2021 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

CHALLENGE
Since 2004, the crime rate in Canada has dropped in all categories, except one: violence against women. Women’s shelters are simply not able to meet the demand.

To bring the issue to the forefront, the YWCA Montreal recreated scenes from classic horror films. Because for too many women, violence is not restricted to the silver screen: it’s a brutal part of their everyday life – and it has to stop.

Recent movements like #MeToo and Time’s Up have given a voice to the victims and are beginning to change the conversation, and hopefully behaviours, around sexual abuse and harassment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. Unfortunately, domestic violence is still too present.

According to the latest annual report released by Statistics Canada, almost a third of victims of police-reported violent crimes in Canada have experienced violence from a current or former spouse or partner. As in previous years, women were over represented, constituting nearly 8 out of 10 victims. And the situation is no different in Quebec.

Since the Montreal YWCA’s mission is to build a better future for women, girls and their families, the organisation’s goal was to develop an awareness campaign to bring the issue back to the forefront in the Quebec market.

INSIGHT
Even though violent crimes against women and girls happen with alarming regularity, the topic is often ignored by the media and in the news.

FCB’s strategy was to dig into pop culture to identify universal archetypes that shape the collective unconscious. This led the agency to a powerful insight: Hollywood horror movies, released every Halloween, are full of male aggressors attacking female victims – storylines that, sadly, mirror reality. Because while we can cover our faces when we can’t stand what’s happening on the screen, we have to stop turning a blind eye to what’s happening in real life.

EXECUTION
With $0 in media, for this campaign to succeed, it needed to drive earned impressions through social. To ensure that the work was engaging and would motivate people to share it organically, the agency recreated scenes from three classic, universally recognized horror film scenes.

But unlike the original movies, the scenes did not culminate with a gruesome murder. Instead, they showed the daily lives of victims, revealing the fear, despair, and panic triggered by their real-life nightmares. Each scene ended with a brutally simple, truthful message: “Some women live horror movies all-year round. It has to stop.”

The 6-week campaign started airing on television on October 31 with three 15-second films, and longer versions launched simultaneously online via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The campaign also included a considerable PR drive.

RESULTS
The goal to generate meaningful discourse around the topic of domestic violence has been achieved.

The campaign tracked a total of 7.1 million organic impressions (in a population of 8.5 million). Campaign videos got over 1.5 million views with a media budget of $0. The YWCA Facebook page also saw a 700% increase in followers.

Isabelle Charest, the Minister for the Status of Women in Quebec announced, in early 2020, that domestic violence was one of her key priorities, with goals to create more awareness and preventative actions. A forum on equality and domestic violence was held in February, 2020 and the YWCA of Montreal was invited to the table in order to direct those vital conversations.

Credits

Creative Agency: FCB Montréal
Sylvain Dufresne, Vice-President, Head of Creative
Philippe Natewajko, Art Director
Elmer Tazartez, Copywriter
Julie Simon, Account Director
Krystelle Ruest, Account Director
Laurie-Anne Côté, Project Manager
Marie-Nathalie Poirier, Strategist
Anick Rozon, Production

Production Company: SOMA
Geneviève Cabana-Proulx, Production
Stéphanie Merizzi, Production
Sarah Pellerin, Director
Ariel Méthot, Director of photography
Charles Grenier, Video Editor

Post-Production: Outpost
Simon Allard, Video Editor, Outpost

Sound Recording Studio: Lamajeure
Jacob Gauthier-Robitaille, Mixer
Luc Préfontaine, Mixer


Media: Jungle Média
Danick Archambault, Vice-President Media Director

PR: Weber Shandwick
Marie-Philip Leduc, Public Relations