#WeNeedToTalk, about this campaign!

The World Youth Forum, organized by the Presidency and Ministry of Emigration, is an annual forum that aims to open discussions on multiple subjects that affect youth and development.

The World Youth Forum’s activities hopes to change this through dialogue with international leaders, and up-and-coming youth leaders and others, to change perceptions.  The guest list includes world leaders, representatives of youth from all continents and young entrepreneurs from various fields to share the story of their success and inspire others.

The World Youth Forum’s strategic campaign launched to getting people to share thoughts and find common backgrounds. It encourages youth to confront topics such as terrorism and refugees, and how they can contribute to building and maintaining peace in conflict.

#WeNeedToTalk: Message of peace!

The Youth forum, happening in Sharm El Sheikh on November 4-10, brought out the inspirational factor for their  video, asking us, the watchers, to live together in peace.

Preparations were ongoing to host 3,000 guests from 86 countries to attend the World Youth Forum, the biggest event Egypt hosts in 23 years while enjoying the beauty of Sharm EL Sheikh.

The first tactical video campaign used the iconic Pyramids of Giza to be the stage for youth from allover the world no matter the skin colors or their nationalities to send a message of peace to the whole world.

One of the main pillars of the World Youth Forum, Youth Global Issues, focuses on the subjects of terrorism and refugees. Thousands of displaced youth, and those stuck in conflict zones, are reminded of these words every day. Some are never able to escape them.

Second tactical video (A film by FP7/CAI in collaboration with Silverlining pictures) was launched to highlight the main topics for discussion according to the World Youth Forum agenda.

The World Youth Forum marketing plan objective was developed to highlight the mega event as a promising platform built to send a message of peace, prosperity, harmony and progress to the entire world.

World Youth Forum: Campaign’s Social Media reaction

The website says guests will be encouraged to “express their views and recommend initiatives to decision makers and influential figures… to create real change in the world we live in.”

The Youth forum campaign’s hashtag [#WeNeedToTalk] ignited a political debate on social media where everyone’s opinion can be shared using their own perspectives.

Since the announcement, many Egyptians have taken to social media with the hashtag #WeNeedToTalk with mixed reactions as some used it for celebrating of the country’s advancements for youth with others tweeted with criticism for education and human rights issues.

https://twitter.com/elrefa3ey/status/925667817470377985

He must have missed his invitation to #WeNeedtoTalk pic.twitter.com/hwUk5SSMra

— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) October 30, 2017

#WeNeedToTalk about Education, we don't have Education😂#WeNeedToTalk about Healthcare, we don't have Healthcare😂

— AhmaD (@ahmadrafik_) October 30, 2017

El sisi empowers the Egyptian disabled youth #WeNeedToTalk #YouthIsTheFuture pic.twitter.com/GgojAzYBo0

— heba mostafa (@hebamostafa2022) November 1, 2017

Digital Media marketing has become the most popular channel of reaching out to audiences. Its popularity has risen with the recent rise of complaints by stakeholders, asking companies to do more for society and now social media is used to send messages to the governments too aims at find a chance to engage with top policymakers.

On the other hand, some news portals focused on the negative feedback for the campaign, it brings to our memory how #ThisIsEgypt campaign faced criticism for highlighting the hidden gems of Egypt. But you know what? This is exactly what marketing campaigns are supposed to do!

It also worth mentioning that “This is Egypt” campaign won World Trade Organization’s prize for the best promo video in the Middle East.

#WeNeedToTalk: Politically Colored Review?

The problem is nobody look at an advert on their way to work. Audience create their own explanations that go viral, which is why as an industry we have a mission to create work that is at most entertaining, and at least informative.

While #WeNeedToTalk digital PR activities decided to focus on influencers (mainly sports) to create a buzz, maybe the biggest mistake was to underestimate user generated content.

The digital media campaign did not offer a platform for sharing ideas and listening to people thoughts. May be this is the reason why the negative feedback used the same campaign hashtag as an attempt to hijack the campaign and claim the move seems to have backfired.

Looking back at spots aired on public and private channels offer “a message of peace from Egypt to the world.” It did not offer a methodology or a call to action to urge people to interact with the campaign.

Social media could have been used as a missile launcher to be a fantastic turnout of minds and voices. On the other hand, the hashtag offered a broad yet naive message which can be used both ways!

Finally, If the main objective of the campaign was meant to urge people to talk and share thoughts, now the campaign would be fully successful if the topics mentioned organically in the hashtag to be considered to take corrective actions for deeper emotional connection and memorability for audiences.

If you are interested in joining the WYF, they are still taking applications. Find it on their website. or simply you can express your own topic to talk about via the hashtag #WeNeedToTalk.