Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Ad Council, who rallied the media and advertising industries to support critical messages around the Coronavirus, partnered with Twitter ArtHouse to drive action through artwork. The #StayHome and #AloneTogether campaigns, which aimed to disrupt the traditional PSA at a time where people were inundated with somber messages from government officials, encouraged people to stay home, stay safe and slow the spread of coronavirus. ViacomCBS developed the #AloneTogether platform to educate Americans about the steps they can take to protect themselves, their family and community. Twitter ArtHouse engaged artistic Creators to develop creative content using each artist’s distinctive craft and voice. The Creators were selected because of their unique storytelling and ability to make artful content that resonates with influential audiences on Twitter.
The Ad Council’s strategy involved engaging four Twitter ArtHouse Creators to develop Twitter-first, artistic content to stop people in their feeds, and reinforce the importance of staying home.
The creators identified by Twitter ArtHouse were:
Rinny Perkins - pop artist
Dylan Blau - motion graphics designer
Pete Heacock - stop motion animator
Nina Cosford - illustrator
Notable highlights from the campaign include:
Fast, remote production: To encourage people to #StayHome and slow the spread of COVID-19 quickly, ArtHouse launched creative in two weeks, cutting standard production timelines in half. With creators’ unique ability to work and produce assets from home, ArtHouse and Ad Council activated the entire campaign remotely, managing production, content reviews, and comms from separate locations
Compelling creative: ArtHouse and Ad Council worked together to strike a balance between authentic and impactful content. Each asset incorporated #StayHome and #AloneTogether messaging, which was then elevated as creators depicted these key messages in their own voices and styles.
Custom Emoji’s to Drive Conversation: In addition to running media to support these assets, Twitter also developed two custom custom emojis to appear after anyone tweeted with the hashtags #StayHome and #AloneTogether. The custom emojis are still live today.
Organic & Paid Support: The content was posted organically on each Creator’s Twitter profiles as well as by the @AdCouncil handle. In addition to organic content, Twitter donated media to run promoted Tweets and contributed their expertise to the media strategy. Additionally, Twitter mobilized some of their notable, relevant corporate handles to help promote these critical messages by engaging with a Retweet, including: @TwitterMktg (1M followers), @TwitterForGood (189K followers) and @NonProfits (3.2M followers).
Campaign Highlights:
Topline Performance Metrics:
4.8M video views
53% video view rate
604K engagements
16M impressions
Individual Creator Video Results:
Pete Heacock:
3 videos
51K engagements
7.6M impressions
3.4M video views
44% video view rate
Dylan Blau:
1 video
454K engagements
1.42M impressions
1.37 M video views
96% video view rate
Comment Example : “Amazing, very positive message that gives you a big smile and happy vibe!” - @lebronshems
Rinny Perkins:
2 photos
8 engagements
13.2K impressions
6% engagement rate
Comment Example: : “THIS IS RADDDD” - @Sailbellanyc, “This is awesome!” - @NatureHairRule
Nina Cosford:
2 photos
98K engagements
6.9M impressions
1.4% engagement rate
Comment Example: “just had one of these chates the other day!! Love this graphic!!” - @SheRocksWorld
*Results include paid + organic by creator and @AdCouncil
