A Case of Influence: Half the Sky

Opportunity

Half the Sky Movement lays out an agenda for the world’s women and three major abuses: sex trafficking and forced prostitution; gender-based violence including honor killings and mass rape; and maternal mortality, which needlessly claims one woman a minute. Timed with the release of the book, “Half the Sky,” Waggener Edstrom created HalftheSkyMovement.org to help carry the movement and its agenda forward.

When Waggener Edstrom first approached ‘Half the Sky’ authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, marketing and social media outreach for their new book was already sorted. A promotional campaign, social media placements and a speaking tour was scheduled by other agencies and the publisher.

During an advising session with the client, however, Waggener Edstrom discovered an unforeseen challenge: no website home for HalfTheSkyMovement.org had been scoped. It quickly became clear how Waggener Edstrom could add value: through influencing and helping Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn develop their online strategy. The next challenge was building and launching that website in only a few days.

Influence Strategy

First, Waggener Edstrom developed a strategy to dramatically attract, influence and engage Half the Sky Movement’s audience.

• Dovetailing social media and blog outreach within the website strategy would help magnetize support for this new global movement.
• Creating a design-rich experience that captures the movement’s heart would add to its success.

Next, Waggener Edstrom devised a visually stunning web presence that puts the movement and its beneficiaries – oppressed women around the world – at the forefront.

• High resolution imagery of these women tells visual stories while testimonials from world luminaries rotate nearby.
• Subpages invite visitors to join the fight, connect on Twitter and Facebook, engage with well-positioned NGOs, and learn about six featured women.
• The book’s elegant branding seamlessly integrates within the entire digital experience.

Finally, Waggener Edstrom delivered the site on an extremely tight schedule to sync with the book release date. Once the site was live, Waggener Edstrom measured press coverage, site activity and social media buzz.

Measure of Success

As soon as HalfTheSkyMovement.org went live, site activity surged. Client blog posts and tweets announcing the book release and the new website created traffic and added buzz. Articles in the New York Times Magazine (“The Women’s Crusade”) and Huffington Post (“Taking Women’s Rights Seriously”) received 38 and 5 digs respectively and directed readers to the site. The Oprah Magazine and Glamour, in addition to various blogs, published unique articles referencing the book and its new website home. To seal the success, the book and movement, its authors and the website were featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Web & Social Media Traffic:

• 9,218 site visits within five days
• 17,107 page views
• 462 tweets
• 1,282 ‘Half the Sky’ Facebook fans
• 117,131 fans on Nicholas Kristof’s Facebook site
• 7% of website traffic driven by The New York Times, 6% by Twitter and 5% by Facebook

Coverage:

• 9 unique articles, including those published by:
• The New York Times
• Huffington Post
• The Associated Press
• The Oprah Magazine
• Glamour
• 4 unique blogs within in 14 days, including:
• The New York Times
• Dining for women
• The New Security Beat
• Seasons of Light
• Undecide
• Hour screening on the Oprah Winfrey Show