Title	SIGN THEIR YEARBOOK
Brand	NEW YORKERS AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE
Product/Service	GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS
Category	C05. Co-Creation & User Generated Content
Entrant	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Oskar Pernefeldt	Volt Stockholm	Art Director
Linus Bronge	Volt Stockholm	Art Director
Daniel Vaccino	Volt Stockholm	Creative Director
Maria Sandberg	Volt Stockholm	Account Director
Gabriela Brandén	Volt Stockholm	Account Manager
Staffan Kjellvestad	Volt Stockholm	Visualizer
Per Sturesson	Volt Stockholm	Digital Designer
Jan Landfeldt	United Frog Studios	Photographer
Ulf Nilsson	United Frog Studios	Photographer
Mårten Sahlin	SingSing	Music
Simon Strand		PR Consultant

The Campaign

Every year millions of students get their yearbook signed by their friends, but not everyone gets the chance to experience this fine tradition. In the last 15 years alone, over 30 000 Americans have died in gun-violence before graduating high school. We created a posthumous yearbook for the students who never got the chance to be in one. By signing at the campaign-site you could leave your condolences, but also demand change, since the yearbook itself doubled as an official petition to strengthen gun-laws. On September 8th the yearbook, now filled with signatures, was handed over to Congress. The parents and relatives of the victims in the book, received copies as well. “Sign Their Yearbook” tapped into a deeply rooted American tradition that is all about hopes and plans for the future, and turned it upside down by focusing on the personal tragedies that America has suffered due to gun-violence.

Campaign Success

We created a posthumous yearbook for all the students who never got the chance to be in one. The book was designed just like a regular yearbook, but contained pictures of victims of gun-violence. With a digital signature at signtheiryearbook.com you could leave your condolences, but also demand change for the future, since the book itself doubled as an official petition to legislate universal background checks on gun-purchases. The site was a simple call-to-action, and the signatures were then packaged in a physical yearbook and moreover petition. On the 8th of September the yearbook was handed over to Congress, bringing a close to a 6-week campaign period consisting solely of the website, PR and earned media. The book itself was created in close collaboration with the parents and relatives of the victims featured in the yearbook.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

“Sign Their Yearbook” was signed by thousands, seen by millions and covered by some of world’s most influential media; creating a platform for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence to make their case in the public eyes of America. The petition was handed over to Congress, urging them to legislate background checks on gun-purchases. In a debate that has become very political, our yearbook offered a powerfully personal perspective on the gun-issue. Also and equally important, it perhaps offered some sort of closure for the parents and relatives of the victims. “Sign Their Yearbook” was featured in The New York Times, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Fast CO Create, Metro NY, National Swedish News, Mic and many others. The campaigns potential reach was over 169 millions according to Meltwater Group, with an estimated Advertising value of 1 727 850 USD.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

We created a posthumous yearbook for all the students who never got the chance to be in one, due to gun-violence. The project promoted the urgency of stricter gun-laws, by using an American tradition and adding a devastating twist. The site was in essence a call for action. With a simple digital signature you could leave your condolences, but also demand change, since the book itself doubled as an official petition. Changing peoples' minds on gun control is hard. This project changed the perspective, using the action of average Americans to protest the historical inactions of Congress, on gun control.

Our strategy was to put emotional emphasis on an issue that all to often is reduced to statistics, politics and numbers. The right to bare arms is deeply funded in the American soul and cultural heritage. To make people think and re-think, we used an equally American and equally powerful tradition in order to disarm pro-gun-advocates. A posthumous yearbook for the students who never got the chance, to be in one. The idea was in essence a powerfully personal perspective on the gun-issue. The yearbook was a remembrance, an honoring, and also a call for chance; since the book doubled as an official petition that was handed over to Congress.