Today IPG Mediabrands, the media innovation arm of Interpublic Group
(NYSE:IPG), announced the successful completion of their annual holiday
giving campaign in support of international charity and educational
partner Free The Children’s global youth empowerment event, We
Day.
This year’s campaign featured superstars Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas who
took to social media to encourage people around the world to follow We
Day (@weday)
on Twitter and Facebook. For the duration of the campaign with every new
follower, sponsors would generously donate a school kit containing a
notebook and pencil for a child overseas. With a total of 1,581,060 new
social media followers, over 1.5 million school kits will be delivered
to students across the eight countries where Free The Children carries
out its development work.
As longstanding supporters of Free The Children, Demi Lovato and Joe
Jonas have volunteered in Africa, and performed at We Day events across
North America. As part of this year’s global holiday campaign developed
by IPG Mediabrands, both stars generously lent their voices to raise
awareness about We Day and Free The Children’s commitment to education
both here at home and overseas.
IPG Mediabrands agencies UM, Initiative and BPN deployed the campaign
across five continents between December 26, 2013 and January 31, 2014,
engaging their media partners to donate free advertising space
throughout the course of the campaign, all in support of We Day.
Mediabrands’ agency Initiative Sajo Garcia Alcazar from Puerto Rico was
in charge of devising the creative strategy of the PSA from concept
ideation to execution. The agency announced that Carlos Garcia, founder
of Initiative Puerto Rico and the creative mastermind of all Free the
Children’s holiday campaigns since 2011 passed away last Thursday; his
contributions to Free the Children were of immeasurable value and his
legacy will always be remembered by the organization.
We Day is an educational youth empowerment event which is taking the
philanthropic world by storm and is now going global, with events in the
United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. We Day is free to attend,
but students earn their ticket through engaging in a minimum of one
local cause and one global cause. Because of We Day, over 160,000 youth
this year alone will earn their entry into stadium gatherings. As
depicted in the global PSA campaign, We Day is now on par with some the
biggest events in sports, music and film. World-renowned leaders and
A-list entertainers have added their voice addressing the audiences
including Sir Richard Branson, Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Magic Johnson, Martin Sheen, Queen Noor of Jordan, Jennifer Hudson,
Imagine Dragons, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, cast members from Glee,
among many others. We Day is one of the world’s largest charitable
causes on Facebook with 3.7 million fans and over 1 million Twitter
followers.
“We Day is such a unique event – and being part of a movement that
inspires young people, whether in a stadium full of students or online,
means something to me,” said Joe Jonas, GRAMMY®-nominated,
multi-platinum artist. “I am thrilled with the impact this campaign has
made. With something as simple as the click of a button, young people
here at home got involved in making a difference, and now a student
overseas will have the chance to change their life through education.”
School supplies will be donated to students in the countries where Free
The Children implements Adopt a Village, a holistic and sustainable
development model, including Kenya, Ecuador, rural China, Haiti, India,
Nicaragua, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Through the education pillar of Adopt
a Village, Free The Children builds schools, school rooms and libraries,
provides teacher training, and outfits schools with furniture and basic
school supplies. The pencils and notebooks donated through this
initiative will be distributed to children in Free The Children schools.
Programming is implemented in partnership with local government to
create a lasting impact and empower community members to lift themselves
out of poverty—forever.
“When young people join the We Day movement online, they become part of
a global community committed to changing the world—a network that helps
inspire them to take social action,” said Craig Kielburger, co-founder
of Free The Children. “Thanks to support from IPG Mediabrands, and the
legacy of Carlos Garcia who was a tireless champion for global
humanitarian efforts, we are able to connect globally with young people
who want to take that extra step to make a difference – whether it’s in
their school or community, or opening the doors to education for a
student halfway around the world.”
“We never cease to be amazed by the results of these campaigns, it is
quite gratifying to see that our philanthropic efforts are paying off
and most importantly that we have the power to positively impact the
lives of millions of children in some of the most impoverished areas of
the world,” said Mauricio Sabogal, Global CEO of Mediabrands’ agency
BPN. “At IPG Mediabrands we are fully committed to using our strongest
assets and expertise to bring attention to the most pressing issues
affecting the world today.”
This year IPG Mediabrands built on the success of the “1 Like =$1”
Facebook campaign of previous holiday seasons to drive more followers
and donations to We Day, adding Twitter to this year’s efforts. In 2011,
IPG Mediabrands obtained more than USD 30 MM in donated media space,
reaching 2.4MM LIKES on Facebook, which converted into 2.4MM dollars
donated to Free The Children programs. This year, sister IPG agencies
around the world supported the campaign with local execution, adaptation
and trafficking services.
Watch PSA campaign here
Watch
behind the scenes footage here
Stay
connected:
- Like We Day on Facebook: facebook.com/WeDay
- Twitter: @WeDay #WeDay
- Visit www.weday.com/follow
About IPG Mediabrands
We were founded by Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG) in 2007 to manage all of
its global media related assets. Today that means we manage and invest
$37 billion in global media on the behalf of our clients, employ over
8,500 diverse and daring marketing communication specialists worldwide
and operate our company businesses in more than 130 countries. A proven
entity in helping clients maximize business results through integrated,
intelligence-driven marketing strategies, IPG Mediabrands is committed
to driving automated buying, pay-for-performance and digital innovation
solutions through its network of media agencies including UM,
Initiative, BPN, Orion Holdings, and ID Media. Its roster of specialty
service agencies including MAGNA GLOBAL, Mediabrands Audience Platform,
Mediabrands Publishing, IPG Media Lab, Ensemble, and Identity offer
technologies and industry moving partnerships that are recognized for
delivering unprecedented bottom line results for clients. For more
information, please visit www.ipgmediabrands.com
or follow us on Twitter @IPGMediabrands.
About Free The Children
Free The Children is an international charity and educational partner
that has 2.3 million young people involved in its programs. Founded in
1995 by international activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children
believes in a world where all young people are free to achieve their
fullest potential.
Its domestic programs educate, engage and empower youth to become active
local and global citizens. Its international projects have brought more
than 650 schools and school rooms to youth and provided clean water,
health care and sanitation to one million people around the world. The
organization has received the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of
the Child, and has formed successful partnerships with leading school
boards and Oprah’s Angel Network. For more information, visit
freethechildren.com.
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