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UNICEF and BTS work to #ENDviolence on UN International #FriendshipDay

By and
Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Using the power of conversation, Twitter works with organizations around the world to drive meaningful impact in communities. International organizations like @UNICEF are using Twitter to connect with their communities, build relationships, spark conversation and drive actions.

To mark UN International Day of Friendship on July 30, UNICEF challenged the younger members of its community to celebrate friendship through acts of kindness both on Twitter and in real life. This effort was part of UNICEF’s #ENDviolence campaign. In December last year, young people from around the world drafted the #ENDviolence Youth Manifesto. In it, they shared what they want from their parents, teachers, policymakers and each other to feel safe and supported in and around school — and kindness stood out as one of the most powerful means to prevent bullying.

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To help get the word out, UNICEF partnered with high-profile supporters and K-pop sensation @BTS_twt. The Korean pop group invited their more than 21 million followers to get in on the kindness action by leaving a kind note for someone online or in person. 

For UNICEF, partnering with BTS was a perfect fit, “They are a powerful driving force for positive change and credible young advocates for our work,”  says Paloma Escudero, Director of Global Communication at UNICEF. “BTS’ passion, authenticity, and personal stories have inspired young people around the world to take action and recognize their own power to end violence in and around schools. Through our #ENDviolence LOVE MYSELF partnership, BTS has galvanized young people to spread love and kindness,” says Escudero.

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UNICEF used two hashtags as a part of their call to action. #ENDviolence and #FriendshipDay collectively generated almost 1.5M mentions over seven days according to Twitter Official data partner Brandwatch.

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The conversation was overwhelmingly positive. Ending violence and “friendship” were widely supported and recognized on Twitter. The table below shows the overwhelming positive conversation that resulting from this campaign. To calculate sentiment, Brandwatch employs a rules-based process around context and keywords to train their software.

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Brandwatch identified the top 100 emojis used from the day’s conversation. One emoji, in particular, is an important symbol to BTS ARMY fans. The purple heart was the most used in the conversation at more than 700,000 times. For BTS fans, this emoji aptly symbolizes love, trust, and being there for one another as explained by BTS member Kim Taehyung. 

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UNICEF’s message of kindness and friendship was amplified by their partner accounts @bts_love_myself and @bts_bighit. The activation resonated strongly with the values of their audience on Twitter. UNICEF’s approach aligned with Gen Z users who respond positively to calls to action and who care for social justice. More broadly, we know that people on Twitter care about what’s happening in the world and they want brands to stand for something.

UNICEF took a conversational approach and encouraged dialogue on Twitter. They empowered their followers with assets to create their own content so that allies and influencers could participate and amplify the message on #FriendshipDay.

Escudero explains, “Each and every part of the activation was driven by young people. It was important for us to continue following their lead and create a call-to-action and creative that was simple, accessible and most importantly tapped into their existing online behaviours. The series of ‘kind note’ templates did just that and were based on a format that is popular amongst this demographic on social media.”

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Twitter helps individuals and organizations connect with each other in real-time. That interaction is made even more impactful when it is positive and driving action towards a common goal.

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