International Women’s Day receives a great deal of attention in Canada, but we often forget the inequalities women face daily in other parts of the world. How can we create a relevant, relatable campaign that attracts attention to these issues?

We decided on an integrated campaign featuring traditional media relations, digital ad buys and an original online quiz and infographic.

The quiz, titled How many laws did you break today? runs through daily activities in the life of an average Canadian woman. Some of the questions include how she got to work that day, what outfit she wore, and what level of education she has. At the end, she’s given a result that identifies how many of those activities are illegal for women living in other countries. This rich, interactive content closed the gap between women in first-world countries and those beyond, allowing us to personally relate to the injustices.

The campaign was timed to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8. Media outreach began to schedule interviews with MATCH’s executive director on March 7 and 8, in major print and broadcast outlets, as well as in smaller radio stations and online blogs with a mostly female audience. The infographic and quiz was featured prominently in media coverage.

The digital ads targeted two audiences – donors and look-a-likes, and feminists and humanitarians. The ads featured a graphic of hands in handcuffs with the quiz title overtop: How many laws did you break today?, which allowed it to stand out from other ads on social media and attract attention to the quiz.

A key element to the campaign was the call to action to share quiz results on Facebook and Twitter. This allowed the quiz and the campaign to move past traditional media and ad buys, and thrive through social media.

The first major result was in knowledge and consideration of the issues and the organization. The traditional media tour received 22 pieces of coverage and 16 million media impressions. Every piece of coverage mentioned the organization’s name and the title of the quiz. Many outlets featured a link to the quiz on their own websites, driving even more traffic. The quiz was taken over 462,000 times by respondents in over 100 countries, demonstrating a global response to global issues. It was shared over 408,568 times on Facebook and Twitter, emphasizing the virality of the quiz and how online shares led to more respondents.

The second result was in outputs. Encouraging donations to The MATCH Fund was a secondary objective to raising awareness. However, having a “pay your fine” button on the quiz results page led to 118 new donations, and follow-up tweets led to 80 new newsletter subscribers.