Oxfam have commissioned NixonMcInnes to create a series of widgets to accompany their offline campaigns and connect fellow activists in the fight to end poverty and suffering around the globe.
The first widget was presented by Oxfam and The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) as part of the ‘‘Tanabata’’ or star festival at a reception attended by the Leaders of the Group of Eight nations at the end of the first day of the G-8 summit in Japan. Intended as a call to action to end worldwide poverty and illness, the widget allows users to choose a cause and pledge their support by submitting their personal details. Causes are then illustrated by flags hanging off bamboo trees in keeping with the festival’s traditional custom of writing wishes on a strip of ‘‘tanzaku’’ paper and displaying them on a specially erected bamboo tree, in the hope that the wishes become true. Currently there have been over 29,000 sign ups from across the world.
The new widget will be installed across multiple Oxfam partner websites and in a variety of different languages to ensure a simpler, more powerful way to reach their campaign targets. Campaigners will feel more connected with fellow activists around the world as they see messages come in from dozens of countries, and the number of people who have taken action grow.
“People all over the world are demanding that world leaders act urgently to end poverty and inequality,” said Glen Tarman from the Global to Action Against Poverty. “We are very excited that one online tool will enable people using the 75 GCAP white band web sites around the world to take action together. As a global movement, it is becoming more and more vital to explore innovative campaigning methods to combine the voices of millions so politicians make the right decisions on injustice both nationally and internationally.”
The second widget NixonMcInnes created for Oxfam was to accompany their festival teams ‘on the ground’ campaign. Oxfam have attended all the best festivals this summer including Glastonbury, T in the Park, Reading and the V Festivals with the intention of connecting with at least 10,000 people asking ‘What gets your knickers in a twist?’ Issues such as poverty, apathy and climate change are attached to pairs of ‘pants’ (yes, pants) on poles and paraded around festival fields to get punters to sign up to the cause. NixonMcInnes have created a widget with a festival theme, allowing users to click on the different pairs of pants and make their personal pledge for the causes that matter the most to them. The widget provides an opportunity for those unlucky enough not to secure festival tickets to participate in the Oxfam campaign, as well as allowing festival-goers who were unable to sign the petition to register their support.
In the case of both widgets, pledges are stored and totaled on a summary page so users can see how many people are taking part and making their personal pledges.
Oxfam themselves also have access to even more information about where the widgets are, where most people are signing up and how they are spreading. Information that they can use to make future campaigns even more successful.
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are increasingly using social media to help spread their message virally across the web, raise awareness and recruit new supporters to the cause. This is covering new ground in the Third Sector by using social media to resolve the challenge around harnessing the energy of a major global campaign.
Will McInnes said, “In harnessing the power of widgets Oxfam have not only created a smart digital marketing campaign but also laid down the gauntlet to the majority of so-called fast-moving business brands who are still using the same tired and increasingly ineffective advertising-based marketing formulae. This is a win for the so-called ‘sleepy Third Sector.”
Images courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/aid_precious_ones/193680632/ & http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfam/page2/
