HOW L’ORÉAL PARIS AND RTL MADE STREET HARASSMENT HARD TO IGNORE - ScreenVoice.cz

Context

Sexual harassment in public spaces is one of the most common forms of gender-based violence in the world. Two figures frame the issue: 80% of women have experienced street harassment, but 85% of people say they lack training on how to intervene. Ad Alliance and L’Oréal created a campaign to respond to this problem with a practical idea: show what intervention looks like in a situation viewers recognise, then point them to an online training called “Stand Up”. A program against street harassment that L’Oréal Paris and Right To Be launched in 2020.

Credibility was the key test for this campaign. Street harassment is a sensitive topic, and viewers can push back fast when it feels like a brand message laid over a TV plot. Here, the storyline leads, and the Stand Up message comes through Moritz Bode, a main character in RTL’s German daily series Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (GZSZ), supported by discreet cues in the scene, including posters on set.

Campaign objectives

The campaign aimed to integrate “Stand Up” in a natural and credible inside the narrative of the story and to lead viewers towards discovering the online training. It set out to raise awareness of “Stand Up” in an approachable way, while also giving people a clear next step if they want to act.

The campaign uses three moments linked to each other. First, a chat-style special ad (“Backstory Chatmove”) introduces the topic through a conversation that displays on screen in the form of an SMS conversation between L’Oréal Paris and the GZSZ character Moritz Bode. Next, the storyline shows a harassment situation as part of the plot. In the series, posters also appear in the background with messages such as“Your lipstick is not to blame” and “Harassment is never your fault.” After that product placement moment, special “Cut In” ads repeat the “Stand Up” message and make the brand’s role clear. The campaign then travels further through the show’s social media and through press coverage, as the main male character – who dares to step into a harassment situation thanks to the tips he discovered on the Stand Up app – also explains the usage of the program to one of his friends on the show

Creative minds

L’Oréal Paris and Ad Alliance built the campaign together, with RTL/GZSZ providing the story. Ad Alliance led the campaign and its implementation in close cooperation with L’Oréal Paris. The creative choices sit in the mix of formats: Ad Specials (“Chatmoves” and “Cut Ins”) in GZSZ, a product placement scene inside the series, on-set visuals that support the message without taking over the episode and a PR campaign.

Campaign video

The campaign includes a video designed to be shared, built around everyday harassment situations involving women and the choices people can make as witnesses. It is supported by campaign visuals and on-screen information that underline the Stand Up message and steer viewers towards the training route, with a clear focus on social media impact.

Results

The reported results point to the two outcomes the campaign needed most: credibility and interest in taking part.

Headline KPIs:

55% of people who had contact with the placement say they want to participate in Stand Up
84% say the integration is credible
The image value “social commitment” increases by 144%
The material also states “above-average” awareness and likeability for both the placement and the “Backstory Chatmove”, based on a comparison with Ad Alliance’s internal benchmark database, which aggregates results from previous campaign evaluations.

In addition, the material notes an increase in programme participation. Here, participation refers to “actions planned”, i.e. the expressed willingness to take part in the programme. Viewers with advertising contact show a significantly higher participation intent than non-viewers, indicating a positive impact on behavioural intent.

Source: egta.com