accomplish with technology.

This campaign being submitted for Cannes Lions was an integral part of the organization’s work to change stereotypes around who belongs in computer science, and what girls can accomplish with technology.

For Day of the Girl, the organization launched the first ever all-digital march: the #MarchForSisterhood. The March brought together girls, women, and allies fighting for change, and demonstrated that girls can change the world with tech.

It’s campaigns like this one that have helped the organization reach over 300,000 girls around the world with its educational programming, and 500 million people with its message that girls belong in tech, that they can thrive in tech.

Idea

The #MarchForSisterhood, the first ever all-digital march, was created with the goal of bringing millions of girls together to celebrate their activism and leadership in the place where they live - online. Women, girls, and allies were asked to take a video of themselves marching for a cause they believe in and post it on social media - so they could celebrate changing the world together.

The #MarchForSisterhood solved problems inherent in traditional IRL and URL activism. There were no geographic barriers to joining the march, and unlike typical one-off online petition activism, #MarchForSisterhood fueled a sense of connection.

Strategy

The target audience for this campaign was Gen-Z and millennial women. The strategy to engage them was twofold—bring Gen-Z influencers and activists into the planning process; and secure partnerships with social media and news organizations.

To engage Gen-Z, the organization thoughtfully curated a “Team Sisterhood” to provide input on strategy, vision, content, and more. The group—which included celebrities and activists Jenna Ortega, Ava Phillipe, Claire Stapleton, Jamie Margolin, Isra Hirsi, and more—participated in the #MarchForSisterhood, and spoke with press.

The second part of the strategy involved securing both a social media platform partner that catered to Gen-Z (TikTok), and a digital media partner (Refinery29). Each partnership was a one-of-a-kind exclusive that the organization knew would engage key audiences, and establish it as a thought leader. Both partnerships were secured months in advance.

Execution

On September 16, a month ahead of the March, the campaign launched with a press release, an exclusive feature on Refinery29, and a trailer on social media.

Throughout the campaign, the organization used Instagram and Twitter to build up excitement within their community through how-to videos, features of Team Sisterhood, and inspirational memes and images.

Beginning September 30, Team Sisterhood and paid influencers posted March videos on social media and challenged others to join them on October 11.

Beginning October 4, a branded campaign “Challenge” launched on TikTok. The campaign quickly went viral, amassing nearly 500 million views of videos using the hashtag within one week.

From October 7 through October 11, Refinery29 released daily essays from Team Sisterhood explaining the causes they were marching for—from gun control to mental health to reproductive rights.

On October 11, women, girls, and allies posted their March videos, encouraging others to join them.

Outcome

At the conclusion of the campaign, #MarchForSisterhood had over 253,635 hashtag mentions across platforms (measured by hand), and reached over 800 million people online (measured by adding live activation engagements, press impressions, owned channel engagements, paid social media, influencer organic engagements, influencer paid engagements, and website visits).

In terms of press, the campaign saw a wide breadth of coverage, with over 30 unique stories with press impressions totalling to 218,984,490. Outlets including Refinery29, AdWeek, Mashable, EliteDaily, Good Morning America, Bustle, Cheddar, and more ran standalone feature stories.

The total reach from journalist shares on social media alone was nearly half a million, and the articles were shared nearly 3,000 times on social media.

The organization was also able to engage it’s “Clubs” in both K-12 schools and college campuses and activate women, girls, and allies around the world to march.

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