Richie Meldrum: Forget about the campaign of the year, Kony 2012 is the campaign of a lifetime

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Thumbnail image for Screen shot 2012-03-08 at 10.50.29 AM.jpgRichie Meldrum discusses how KONY 2012 managed to create something no one has ever managed to do before? How have they engaged with such huge global audiences? How have we reacted so strongly and how must we respond in order drive this campaign forward?

Since an independently made 30-minute film was uploaded by US not-for-profit organisation Invisible Children just 4 days ago, an unprecedented series of extraordinary and fascinating events have, and continue, to unfold. So far, the film has achieved a combined total of over 50 million and a YouTube record. We have seen a message go from almost nowhere to absolutely everywhere in what surely will turn out to be the early stages of a complete game changer when it comes to modern communication.

As you read this post, all over the world people are talking, watching, posting, tweeting and, most importantly of all, sharing the message that Joseph Kony is a name that we need to know about. The intention is not to celebrate his fame, but instead to use it to remove him from his position as the head of a Ugandan guerrilla group most known for turning young girls into sex slaves and young boys into child soldiers, which makes him responsible for the unthinkable pain and suffering that comes with such acts.

By now there are thousands of articles, posts and comments on various media outlets where you can find out more about the background of the campaign and its ultimate goal. You can also read about the backlash and criticism where questions have been raised over the integrity of the organisers and what some consider to be their blinkered rationale and short-sighted approach.

Therefore, my intention is to focus not on the ‘whys’ of the campaign, as deeply moving as they are, but rather on the ‘hows’. How has this film managed to create something no one has ever managed to do before? How have they engaged with such huge global audiences? How have we reacted so strongly and how must we respond in order drive this campaign forward?

First up, it works because the idea is simple and innovative – make Joseph Kony famous. The campaign does not cloud its own objective with distractions or lose the audience with overwhelming details about how they can contribute financially. If you have the idea, the money will come.

Next, aim for something achievable, set a target that appears to be easy, in this case, make Joseph Kony famous. That way, when someone watches the film, just by learning who he is, they have become informed, engaged and are now on your side.

In terms of articulating the idea, the 30-minute film, directed by and staring filmmaker Jason Russell, has been the nucleus of the campaign. Well written, beautifully produced and brilliantly executed, the film is everything it needs to be to. Slick and professional yet believable and utterly compelling, the introduction is like a trailer for a Ridley Scott film – a slowly revolving earth from space, proverb-like statements of epic proportions and little flicks of static film grain.

From then on, its inspirational content, alluring style, heartfelt delivery and simple call to action all combine to give you a very real feeling that you are no longer watching an online promotion of a marketing campaign but rather a message from those who need you.

Social media has been the vehicle with which this campaign has travelled so far, so fast and to so many people. Just go on your Facebook after reading this and see how many of your friends have shared the video link, even in this early stage of coverage. Starting from the moment the video was launched, Twitter has been set ablaze by a wide variety of global trending hash tags including, #Kony2012, #stopkony, #invisibleChildren and #Uganda. This will only increase with the story now embraced by mainstream media, Channel 10 having taken the unprecedented move of broadcasting the video in its entirety in a primetime slot last night. Crucially, the big hitters on Twitter are taking influential swings for the cause, with Stephen Fry, Rhianna and the Tweet monolith herself Lady Ga Ga all spreading the message of the Kony 2012 campaign with links to the film to their millions of followers, who of course, then spread it on.

kony.jpgCelebrity endorsements are a crucial element of the campaign’s strategy, part of which is based around the idea of securing support from people who can sway both public opinion and political legislation. The ‘2012’ from the campaign name has been split into 20 and 12. They will target 20 powerful people in the public eye including Bono, Mark Zuckerberg and Oprah, and 12 people who apparently have the power to make the campaign’s ultimate objective of arresting Kony a reality. Notably, none of these people are from the Ugandan Government, which according to the organisers is due to problems of corruption.

Next, to how it looks. The Kony 2012 campaign brand is strong, bold and confronting. The chosen palette of (blood?) reds, blacks and sky blues mirrors the famous Hope poster by artist Sheppard Fairy, used so successfully in the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, indeed there are many parallels to be drawn between this campaign and those in the political sphere. The Kony 2012 poster shows a heavily colour contrasted image of Joseph Kony himself, shadowed by Osama Bin Laden and Adolf Hitler to really hammer the ‘bad guy’ message home. Meanwhile, the branding on much the rest of the collateral including the posters, stickers, t shirts and special bracelets (each with unique codes to be activated online to confirm your fight for the cause) that you receive as part of the ‘Kony 2012 Action Pack’, seems to carry an almost militaristic style of its own, a direction supported by the slightly ominous yet powerful ‘Stop at Nothing’ tagline. All of this helps create a sense of unity, camaraderie and loyalty – powerful notions so well used throughout history in times of war to help ‘rally the troops’.

Finally, no good campaign would be complete without a big calendar event, a day when the culmination of effort, attention and exposure is channelled into one combined final push and maximum media exposure. For Kony 2012 that day is April 20th, which has been given the named ‘Cover the Night’. A stroke of brilliance enabling the organisers to drag this campaign out of the internet and into the physical world, those who have been touched and compelled to respond to the campaign, have been instructed to gather up the posters and stickers from their ‘Kony 2012 Action Pack’ they purchased online for US$30 and head out into the night to cover walls, buildings and surfaces with images of Joseph Kony. The next morning the world will wake up to the message that this man must be stopped.

What happens after April 20th, no one knows. It’s hard to imagine the US making a meaningful commitment to a military deployment where there are no interests to be protected or gains to be won. There are many equally deserving cases of human rights atrocities, elsewhere in Africa and all over the world, where the US Government shows no sign of action or even caring. However, the power of many carries weight when seen in this magnitude. If a political party can step in and give the people what they want, through what is effectively a relatively small deployment of resources, then why wouldn’t they? Questions about the long-term reality of the situation remain. However, as the message continues to spread, the views continue to rise as more and more people throw their weight, in whatever way, behind this campaign, the people behind it look to have pulled off something special. We will be talking about this in years to come.

Screen shot 2012-03-09 at 12.02.51 PM.jpgRichie Meldrum (left) is a freelance copywriter and journalist based in Melbourne.