From an A4 Letter to the World: How did this Turkish platform call for protection against femicide?
marketing is an unconventional strategy that is simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and sometimes, inexpensive. I am personally fond of this strategy because it reminds me that we can never run out of creative ways to get our target audience hooked. That’s why today, we’ll talk about guerrilla marketing through a concrete example. Keep reading the article below and find out how a particular campaign helped raise awareness about a serious issue in Turkey in 2021.
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From an A4 Letter to the World: How did this Turkish platform call for protection against femicide? FEMICIDE. —a term that is generally understood to involve intentional murder of women because they are women, but broader definitions include any killings of women or girls. Did you know that in 2020, a total of 409 women were killed in Turkey alone? Sadly, these women wrote petitions asking for help over and over again, and yet they were ignored by authorities; thus, these help-seekers ended up dead. Here’s what’s even worse: On March 20, 2021, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the country’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention by presidential decree. … and for those of you who don’t know yet, this convention gives women the right of protection against domestic violence such as femicide. With the withdrawal, women will no longer be entitled to protection by the state. This decision was met with protests in Turkey. Additionally, many experts in the country have criticized the procedure as unconstitutional. Here’s the thing: Regardless of the protests and criticisms, the president’s decision could no longer be revoked. So, to make the problem more visible, Turkish platform We Will Stop Femicide launched a guerrilla marketing campaign titled… The “Invisible Petitions”!
We Will Stop Femicide found out that those women who were killed by their boyfriends or husbands in 2020 filed complaints in Turkey’s State Prosecution Office. One wrote nine complaint petitions… … another one wrote 23 complaint petitions… … and yet another one wrote 60 complaint petitions. That’s why in brainstorming about the “Invisible Petitions” campaign, We Will Stop Femicide’s main thesis was this: “How could we make the authorities see A4-letter-size petitions?” The answer? By making the letter as BIG as possible! Enter a woman’s real petition enlarged to the size of a building in Turkey, with the headline taken from her own words…
The headline in Turkish read: “I don’t want to die.” After setting up the enlarged petition on a tall building’s wall, the campaign team let the unfiltered message do the trick. True enough, the outdoor display immediately went viral. Millions of passersby took photos of the HUGE petition and shared it on social media. Even celebrities and journalists commented about it. In a bid to stop the outrage, the Turkish government ordered that the display be removed 12 hours later. The problem? Even if the HUGE poster was removed, the people didn’t stop talking about it and sparked them even more. The outrage had already begun, and it wasn’t stopping anytime soon. Sure, the government brought down that ONE enlarged petition, but as a result, the collaterals only multiplied. The message was seen everywhere—from motto posters, T-shirts, and mugs to audios, social media filters, and digital artworks.
What’s more? The opposition municipalities in Turkey also joined the movement and offered to hang enlarged petitions all over the country for free! Wow, what a powerful change of medium you got there, We Will Stop Femicide! From just a small, simple A4 letter, your campaign managed to create a movement and strengthen the spirit of many people, especially women. Was the “Invisible Petitions” campaign effective? Through We Will Stop Femicide’s campaign, the “I don’t want to die” petition became the “most shared visual in Turkey of the past many years.” Moreover:
Kudos to We Will Stop Femicide’s campaign team for using guerrilla marketing to come up with such an awakening message! While the Turkish government is yet to act on the “Invisible Petitions,” the outdoor stunt was powerful enough to raise the people’s hopes for a better future in the country. *Claps* — Just like today’s guerrilla marketing feature, you can also use your brand or business to be a voice of change. Show your target market that you’re not just about gaining profits but also about caring for the people! The more they know that you’re concerned about them as human beings, the more likable your brand will be. So, what are you waiting for? Don’t let your target market’s hopes in your brand or business die! Start thinking outside of the box and give them a campaign to remember! Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. EXCITING NEWS AHEAD The world of work has shifted, and there’s no going back. The barriers to entry have never been lower for talented professionals to work independently, and today’s massive external workforce is hardly a pandemic-produced fad. Business owners can only survive in the new work landscape by partnering with this deep talent pool. With decades of experience in both small-business entrepreneurship and executive management at PwC, I truly believe that the future of work is independent. With that, I’m happy to share with you that my book, co-authored with Walter Scott Lamb, is now available for pre-order on Amazon! Free Birds Revolution: The Future of Work & The Independent Mind This is an essential read for both independent professionals and corporate executives. Here, we provide educational and practical guides to unpack the ever-growing workforce and offer you crucial ways to become a client of choice. Click on the link above to pre-order your copy. Let this book help you future-proof your career and organization in the new world of work. Do you want to know how one language learning app enabled its users to learn the constructed language spoken in the “Game of Thrones” universe? See it in next week’s article! |
