Even if we’re more connected than ever, people are feeling lonelier today than at any point in history. Young people bear the brunt of the loneliness epidemic with the Cigna U.S. Loneliness Index identifying Gen Z as the most lonely generation in history. The uncomfortable truth is there are many platforms for superficial socializing but few that unlock the sense of genuine connection we crave.

Messenger has long been seen as an extension to Facebook and irrelevant to younger audiences social lives. While the platform is used by billions, these perceptual barriers left the brand lacking in spirit. To give Messenger a soul and showcase our vision for the future, Messenger rebranded under “That Close,” celebrating our belief that sharing life’s experiences brings us closer together even when we’re apart. These moments, even the small ones, forge enduring bonds and create greater feelings of acceptance, validation, and respect.

For Gen Z, friendship is everything; it’s celebration, introspection, growth, tension, conflict; everything. To introduce the Messenger brand to the world for the first time, we wanted to focus on the kind of close friendship that makes you feel like the realest version of yourself; not simply close, but That Close.

Our aim was to reach a new audience of 18-24 year olds that already uses Messenger, but doesn't connect with the brand,

and let them know that Messenger is now a place to hang out with their closest friends online just like in real life. By featuring Watch Together, we showed young people in their element, being their realest selves with their closest friends on Messenger.

Under the banner “That Close,” we shined a light on the shared experiences Messenger provides that help young people communicate their most authentic selves. On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we created a campaign that literalised the feeling of closeness using dreamlike visual effects that sent actors flying through space to watch content together with their best friends. On streaming, we launched a trio of vignettes that found young people using Watch Together to connect over our library of content. We extended to TikTok and created a hashtag challenge that asked creators to show us the difference between friends who are “close,” and connections that are “That Close.” Finally, we partnered with Travis Barker and Steve Aoki to create a concert by friends for friends that could only be experienced through Watch Together and included a set of custom Soundmojis as well as an exclusive sticker pack that lived in-product.

Our campaign resulted in increased Message pull through and awareness of the shared experiences that can be enjoyed on Messenger. Our work drove sentiment lift in “Shared Experience” (+2.3), “Hangout” (+1.8) and “Feel Closer” (+2.4). Our music activation drove +22pts incremental lift in Soundmoji sends. Finally, our hashtag challenge garnered 12 Billion views on TikTok on over 1.7 million videos created.