Title	#CATSFORKIDS
Brand	CHILD FOCUS
Product/Service	CHILD FOCUS IS A BELGIAN FOUNDATION THAT SUPPORTS PREVENTION AND INVESTIGATION OF MISSING CHILDREN, ABDUCTED CHILDREN, RUNAWAY CHILDREN, AND SEXUALLY ABUSED AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN, ALONG WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL AND LEGAL SUPPORT TO THE VICTIMS.
Category	G04. Social Behaviour
Entrant	WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Antwerp, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Antwerp, BELGIUM
Media Placement	WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Antwerp, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Pieter Staes	Wunderman Thompson	Creative Director
Manuel Ostyn	Wunderman Thompson	Creative Director
Kate Bellefroid	Wunderman Thompson	Creative team
Jolien Tuyteleers	Wunderman Thompson	Creative team
Jérôme Van Den Broeck	Wunderman Thompson	Freelance copywriter
Yves Donceel	Wunderman Thompson	Freelance copywriter
Tom Thijs	Wunderman Thompson	Account Director
Charlotte Feremans	Wunderman Thompson	Account Manager
Amélie Van Campen	Wunderman Thompson	Agency Producer
Christophe De Pelsemaker	Wunderman Thompson	Designer
Ynje Degraeve	Wunderman Thompson	Designer
Mikael Naudet	Wunderman Thompson	Motion Design & Editing
Valérie Rosiers	Wunderman Thompson	PR
Elke Janssens	Wunderman Thompson	PR
Annelies Schrevens	Wunderman Thompson	PR
Judith De Maeyer	Wunderman Thompson	PR
Theo Hagtingius	Wunderman Thompson	DTP
Sofie Verschaeren	Wunderman Thompson	Print Producer

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

The creative idea responds to the uncontrollable need of people to share cats on social media. By calling on everyone to share a cat picture with the hashtag #catsforkids, Child Focus not only raised awareness for online child sexual abuse. The campaign also renewed the attention for stopchildporno.be, where people can report online images of child sexual abuse. This resulted in an increase in reported images by 49% in the month of the campaign release. In the long term, the campaign helps Child Focus to break the taboo over online child sexual abuse, that prevails in society.

Background

Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 19 million images of child sexual abuse are exchanged online every day. Yet, this huge problem remains almost invisible. Child Focus, the Belgian Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children, wants to bring this problem to light. On the European Day of the Protection of Children against Sexual Abuse, we launched a campaign that raised awareness for the problem and for stopchildporno.be, where people can report online images.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We showed the Internet the true social power of the web’s favourite pet. On the European Day of the Protection of Children against Sexual Abuse, Child focus rallied an army of cats to fight online child sexual abuse. The campaign was launched with a cute cat picture on Instagram, showing this written message: “For each cat photo, 78 images of child sexual abuse are also shared”. A very tangible way to make people aware of the scale of the problem. By sharing a similar picture with the hashtag #catsforkids, we gave cat owners not only any, but the best excuse to go all out: fighting child sexual abuse and making the internet a nicer place. Our social post also led people to stopchildporno.be, where people can report online images of child sexual abuse.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Online Child Sexual Abuse is a huge problem, yet it remains almost invisible. Unlike cats, the Internet’s favourite pet. They’re even called the web’s unofficial mascot. So, to raise awareness for online child sexual abuse, we decided to unleash cats’ social power. We compared the 19 million online images of child sexual abuse that are shared online every day, to the number of cats that are shared on Instagram: 243.000 a day. Meaning that images of child sexual abuse are shared 78 times more than cat pictures. With this insight, we found a very tangible way to make people aware of the magnitude of the problem. And we gave them the best reason ever to go all out with sharing cat pictures: fighting against child sexual abuse. Moreover, sharing your cat with the hashtag #catsforkids was a very accessible way to participate in the campaign.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The campaign was launched on the European Day of the Protection of Children against Sexual Abuse. Child Focus posted a cute cat picture on Instagram, showing our message. By sharing a similar picture with #catsforkids, we gave cat owners not only any, but the best excuse to go all out: fighting child sexual abuse. Our social post led people to stopchildporno.be, where people can report online images. We asked several ‘catfluencers’ to join the fight and share a picture, which convinced other catfluencers to participate as well. In just one day, thousands of cat pictures were being shared. Even world-famous Kate Beckinsale showed the power of her cats, taking the fight to a global level. It became a furry feast for national and international media. Even politician’s cats fought along, making it impossible to ignore the real conversation about online child sexual abuse in political circles.

List the results (30% of vote)

Child Focus not only raised awareness for online child sexual abuse. The campaign also renewed the attention for stopchildporno.be, where people can report online images of child sexual abuse. In the long term, the campaign helps Child Focus to break the taboo over online child sexual abuse, that prevails in society. 48.1M impressions 23.3M reach 224K earned media +428% engagement rate (compared to the average of Child Focus’ posts in 2020) +49% reported images on stopchildporno.be (in the month of the campaign release)

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

People love sharing cats online. Endlessly. Cats are even called the web’s unofficial mascot. But data showed that images of child sexual abuse are shared 78 more than Instagram cats. Yet, this problem remains almost invisible. That’s why we decided to show the true social power of the web’s favourite pet. We called upon the cat community (including many ‘catfluencers’) to share a cat picture with our message. As this was the best reason ever to share cats, thousands of people joined our cause. Our message even spread across the world, thanks to international catfluencers.