SITUATION: COVID-19 decimated Black-owned businesses at 2X the rate of non-diverse businesses, and consumers wanted to help.

BRIEF: Develop an integrated activation idea that can provide people and businesses a way to help support Black-owned businesses during their moment of need and during a cultural moment when holiday shopping was top-of-mind.

OBJECTIVES: Celebrate and support Black-owned businesses and their communities during the holiday shopping season.

The idea was to develop a social-first platform idea that would harness the energy of the largest retail shopping moment of the year -- Black Friday -- and redirect it toward celebrating and supporting Black businesses and communities. Each Friday, between October 30th and November 27th, we partnered with thought leaders, influencers, and businesses to spotlight Black-owned businesses, celebrate Black culture, and drive consumers to Buy Black.

DATA GATHERING: 41% of Black-owned businesses had shut down because of COVID-19; Google trends had indicated a 50x uptick in searches for “Black owned business” between May 26th and June 2nd; and our internal signals indicated a similar interest.

TARGET AUDIENCE: US Consumers between the ages of 18 and 44 who use the Facebook app with intentionality and are most likely to shop, as well as Black-owned small businesses.

RELEVANCE TO PLATFORM: Facebook’s products, tools, and technologies were a natural fit for this idea, as we could use Facebook Watch, Facebook Live, and our eCommerce tools to create a full funnel activation experience.

APPROACH: The #BuyBlack Friday Show would sit at the center of the activation, promoting and celebrating Black businesses and Black culture. Surrounding this, a series of tactics would enable social sharing, shopping, and increased awareness of both the activation itself and of the Black-owned businesses featured within.

IMPLEMENTATION: At the center of the activation sat the #BuyBlack Friday Show, which ran each Friday on Facebook Watch during the holiday shopping season, and which featured Black businesses, musicians, and entertainers. A Lift Black Voices in-product hub on the Facebook app supported and promoted all things related to #BuyBlack Friday. Facebook and Instagram Story Stickers and the #BuyBlackChallenge hashtag amplified awareness of the activation and encouraged participation in and support for the #BuyBlack movement. And, lastly, a Gift Guide spotlighted products from up to 100 US Black-owned small businesses.

TIMELINE: 10/30/2020 -- 11/27/2020

PLACEMENT: Facebook Live, Facebook Watch, Instagram, Facebook and Instagram Shop Tab, Lift Black Voices Hub within Facebook App.

SCALE: The activation reached over 15 million people.

Between October 30th and December 8th, 2020, 15 million people tuned in to Facebook's #BuyBlack Friday Show, and over 6 million tuned into the final show on November 27th (3 second views).

The activation generated over 125k engagements (likes, shares, comments) on Facebook’s #BuyBlack Friday Show since the first show aired on October 30th, and more than 80,000 people visited Facebook’s #BuyBlack Friday gift guide since it launched in October.

900,000 Instagram Stories were created and shared using the #BuyBlack Sticker and the #BuyBlack Friday gift guide generated a more than a 15% Click-Through rate to external business and corporate partner sites. The number of Click-Throughs to our corporate partners that featured Black-owned businesses is as follows: Etsy: 600+; DoorDash: 500+; USBC: 500+; Unbothered on Refinery29: 200+; and Shopify: 100+.

With the cultural awakening across the US this year, many people were looking for ways to support Black businesses, which have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

According to Google, there had been a 50x increase in searches for “Black owned business” between May 26th and June 2nd.

And on our own platforms, we had seen a rise in average weekly interactions related to "Black-owned businesses."