A Big Red Splash | First Focus

A Big Red Splash | First Focus:

A Big Red Splash

By Ed Walz

April 3, 2013

Last Tuesday, my Facebook timeline went red, as friend after friend joined the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in changing their profile pictures to a red version of the HRC logo, showing symbolic support for same-sex marriage. I was immediately impressed by the scale of this interesting communications effort, and as I thought more about it, I realized there are are three lessons children’s advocates can take from HRC’s effort:

1. If it Ain’t Broke … — HRC’s message last Tuesday was the same as its message last Monday: equality. They changed up the packaging by making the logo red, and that made the campaign new and interesting. But they stuck with a message that has served them well for years, avoiding a temptation we all face to change our message with every new opportunity or threat.
2. One Push Can Be Powerful — HRC has 1.4 million Facebook fans, way more than children’s advocates have. But they made their fan base appear even bigger, by activating as many of their fans as possible all at once. We can do the same, recognizing that social media is largely a numbers game, and using a single push to make a bigger splash.