In Mexico forced child marriage afflicts more than 1,200, 000, girls. Although the figures of the problem are shocking, very few people knew that this was happening. That’s why we needed to make noise to raise awareness.

We created a strong campaign where we HACKED the billboards of the most popular Wedding Expo of Mexico City to give a strong and powerful message, getting to generate media conversation, talking about a taboo topic. The problem got to the Senate, where the law forbidding child marriage in Mexico, was approved.

In Mexico more than 1,200, 000 girls are forced to marriage to an older spouse. This is part of the customs and practices of many communities of the mountains. The situation is particularly pronounced in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Hidalgo, Chiapas and Oaxaca, where the rights to education, health and a life free of violence of thousands of girls are currently violated having forced into marriage, most of them sold by their parents. This leads to high levels of emotional, economic, physical, and sexual violence against the girls.

Although the figures of the problem are shocking, very few people knew that this happens. That’s why the not-for-profit organization Yo quiero Yo puedo (which means “I want I can”) that has helped to fight against child marriage in our country, needed to expose the problem and looked for help to raise awareness in the cities of Mexico.

We needed to raise awareness about forced child marriage in Mexico, so we HACKED the billboards of the most popular Wedding Expo of Mexico City to give the message.

We recreated the fair’s billboard, but instead of using a model, we used a little girl. Then we place our billboard next to all the fair’s billboards in the city. With this HACK, we could give the message in a strong and clear way, on some of the busiest roads in the city.

Objective - Raise awareness about the problem of forced marriage in Mexico through the dissemination of information and testimonies in traditional and digital media.

Message - As part of its campaign against forced marriage, the non-profit organization Yo quiero Yo puedo recreated the image of a billboard belonging to a major wedding fair, replacing the photo of the woman with the picture of a little girl.

Target Audience

Key opinion leaders and influencers related to similar social causes.

General media

Media outlets focused on woman

As a first step for this campaign, the team mapped the targeted media, including key opinion leaders and influencers related to social causes, as well as media outlets that publishing about related topics.

The elaboration of press release included the key messages of the campaign as well as the general messages of the non-profit organization.

The press release was distributed the day that the billboard hacked was exhibited for the first time.

To reinforce the press release distribution, a series of interviews on TV and radio with key opinion leaders, took place during the following weeks.

The approach with influencers also happened during those weeks, allowing us to have constant presence on traditional media and social networks for a period between January and March,2019, the time-lapse of the campaign.

To close the campaign, a second press release was distributed during a time where the Chamber of Deputies banned child marriage.

Tier 1: Media Outputs - coverage depth (quality/quantity), tone and message delivery, purchase intent (survey)

Tier 2: Target Audience Outcomes - measurable changes in awareness, comprehension, perceptions/attitudes/ opinions, and target behaviors/actions/responses achieved

Tier 3: Business Outcomes – campaign's measurable effect on sales/revenues/profits, market share, stock valuation, brand equity, reputation scores and other traditional marketing and business metrics

42 publications, 78% of them published on top tier media. All of them with positive tone.

Impressions: 216,304,165

Ad-equivalence: $2,531,093

9 interviews with tier 1 media outlets: 5 on radio, 2 on TV, and 1 for a Youtube channel (YOSSTOP)

Message amplification through the participation of three influencers on social media: Paola Rojas, Josseline Hoffman, Martha Tagle

From January to March we boost the conversation on traditional media, digital media and social networks.

As a result, we had 57% of the coverage on social media and 43% on traditional media.

We approached key opinion leaders to start a conversation on their social media networks to amplify the message to their followers which was quite successful because they had very good answers and interest:

Yoseline Hoffman, Mexican Youtuber with 5,270,328 of followers, had the opportunity to talk with Martha Porfirio who told her about her experience of how she experienced child marriage and the reasons why her family did it and how she changed her life when she met the association Yo quiero Yo puedo, by showing her followers a true story about this situation.

Martha Tagle is a Mexican politician, feminist and political scientist, who has dedicated herself to the defense and promotion of women's human rights, democracy and the fight against corruption and impunity and she recorded a video where she talked about the situation of child marriage and which generated conversation with his followers.