2022 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Domestic violence is a notoriously hidden problem, despite 1 in 3 women having experienced it themselves. When the pandemic forced us all to stay home, domestic violence increased as much as 30%, festering behind closed doors.

The YWCA Metro Vancouver provides services for women and children escaping violent homes, including housing, legal, employment, among others. While this growing problem resulted in a demand for services, funds were lower than ever as charitable donations were down across the country. YWCA needed a way to break through the news cycle to drive awareness and donations for this essential programming.

Domestic violence often hides in plain sight, meaning it frequently goes undetected, unreported and undiscussed. They needed to find a way to bring the hidden issue to the attention of British Columbians, so they created something so captivating that it was impossible to miss: the Wall for Women, a permanent 42’ mural on one of the busiest corners of Vancouver.

Partnering with internationally renowned artist Ola Volo, they created the first mural designed to fund the fight against domestic violence by discreetly hiding six painted QR codes within the mural. As people stopped to snap photos, the QR code technology prompted them to learn more and donate on the spot. Each QR code links to a different shocking statistic about domestic violence, ultimately driving people to learn more about how they can help, turning their passive photos into active donations.

They began painting on International Women’s Day (March 8th, 2021). Ola, with the help of women volunteers fleeing violent homes, painted a powerful queen-like figure who, despite snakes holding her down, is rising up, unafraid to take up space. Ola’s intricate design work allowed her to hide the QR codes so well that their smartphone cameras would recognize the codes before their eyes could. The mural is the first of its kind in North America – a permanent 4-story landmark telling an important story and driving donations to help women escape domestic violence. The artwork, its QR codes and landing page will remain live indefinitely.

The campaign exceeded planning goals, earning well over 1 million impressions in traditional media, over 500,000 impressions in organic social reach, and an unprecedented amount of user generated content on TikTok and Instagram. The social media response was overwhelmingly positive with over 30,000 engagements on YWCA’s owned channels. The mural reveal post was YWCA Metro Vancouver’s most liked Instagram post in history by 4.5x. Website traffic to the Wall for Women page was up 266% compared to average website traffic. Not only were people talking about domestic violence, they were donating—donations rose 31% above the YWCA’s 5-year average over the same time period, far exceeding their goal. YWCA also reached a 1-year peak on Google search trends in BC during launch. These results were an important step for the organization to be recognized as a powerful advocacy group among millennial audiences.

Credits

Agency: Rethink
Client: YWCA Metro Vancouver
CCO: Aaron Starkman
CSO: Sean McDonald
ECD: Leia Rogers, Morgan Tierney
Associate Creative Director: Sheldon Rennie, Jordon Lawson
Art Director: Abrie Miller, Sheldon Rennie, Nada Hayek
Designer: Abrie Miller, Sheldon Rennie
Writer: Emily Betteridge, Jordon Lawson, Thom Peters
Producers: Sarah Lee, Scott Russell, Sarah Vingoe, Terri Winter
Lead Strategist: Darren Yada
Strategist: Aliz Tennant, Samantha Cheng
Account Director: Kennedy Crawford
Account Manager: Winnie Woo
DP: Eric Arnold
Editor: Megan O’Connor
Studio Artist: Jan Day, Jonathon Cesar
Illustrator: Ola Volo
Digital Designer: Sheldon Rennie
Developer: Steve Lam