Status Of Africa

Background

AMREF, Africa’s leading health development charity, wanted to raise awareness of the difficulties many mothers face in the marginalised communities of Africa.

With a brief to raise awareness and drive support, Mother’s Day was the perfect opportunity for BBH to launch a new release of the Status of Africa Facebook app.

In 2010, BBH had used the medium of the status update to reveal the truth about life for people in the poorest African communities. The difference this time was that the Status of Africa app focused solely on women.

On Facebook, people could choose a real mother or midwife in Africa that AMREF works with and to share their status or Twitter account with them for 5 days. The app automatically updated the users’ status twice a day with their chosen mother or midwife. The status updates were written based on true case studies.

The nature of these true stories encouraged viewers to make donations there and then.

Idea

Although AMREF encourages women in childbirth to seek proper medical attention, sometimes this is impossible. In these circumstances it takes astonishingly little to save a life.

A piece of plastic sheeting to lay on the earthen floor, a sliver of soap and cotton wool for hygiene, a piece of string to tie the umbilical cord, and then, to cut it, a razor blade sterilised with matches.

In fact, no more than it takes to fill a matchbox.

So, to get like-minded bloggers and journalists to help promote the story of the new Facebook app, they were sent a matchbox with the life-saving kit inside.

Results

50+ Blog Post Mentions

2.8 million Twitter Impressions on tweets mentioning AMREF

14,200+ Impressions of the app page from logged-in FB users

9,130+ Statuses, News Feeds and  Photos created by the app on Facebook and Twitter

1,690+ Likes and Comments on lent Facebook statuses/ feeds

1119+ App Downloads

Our Thoughts

Direct mail and digital go together like horse and carriage and if ever you wanted proof, here it is. BBH, one of the most garlanded agencies in the world for traditional TV and print advertising using direct mail. Shock horror!

And the reason? Because mail is a brilliant way of reaching specific target audiences and getting them to do things. In this instance, AMREF desperately needed help

getting the word out about their new Facebook app. With no money for advertising either online or offline, who do you turn to? People who can deliver you an audience of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands. Journalists and bloggers.

Being BBH, they’ve done it extremely well, dramatising a simple fact about how little it takes to save a life.

Go to http://apps.facebook.com/statusofafrica" target="_blank">http://apps.facebook.com/statusofafrica to help spread the word and make a donation.